Silverstone by the numbers
As the rest of the British public is gripped by Olympic fever because of London 2012, motorsport fans in the UK and around the world focus their attentions on Silverstone this weekend, for the tenth round of the eni FIM Superbike World Championship.
Silverstone has been an SBK venue on eight previous occasions, for the seasons 2002 to 2007 inclusive on the ‘old' format, with the new-look Silverstone reappearing on the SBK radar in 2010 and 2011. In one of those quirks of history there have, however, been only 15 individual points scoring races at Silverstone, not the expected 16. The second race in 2007 was rained off after an epic day of weather disruption, which explains the missing race.
Winner of one of the first races in 2002 was Troy Bayliss (Ducati) who went on to win four individual races at the circuit, more than any other rider. British riders are well represented in winners' circle too, with Neil Hodgson (Ducati) in 2002, and Cal Crutchlow (Yamaha) in 2010 winning both Silverstone contests on raceday. James Toseland (Ducati) also won his home round in 2005, race two. Regis Laconi, his team-mate, won the other one in 2005.
Colin Edwards was the first ever winner for Honda in 2002, while Noriyuki Haga (Ducati) and Chris Vermeulen (Honda) shared the wins in 2004. The most recent success, once more a double, went to last year's champion, Carlos Checa (Ducati).
Silverstone has witnessed an all-British podium in the past, in 2010, when Crutchlow, Jonathan Rea (Honda) and Leon Haslam (Suzuki) filled the top three places. In race two, Crutchlow and Rea led home Leon Camier (Aprilia) in the second race as well, with Haslam fourth and another Briton, James Toseland (Yamaha), fifth. Few who look at the line-up of talent in 2012 believe this all-British domination is an impossible task again. Part of the reason for this is that Aprilia, BMW and Kawasaki riders - the machinery ridden by the current top three riders in the series - have not had the greatest results here in the past - with no podiums at all for BMW and Kawasaki at Silverstone. So far...
Wildcards at Silverstone have generally done much better in qualifying than races, with Superpole winner Tommy Hill (Yamaha) in 2006 and Tissot-Superpole winner John Hopkins (Suzuki) taking top starting spots but being unable to convert their pre-race speed into silverware at Silverstone.
