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A WEEKEND OF FIRSTS IN MISANO: The Misano races produced several new milestones in the World Superbike championship:

• Jakub Smrz scored his maiden pole, putting an end to the all-time record sequence of Ben Spies. Smrz's is the first pole by a rider from the Czech Republic;

• Maiden win for Jonathan Rea in race 2. The British rider is the fifth youngest to post a win (22 years, 4 months and 19 days). The youngest in this chart is Yuichi Takeda, who won in Sugo in 1996 at 18 years, 8 months and 27 days. Rea scored in Misano his best grid spot so far: second.

MISANO RACE NOTES

• Eighth win in race 1 for Ben Spies. The American is already twentieth in the all-time list for wins and reached his countryman Fred Merkel, world champion in 1988 and 1989;

• Third career podium for Shane Byrne. He hasn't stepped onto the podium since July 27th 2003, when he scored a double at Brands Hatch;

• Second fastest race lap for Jakub Smrz. The Czech rider scored his maiden one exactly one year ago in Misano;

• Haga scored his 99th podium in race 2. Beginning with the Donington races, the Japanese rider can become the third in history to reach the milestone of one hundred podiums after Carl Fogarty (109) and Troy Corser (128);

• First pole in the Supersport category for Michele Pirro;

• In the Superstock 600 championship Yamaha won its fifth straight race, equalling the all-time record set by the same Japanese manufacturer from the 2007 Vallelunga race to Monza 2008.

DONINGTON PERSONAL SCOREBOARD

• Max Biaggi climbed on the podium three times out of four races run at Donington, only in race 2 last year he wasn't able to finish among the first three, taking fifth. In MotoGP he won the 2003 race after the penalty who hit Valentino Rossi for ignoring yellow flags. Max was second in 2001 and 2002, always behind Rossi. In the 250 cc Championship Biaggi was second behind Waldmann in 1995 and won in front of the German one year after;

• Carlos Checa in his Superbike debut at Donington posted a retirement and a ninth. His best result in MotoGP was a fifth in 2001 and 2005 out of thirteen races run. 2002 could have been the right one as he started second and led for half of the race before crashing out;

• Troy Corser has a remarkable record in his twenty races run in Donington: he scored the double in 1996, he started from pole in 1996 and 1998 and was on the podium thirteen times. The only year when he wasn't able to climb on the podium was 2000, when he was eighth in race 1 and retired in race 2. His last front row start here dates back 1999 (third), while in the last three editions he always qualified eighth;

• Michel Fabrizio scored his best result last year in race 2, a fifth place out of four races run here;

• Noriyuki Haga won three times in Donington: a double in 1998 and 2007 race 2. Out of ten races run these three wins are his only podium appearances. In 2008 Haga lived a dismal weekend, retiring in race 1 and being black flagged in race 2. The good feeling with this track however is confirmed by his results in the 500cc Championship, when he was fourth in 2001 behind Rossi, Biaggi and Barros;

• Leon Haslam ran as a wild card in 2008, finishing eighth in race 1. His results in the British Championship here are impressive: eight straight podiums out of ten races run. Haslam won both BSB races in 2007. In the 125/250/500cc world championship he didn't have the same luck and his best result was only a seventeenth place, obtained curiously in all the classes: he was 17th in 1998 in 125cc, 17th in 2001 in 500cc. And 17th in 2002 in 250 cc;

• Yukio Kagayama performed a sensational comeback through the field last year in race 1, when he finished fifth starting 24th;

• The best result for Lorenzo Lanzi is a fifth place, both in qualifying and in the races, scored in the 2007 edition;

• Gregorio Lavilla retired five times in the Superbike races held at Donington. Last year he claimed his best result in this track, with a fourth in race 1. His performances in the British championship are markedly different: he won three races out of six (double in 2005 and race 1 in 2006), scoring pole two times out of three (2005 and 2006);

• Ryuichi Kiyonari last year was one of the leading figures: he was second in qualifying and slotted into the lead in race 1, crashing soon afterwards. He was back for race 2, winning. In British Superbike his results were impressive too: he won both 2004 races, climbing on the podium four times in the following six races held here from 2005 to 2007. For him also two retirements, in race 2 in 2006 and in race 1 in 2007, when he was respectively leading and occupying third place;

• Tom Sykes shocked the superbike world last year with two impressive races. He was second behind Bayliss in race 1 after spending most of the race in the lead. His best result in the British Superbike championship was a second place as well, behind Leon Haslam in both 2007 races;

• Ruben Xaus scored his best result in race 2, in 2007, fourth, while last year he was disqualified from race 1 because he took the restart without being allowed to do it.

MILESTONES AT DONINGTON

• 1988: first race of the World Superbike Championship. Roger Burnett set pole position with a Honda, race 1 winner was Davide Tardozzi on a Bimota powered by Yamaha and race 2 winner was Marco Lucchinelli on a Ducati. The event was won on aggregate times by Lucchinelli;

• 1990: tenth win for Ducati in race 2 by Giancarlo Falappa; first fastest lap for Rob Phillis in race 1;

• 1992: Carl Fogarty left his first mark on the World Championship. He took his first pole and first fastest lap in race 1, falling while in the lead and leaving the win to Raymond Roche. He fought back and in race 2 he took the first of his 59 wins;

• 1993: first podium for Jamie Whitham in race 2;

• 1994: 100th race start for Jeffry de Vries and 150th presence for Stephane Mertens. First podium and first fastest lap for Troy Corser;

• 1995: 25th win and 25th fastest lap for Carl Fogarty. First podium for Pierfrancesco Chili;

• 1996: tenth podium for Anthony Gobert;

• 1997: first pole position for Neil Hodgson;

• 1999: 50th fastest lap for Honda set by Colin Edwards in race 2;

• 2000: first win for Neil Hodgson. Tenth fastest lap for Suzuki (Pierfrancesco Chili). First podium for Chris Walker;

• 2001: first pole position, first podium and first fastest lap for the late Steve Hislop. In race 2 Chili took a 750 cc machine to the top of the podium for the last time, the Suzuki GSX-750 R. From that moment onwards only 1000 cc (and from 2008 1200 cc) won Superbike races;

• 2008: maiden podium for Tom Sykes and Cal Crutchlow, first fastest race lap for James Ellison.

SUPERSPORT FLASH DATA

• The most successful winner is Paolo Casoli, who won three of the seven races run here, in 1997, 1998 and 2001;

• Honda won the last two editions with Kenan Sofuoglu and Joshua Brookes;

• The average race speed has been beaten every year, going from 144.030 kph in 1997 to 152.187 kph in 2008;

• In the last five editions, the polesitter has never won the race;

• Jamie Whitham is the only British rider to win at Donington (1999).