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Wildcards in the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship have always been a staple in the history of the Championship, with some of the greatest moments in WorldSBK history coming down to the shocks and surprises that so often happen with them. Whether it be Neil Hodgson’s World Championship career re-birth in 2000 at Donington Park or the likes of Ben Bostrom or Noriyuki Haga in the 1990s who took it to the regular riders, they’ve always had a special place in WorldSBK hearts. We look back at the wildcard history and catch-up with two wildcards who are on track to do Great Britain proud this weekend. Remember, you can enjoy our Top 10 countdown of the greatest wildcard moments here!

Starting with the United States of America, riders such as Ben Bostrom, Nicky Hayden and Doug Chandler all shone on home soil, with Ben Bostrom picking up his first WorldSBK win in 1999 at Laguna Seca Race 2, whilst Hayden would go on to finish fourth in 2002’s Laguna Seca meeting, on his way to the Repsol Honda MotoGP™ outfit for 2003. Whilst wildcards continued to come from the USA, few had careers that would take off quite like the likes of Bostrom or Hayden, with the former going on to be one of a few riders to win five WorldSBK races on the bounce, whilst Hayden would take the MotoGP™ crown in 2006 and win a WorldSBK race in 2016, one of a handful to win in both World Championship.

Moving on to Japan and they’ve produced top line talent. However, besides the riders that Japan gifted, it was more of a fact that if you went to Sugo – as it was until 2003 – then the regular riders wouldn’t get a sniff of success. For example, from 1996 to 2002, of the 14 races run at Sugo, ten were won by wildcards, with only full-time Japanese riders Akira Yanagawa and Noriyuki Haga winning other races, along with a sole win in 2002 for Colin Edwards; in 1996’s Race 1, Japan’s first win in WorldSBK came courtesy of Yuichi Takeda beating Haga on the line. Of those 14 races, all featured a wildcard on the podium. Whilst the career of Haga would go on to take 43 wins and Makoto Tamada would become a multiple winner in WorldSBK and MotoGP™, Japan’s wildcards mostly remained that – not quite able to put a full season together; we still wait for the first Japanese WorldSBK Champion.

However, for the United Kingdom, it couldn’t be more different – from Carl Fogarty’s wildcard and top ten finish at Donington Park in 1989 to Neil Hodgson’s wildcard win in 2000 at the same place or Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne’s incredible, memorable double at Brands Hatch in 2003, big names and big stars have always gone on to huge success. Fogarty for example would take 59 wins (the first of which would come in 1992 at Donington Park) and four World Championships, making him one of Britain’s famous sporting sons. Hodgson, after having the world at his feet at a young age in the 1990s, went back to BSB for 1999 and 2000, whilst winning a first WorldSBK race as a wildcard in the latter helped him back to the world stage. Then there’s names such as the aforementioned Byrne, Niall Mackenzie, John Reynolds, Steve Hislop, Leon Haslam, Tom Sykes, Cal Crutchlow, Leon Camier… the list goes on. Race winners and podiums aplenty but national champions back home too, the legacy left behind is quite remarkable.

Then, those from elsewhere who can’t be forgotten. A dominant race win in 1993 at the Osterreichring (now Red Bull Ring) by home-hero Andy Meklau was sublime, winning by almost 30 seconds. Then, Marco Simoncelli’s one-off ride for Aprilia at Imola yielded the late Italian a podium in Race 2, whilst six years later and after his retirement, Max Biaggi returned for the Italian brand to take top six finishes at Misano and a podium at Sepang. Way back in 1991 and after regular riders opted to not race at Mosport in Canada, it was home-hero Pascal Picotte who took his only WorldSBK win. In 1997, a certain Troy Bayliss was a wildcard at home at Phillip Island, taking two fifth places on a Suzuki. Then, whilst it wasn’t at home, there’s Jonathan Rea, who rode excellently at Portimao in 2008 to finish fourth in Race 1 as a wildcard before winning races as a full-time rider in 2009. As one Champion bowed out at Portimao in 2008, another was born.

So, what about this weekend? Can Tarran Mackenzie put his name in the history of wildcards, like his dad Niall did back in 1990? We spoke to him about his aims for the weekend: “I’m really excited, even more so since I was supposed to do Assen and wasn’t able to because of injury, so it’s been a long-time coming so to be finally here, at Donington Park, my home circuit, it’s great. I don’t have any expectations and I want to be enjoy the weekend being here with my team. I want to leave the garage with a smile on my face and come back with a smile on my face and the rest will take care of itself. I’ve looked up to Jonny Rea for a long time since a small child and watched him as a fan, so to be here on the same grid is very cool!

“WorldSBK is somewhere I’d love to be and I’ve aspired to be here for a long time. There’s been opportunities in the past to do wildcards at Donington Park that haven’t quite happened, so to finally be here and to experience the WorldSBK paddock is something very exciting for me. It’ll be a good experience this weekend and hopefully one day, I’ll be on the grid full-time. I’d like to be in 2023, but it depends a lot on how I go this weekend but that doesn’t add any pressure on me. Hopefully we’ll see you next year!”

As for Peter Hickman, he’s already achieved a top ten in WorldSBK as a stand-in rider before, back in 2012. Can he do it again? “I’m really excited to be back and it’s my third WorldSBK event! This is the first time not as a stand-in rider; before, it’s always been on a bike I didn’t know or a team I didn’t know. This weekend, I’m with the FHO Racing, who I have been with for a year and a half. The bike is slightly different for here, so there’s new experiences and challenges to overcome but I’m really excited to get going here at Donington Park.

“2019 was a good event for myself, I qualified fourth, finished seventh and 11^th and retired. This weekend, who knows? I think it’s going to be difficult as the weather’s going to be hot, which may throw up some challenges for some, ourselves included. The electronics side of things is different for us, which is a new experience for the whole team, especially with the M1000RR. We’re here to take in the experience and see what we can do.”

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