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It’s a numbers game: the key milestones to watch out for in WorldSBK in 2023

Thursday, 9 February 2023 08:03 GMT

There are plenty of milestones to look forward to in 2023 and just some of them are detailed below…

The MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship season starts in just a couple of weeks, and that always brings milestones to the fore. What could be achieved this season by riders and manufacturers? There are plenty of milestones in reach, including one manufacturer on the verge of their 400th victory while one rider could reach a huge total of 6,000 points in WorldSBK. Just some of the milestones that could be achieved are detailed below.

6,000 – Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) needs to score at least 197.5 points in 2023 to hit 6,000 points in WorldSBK, becoming the first rider to do so. Since joining Kawasaki, his lowest score in a season was 360 points (when 24 races were run). He has hit 500 points in the last two seasons.

2,000/200 – Another milestone is in reach for Rea as, if he leads 56 laps this season, he will have led for a total of 2,000 in WorldSBK and he would be the first to hit this marker. He has led at least 100 laps every season since joining Kawasaki and the last time he led fewer than 56 was in 2013, with 3. Rea could also become the first rider to lead 200 races, currently on 191.

700 – Ducati could get their 700th race on the podium this season. They currently sit on 692.

400/378 – Rea could hit the milestone of 400 race starts in WorldSBK this season. It is currently scheduled for the Tissot Superpole Race at Magny-Cours. His next race start will be his 378th, moving him clear of Troy Corser at the top of the list.

400 – As well as their 700th race on the podium, Ducati could become the first manufacturer to record 400 wins. They currently stand on 392 and need eight to hit the milestone; they won 16 races in 2022.

350 – Tom Sykes will start his 350th race in his next race start, becoming the third rider to hit this number after Troy Corser and Jonathan Rea.

340/400 – Yamaha are four races on the podium away from Honda and could catch them this season. Yamaha currently have 336 to their name, with Honda on 340. Both manufacturers will be eyeing up their 400th WorldSBK podium. Honda are currently on 396, with Yamaha on 384.

250 – Another landmark is in sight for Rea as he edges closer to 250 podiums. He is currently on 245 and, having only recorded fewer than five podium finishes once in WorldSBK (2013, four podiums), will be looking to hit this in 2023.

114/116 – Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) is just two podiums shy of Noriyuki Haga to move into third place in the all-time list, with Sykes on 114 and Haga on 116.

100/71 – Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) needs 18 podiums to hit a century in WorldSBK, while he is also only four behind Haga in terms of podiums for Yamaha. Haga has the most podiums for the Japanese manufacturer with 71, with Razgatlioglu on 67.

75 – Keeping with the podiums theme, Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) is 17 shy of 75, which will put him on level terms with Colin Edwards and Marco Melandri.

70 – Spain will hit 70 victories with one more win, with 67 of its current 69 wins coming from three riders: Alvaro Bautista with 32, Carlos Checa with 24 and Ruben Xaus with 11.

43 – Rea needs three pole positions to claim second in all-time pole list, moving him ahead of Troy Corser. Sykes leads the way on 51.

32 – Bautista and Razgatlioglu go into 2023 with 32 wins each. Both have the potential to reach the top three in the all-time WorldSBK win rankings this season.

31 – The 2022 ‘Titanic Trio’ (Bautista, Razgatlioglu, Rea) have shared the podium 27 times, four short of the record held by Chaz Davies/Rea/Sykes.

6 – Six rookies on the grid in 2023: Dominique Aegerter (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) and his teammate Remy Gardner, Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team), Lorenzo Baldassarri (GMT94 Yamaha), Eric Granado (MIE Racing Honda Team) and Bradley Ray (Motoxracing Yamaha WorldSBK Team). Aegerter, Gardner, Petrucci and Baldassarri all have podiums in the MotoGP™ and WorldSBK paddocks.

THE GOLDEN ERA CONTINUES: watch the 2023 season unfold in style using the WorldSBK VideoPass!