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In the record books, the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship celebrated 35 wonderful years of racing in style as records were smashed round upon round. Whilst Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) may have headlined throughout, plenty more were headlining as WorldSBK’s numbers were overhauled throughout the season. We put the biggest landmarks below.

6000 – After a third place in Race 2 at Imola, Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) became the first rider ever to rack-up 6000 points in his WorldSBK career. His total amount at the end of the season was 6172.5, of which 4593 were achieved with Kawasaki.

400 – Ducati took a 400^th WorldSBK win at Assen in Race 2 with Alvaro Bautista; their tally at the end of 2023 was 420.

100 – With second in Race 1 at Imola, Toprak Razgatlioglu took his 100^th WorldSBK podium. He goes into 2024 with 115 to his name

59 – Alvaro Bautista finished the season by taking a 59th career win, all of which are with Ducati. This means he was won more races for Ducati than anybody else – including in the MotoGP™ paddock.

27 – A new record for wins in one season for Bautista, with 27. A total of 31 podiums means that he only stood on the podium four other times if he didn’t win.

27 – 27 laps led in his WorldSBK career for Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) but still no win. 13 of those laps were led in 2023, the most he’s led in a season. The record for laps led without a win is 45, held by Davide Giugliano.

23/9 – Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) took a ninth podium of 2023 at Portimao in Race 2 with P3, the most he’s had in a single season. It was his 23^rd, equalling Akira Yanagawa.

20 – Like Bautista with wins, Razgatlioglu set a new record for P2s in a single season: 20.

19 – Leon Haslam (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) was a substitute rider in the factory BMW team at Imola and scored points in Race 1, giving him the biggest interval from his first points-scoring race in WorldSBK to his most recent: 19 years, 11 months and 18 days from Brands Hatch Race 2, 2003 and Imola Race 1 2023.

17 – 17 riders achieved a top six finish in 2023, surpassing 2019’s tally by one and thus setting a new record of top six finishers since the three-race format was introduced. This was last achieved in 2016, whilst the outright record for top six finishers in a single season is 1991 with 31.

16 – 16 riders were covered by less than a second in Superpole on two occasions in 2023, a joint-record. Assen saw the top 16 covered by 0.946s and Portimao welcomed the top 16 covered by 0.974s. 2023 is the only season where 16 riders were covered by less than a second in Superpole on two occasions, a new record in WorldSBK.

15 – 15 crashes for Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) in 2023, more than anyone else in WorldSBK.

14 – Jonathan Rea’s winning career extended this year to 14 years, one month and eight days, the longest of all-time in WorldSBK. A win at Donington Park or later in 2024 will see him become the first rider in WorldSBK to have a winning career of over 15 years in World Superbike.

12 – After a 12-year wait, America returned to pole position at Magny-Cours, courtesy of Garrett Gerloff (Bonovo Action BMW), who took his and the team’s first pole. The last occasion before Gerloff was John Hopkins in 2011 at Silverstone. Gerloff would go on to finish top BMW in his debut season with the manufacturer.

12 – Another 12-year Superpole stat: for the first time in over 12 years, when Troy Corser was fourth at Monza in 2011, an Australian was on the front row after Superpole with Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) taking P2 at Most.

8 – Eight podiums for Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) in 2023, four-times his tally from 2022 and double his 2021 rookie season tally. Scoring 327 points and finishing fourth, it was his best WorldSBK season to-date.

7 – Seven wins across his last two years for Kawasaki, Rea’s win tally in 2022 and 2023 is just fractionally better than his last two years with Honda, with five in total in 2013 and 2014. For the last quarter of 2013, he was out injured.

3 – Three new podium finishers in WorldSBK in 2023: Xavi Vierge (Team HRC) with P3 at Mandalika in Race 2, Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) with P3 in Donington Park’s Race 2 and Dominique Aegerter (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) with P2 in the Superpole Race at Jerez. Aegerter became the 130^th in WorldSBK history and after Race 2, the 105^th to achieve more than one.

2 – For just the second season in his full-time WorldSBK career, Jonathan Rea won just one race. The other season was in 2013. His sole win then came at Silverstone, this year it was at Most; both served as his first wins at each track.

1 – Aegerter’s two podiums on the final race day of 2023 at Jerez saw him become the first Swiss rider to achieve a podium in WorldSBK.

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