WorldSBK PREVIEW

FORM GUIDE: Bulega draws within striking distance of Haga and Polen’s record tallies at Donington Park

Great Britain will play host to a critical round at the breaking point in WorldSBK’s 39th season

The MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship riders are rolling up their sleeves and opening up the throttle as they charge into Round 8 of 12, and several more records lie vulnerable to the speed of the all-conquering Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati). The Italian’s unprecedented streak has continued as he crosses the channel and rolls out on track at the Donington Park Circuit for the Prosecco DOC UK Round. Get a taste for what’s at stake as well as a selection of fun facts about one of WorldSBK’s most storied venues.

1988 – Donington Park set the stage for the inaugural Championship round: Davide Tardozzi on a Bimota and Marco Lucchinelli on a Ducati secured one win each on the 3rd of April 1988.

73 – Donington Park matches Misano in total WorldSBK races run: both started the season at 70 and will end up at 73. That is the third-all-time spot, behind Phillip Island with 76 and Assen with 74.

68 – Ducati have recorded the most of any manufacturer with 68 podium finishes at Donington. Kawasaki are second-best with 56.

48 – The last 48 races were won only by the first two on the grid: this is an unprecedented streak in history. The previous record was 21, from Jarama Race 1 to Mugello Race 1, 1991.

41-43 – Bulega needs two more wins to match Noriyuki Haga in sixth in the all-time win tally rankings. Before this season started, Bulega had 20 wins.

27 – 27 different winners at Donington: the most successful is Toprak Razgatlioglu with 12, followed by Tom Sykes with 9.

25 – Bulega is on the longest ever winning streak in WorldSBK history, currently 25 races long. He is about to “lap” the second-best streak, 13, recorded by Toprak Razgatlioglu twice, in 2024 and last year.

21 – With 21 wins already this year, Bulega has reached the second-best season ever, recorded by Toprak Razgatlioglu last year. Now the countdown is on for the all-time record of Bautista, set in 2023 with 27 wins.

20 – Iker Lecuona is becoming a regular podium finisher, but with Bulega amassing wins, he now has 20 podiums without a win, an all-time record.

16/17 – Bulega is one pole position shy of 7th in the all-time list, currently held by American Doug Polen with 17.

15 – Bulega led all the laps in 15 races this season, a record stretching back to at least 1998 when that stat began being recorded. For context, Bautista led from lights to flag 11 races in 2019.

10/11 – Bulega is one weekend short of equalling Toprak Razgatlioglu's career hat trick record of 11. Bulega has 10 race-win trios, the same as Alvaro Bautista.

8 – Ducati is on a streak of 8 pole positions, the second-best after they recorded 15 in a row from Mugello 1991 to Manfeild 1992.

1 & 1-2 – BMW recorded their first WorldSBK win at Donington Park in 2012, Race 1, which was also a 1-2 with Marco Melandri winning and Leon Haslam as runner-up.

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