The 4.023 km Donington Park circuit hosted the very first MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship race back in 1988, and now, in 2026, the Championship returns for more classic British racing action. Great Britain has hosted 58 rounds of WorldSBK racing, with Donington Park hosting 32, complemented by 16 at Brands Hatch and 10 at Silverstone. Only Italy has played host more times than the island nation, whose riders have hoisted the WorldSBK Riders’ Championship trophy 14 times, more than any other country.
DONINGTON RATED FIVE OUT OF FIVE FOR DIFFICULTY ON THE BRAKES
It’s a special feeling in the air at Donington Park when WorldSBK comes to town, and British fans eagerly pile into the venue, where over the last two seasons attendance has never been lower than 52,000 fans. Inside the paddock, Brembo engineers rate the track a five-out-of-five for braking difficulty because riders use the brakes seven times per lap, for a total of 24 seconds. Of the seven braking spots, four are classified as high, two as medium, and only one as light. Three of the hardest braking points are concentrated near the end of a lap, between Turn 8 and Turn 11. The hardest corner of the Donington Park circuit for the braking system is the first one, due to a brake lever load of 6 kg, one of the highest in the entire Championship. At that moment, the speed drops from 261km/h to 96km/h in 3.8 seconds, during which the Superbikes cover 174 meters. Riders experience 1.5 g of deceleration while the brake fluid pressure reaches 12.9 bar, another figure with few equals on the calendar.
BRAKE DISC DECISIONS
In WorldSBK, Brembo collaborates with 13 of the 14 teams, providing them with steel brake discs measuring 336mm and 338.5mm in diameter. There are significant differences in thickness, with values of 6.5 mm and 7.1 mm for the smaller discs, and 6.2 mm, 6.8 mm, and 7.4 mm for the larger discs. The choice varies depending on the circuit, to better suit the bike's electronic and engine braking characteristics.
“I DON’T THINK THERE IS A RIDER IN THE WORLD THAT COULD TURN IN AT CRANER AND NOT THINK THAT THEY NEED TO RESPECT IT”
For British rider Tarran Mackenzie (MGM Optical Express Racing), the first sector into the start of the second sector is the jewel of not just Donington Park, but of the whole calendar. For the Scotsman, a fast lap begins with a clean start to a lap, down the Wheatcroft Straight, before Turn 1 known as Redgate. Riders then again put a knee down to the right, catching a rhythm into the flowing downhill Craner Curves. This section is mostly downhill, especially the stretch from Turn 2 to Turn 4. After undergoing a resurfacing which has improved the tarmac’s grip, Mackenzie feels more courageous now than the old surface coupled with the simplified electronics setups permitted in BSB, and while he has crashed out on the curves and thus is a member of the ‘Craner Club’, he still feels that this is one of the most fun sections on the entire calendar.
On that section of track, Mackenzie said: “On the previous tarmac, Craner could be quite tricky, especially in cold conditions at a BSB or club meeting. That left-hander at Craner; I don’t think there is any rider in the world who could turn in and not think you needed to respect it. If you try to grab that little bit extra, then it can bite you. I’ve experienced that a couple of times, as a part of the ‘Craner Club’, I would say that this is probably the most enjoyable, fun part of the track – probably of the whole calendar. If you’re wide at the top of Hollywood, then it makes Craner difficult.”
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