Ducati still making WorldSBK history
Ducati continues to write new records in the Superbike World Championship. The fantastic hat-trick obtained at Assen by the reigning World Champion Alvaro Bautista earned the Bologna-based motorcycle manufacturer its 400th victory in the premier category reserved for production-based bikes, in which Ducati has participated ever since the first edition in 1988.
Ducati’s winning success has been as long as the Championship itself, winning the second ever race at Donington Park with ex 500cc Grand Prix World Champion Marco Lucchinelli, who’d add to the tally later on in the year. Raymond Roche became the first serial winner for them from 1989 to 1992, taking the manufacturer’s first World Championship in the class in 1990 with domination.
Into the 1990s and Ducati’s success kept on going with riders such as Doug Polen, Stephene Mertens and Giancarlo Falappa all coming to the fore; American Polen became a double WorldSBK Champion for the brand in 1991 and 1992.
However, it was 1993 onwards where Ducati would be etched into the forefront of everyone’s minds as Britain’s Carl Fogarty became one of the most popular riders ever seen in WorldSBK – and one of the most successful. Missing out on the 1993 title despite 11 wins, Fogarty ran riot in 1994 and 1995, clinching back-to-back titles and becoming a real superstar. Also during that time, the rise of Troy Corser, who became a rookie winner in 1995 at the Salzburgring in Race 1 before Fogarty won Race 2, Ducati’s 100th.
Then, in 1996, John Kocinski’s stunning start to life in WorldSBK was a winning one at Misano. In a memorable race Down Under, Corser clinched the 1996 crown for Ducati in Race 1; there was nothing stopping Ducati. Fogarty was back in Ducati red in 1997 but missed the title, whilst 1998 saw them back on top, with a particular highlight being a podium lockout in the pouring rain of Albacete, as well as Fogarty and Pierfrancesco Chili’s epic battle at Assen. 1999 came and Fogarty dominated to make it a fourth crown, with another memorable race being Phillip Island’s Race 2, as Corser and ‘Foggy’ swapped places on the final lap.
After Fogarty retired through injury at the start of 2000, the question was who could possibly replace him? Coming over after a BSB title in 1999, Troy Bayliss was the answer, but it would be a wildcard who gave Ducati their first win of the season with Neil Hodgson in a heroic Donington Park Race 2 charge, with him taking Frankie Chili on the final lap, closing in by over a second for his first win. Bayliss won at Hockenheim in Race 1. Another wildcard winner would come in the form of John Reynolds at Brands Hatch at the end of the season whilst a year later, it was Bayliss who returned Ducati to the Championship, winning an epic battle at Monza against rival Colin Edwards for a first win of the year.
In 2002, Bayliss started by making history, becoming the first rider in WorldSBK to win six straight races, and whilst he’d fight until the end of the year the title would be missed. However, 2003 welcomed Neil Hodgson’s domination and a mighty nine race wins on the bounce at the start of the year., including Ducati’s 200th podium. However, wildcard Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne completed a memorable double at Brands Hatch.
As Hodgson took the 2003 title and Ducati won every race, 2004 was similar; one of WorldSBK’s finest races was at Misano 2004, when Frankie Chili took his final win with a tyre gamble whilst James Toseland went on to become the youngest ever World Champion.
The title was taken in 2006 with Troy Bayliss, who conquered Assen’s Race 2 in 2007 in a classic duel with James Toseland. A year later, it was Lorenzo Lanzi who profited from a final corner shuffle at Valencia in Race 1, whilst it was a final hurrah for Bayliss who retired from racing as a Champion with victory in his final race.
In 2009, Michel Fabrizio won at home for the first time, whilst in 2011, the title was back in Bologna with Carlos Checa – Checa took the crown at Magny-Cours, having achieved Ducati’s 300th win at Silverstone.
Six generations of Ducati super sports bikes have contributed to writing the history of modern-day motorcycle racing, notching up a series of extraordinary achievements. In fact, the milestone of 400 victories can be added to the over 1,000 podiums (a result never achieved by any manufacturer in any motorcycle racing discipline), the 15 Riders’ World Titles and the 18 Manufacturers’ World Titles.
The rider who scored the 400th victory was Alvaro Bautista, who with the Assen hat-trick reached 40 WorldSBK wins with Ducati.
The 400 win milestone achieved thanks to the talent of Champions who have entered the hearts of fans, including Carl Fogarty with his 55 victories, our own Troy Bayliss with 52, Chaz Davies with 28, Doug Polen with 26, Raymond Roche with 23, but also 26 other riders who have contributed to this great achievement including of course Troy Corser (champion with Ducati in 1996), Garry McCoy (Phillip Island, 2004) and Anthony Gobert (Laguna Seca, 1999).
The triumphs of these champions have been accompanied and made possible by models that have indelibly marked the history of two-wheels. The most successful motorcycle is the iconic 916/996/998 with 120 victories, followed by the Panigale family with 87 wins (of which 59 were achieved by the current model, the Panigale V4) and the 851/888 with 78 first places.
Most of Ducati’s victories have come with Australians, Britons and Americans onboard, rather than with Italian riders.
The riders who contributed to the 400 WorldSBK victories
- Alvaro Bautista
- Troy Bayliss
- Ben Bostrom
- Shane Byrne
- Carlos Checa
- Pierfrancesco Chili
- Troy Corser
- Chaz Davies
- Michel Fabrizio
- Giancarlo Falappa
- Carl Fogarty
- Anthony Gobert
- Sylvain Guintoli
- Noriyuki Haga
- Neil Hodgson
- John Kocinski
- Regis Laconi
- Lorenzo Lanzi
- Mauro Lucchiari
- Marco Lucchinelli
- Garry McCoy
- Marco Melandri
- Andy Meklau
- Stephane Mertens
- Doug Polen
- Scott Redding
- John Reynolds
- Michael Ruben Rinaldi
- Raymond Roche
- James Toseland
- James Whitham
- Ruben Xaus
The bikes that contributed to the 400 victories in WorldSBK
- 851/888 – 78 victories
- 916/999/998 – 120 victories
- 999 – 63 victories
- 1098/1198 – 52 victories
- Panigale/Panigale V4 – 87 victories
