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STATS GUIDE: will we see more close finishes in WorldSBK at Phillip Island?

Thursday, 23 February 2023 01:18 GMT

Blink and you’ll miss it – that’s the rule at Phillip Island with WorldSBK, as more classics await

The engines are on, the curtains are drawn, and the Bass Strait greets the 2023 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship and a new year of racing: welcome to the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit and Round 1 of the year. WorldSBK’s history on ‘The Island’ is endless, so we’ve got all the stats, need-to-know numbers and armchair knowledge for the first stats guide of the season.

378 – In his next start, Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) will set the new record for WorldSBK races run, 378, leaving Troy Corser at 377.

350 – Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) will start for the 350th time at his next race. He will be the third rider in history to reach this goal after Corser and Rea.

330.3 – Phillip Island’s top speed record is 330.3km/h, set by Chaz Davies in 2020.

70 – With one more win, Spain will hit 70 in the all-time list. 67 of these wins came from just three riders: Alvaro Bautista, 32; Carlos Checa, 24; Ruben Xaus, 11; with Fonsi Nieto and Jordi Torres at 1.

64 – Last year, Phillip Island claimed back the record for most WorldSBK races: 64. With it starting the 2023 season, the total will be 67. The first round of the track on the calendar was back in 1990.

29 – Ducati is the most successful manufacturer at Phillip Island with 29 wins. Last year, they claimed two wins with Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati), who won three times in 2019, and is only one short of the most successful Ducati rider here (Troy Bayliss: six wins for Ducati at Phillip Island).

26 – Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) is on a points-scoring streak of 26 races. With three more he will enter the top ten of all-time, surpassing the 28-race streaks of Doug Polen (1991-1992), Simon Crafar (1994-1995), Chaz Davies (2015-2016) and Alex Lowes (2019-2020).

23 - Australian riders have 23 wins on ‘The Island’; the last was in 2008, a double by Troy Bayliss.

18 – Phillip Island is the home for thrilling finishes: no less than 18 races here were decided by less than 0.1 seconds. In 2020, the margin of victory was 0.007 (Razgatlioglu-Lowes), 0.067 (Rea-Razgatlioglu), 0.037 (Lowes-Rea) respectively.

16/8 – With 16 World titles on the grid, it’s more than any other WorldSBK line-up at the start of the season. With eight different World Champions, it ties the record set back in 2017 and 2021.

15 – Last year, Rea claimed the record for Phillip Island podiums: 15, leaving Troy Corser on 12.

14.983 – In 2019, Alvaro Bautista made a stunning debut in WorldSBK, winning his maiden race with a gap of 14.983 seconds over Jonathan Rea, the largest winning margin in a dry race at Phillip Island.

13 - The last rider who won at Phillip Island starting outside the top ten on the grid is Noriyuki Haga; he lined up in 13th position in 2009 Race 1, and by the end of the opening lap he was already in second place and took the lead after just four laps.

7-7 – The award for most wins at Phillip Island is shared by Jonathan Rea and Troy Corser, both on seven. Of the current riders, Bautista is in striking distance on five.

7 – No less than seven manufacturers set pole at Phillip Island: the latest addition was BMW in 2020 (Sykes). The record is Ducati, with 12 poles, the last one last year with Alvaro Bautista.

1 – Only once in WorldSBK history the podium was composed by riders starting outside the top ten grid spots. That was in Phillip Island 2009, Race 1. Noriyuki Haga won from 13th, Max Neukirchner was second from 14th and Yukio Kagayama was third from 11th.

0.004 – The closest finish in WorldSBK history happened in 2010 at Phillip Island in Race 1, as Leon Haslam beat Michel Fabrizio by 0.004s.

SHORTHAND NOTEBOOK

2022 race winners:

  • Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki, Race 1)
  • Alvaro Bautista (Ducati, Superpole Race and Race 2)

Last three polesitters at Phillip Island:

  • 2022: Alvaro Bautista (Ducati) 1’29.815s
  • 2020: Tom Sykes (BMW) 1’29.230s
  • 2019: Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki) 1’29.413s

Manufacturer podium places (and wins) in WorldSBK at Phillip Island:

  • Ducati: 70 (29)
  • Kawasaki: 39 (13)
  • Honda: 27 (4)
  • Yamaha: 23 (6)
  • Aprilia: 15 (6)
  • Suzuki: 6 (5)
  • BMW: 3
  • Bimota: 1 (1)

Key gaps from Phillip Island in 2022:

  • Front row covered by: 0.238s
  • 1 second in Superpole covered… the top 6: 0.912s
  • Closest race gap between 1st and 2nd: 3.285s (Bautista 1st, Razgatlioglu 2nd, Superpole Race)
  • Closest podium: 3.328s (Bautista 1st, Razgatlioglu 2nd, Rea 3rd, Superpole Race)
  • Closest podium of all time: 0.041s (Razgatlioglu 1st, Lowes 2nd, Redding 3rd, Race 1, 2020)

Manufacturer top speeds at Phillip Island in 2022:

  • Ducati: Bautista, Rinaldi and Oettl – 327.2 km/h, Superpole Race, Race 2
  • Honda: Vierge and Nagashima – 327.2 km/h, Race 2
  • Yamaha: Razgatlioglu – 325.3 km/h, Race 1, Warm Up
  • Kawasaki: Lowes – 324.3 km/h, Race 2
  • BMW: Redding – 324.3 km/h, FP3, Race 2

THE GOLDEN ERA CONTINUES: enjoy Round 1 LIVE and AD-FREE with the WorldSBK VideoPass!