WSBK: Donington Park: What We Learnt

With a week sweeping on by since World Superbike action graced Donington Park, it may be a good time to look back the British round of the championship and analyse what we learnt from what was a spectacular weekend of racing. With Brno less than a week away, it’s the perfect time to remind ourselves of the successes of the Donington Park meeting.

Yamaha are clearly back – even if it is for a period. Michael van der Mark’s double win was something extraordinary but people have seemingly forgotten that Alex Lowes was a race leader on Sunday. To have one bike up the sharp end may be a little bit more down to rider performance but to have both up the sharp end is no coincidence. Paul Denning’s squad have worked tirelessly for the last two seasons to get the ‘new’ Yamaha R1 on top of the box and they finally have. Brno is a circuit Yamaha have won at before too, when they were last in the championship in 2011, with Marco Melandri. Perhaps Donington Park was a sign of more to come…

Toprak comes good – and by good we mean stunning. We’ve known that Turkish rider Toprak Razgatlioglu has had the pace but to demonstrate it at Donington Park – the home turf of both Factory Kawasaki bikes – was something else. Not only did he stick close them down but he maintained race pace and used some instinctive race craft to pass reigning triple champion Jonathan Rea on the final lap. Hats off to Toprak and the entire Puccetti Kawasaki team on a thoroughly deserved podium. Despite Turkey losing one champion in Kenan Sofuoglu, it won’t be long until his protege becomes the new jewel in the crown of Turkish sport…

Ducati’s disaster – a costly one at that. Chaz Davies and Marco Melandri may struggle with their bikes at times but it a bit embarrassing for Ducati at Donington Park. The bike looked far from stable, both on the straights and in the corners. Never did I think that we’d consider Chaz Davies’ 5th in the second outing a good result – but after the weekend he had, it was a salvage job and then some. But have we just seen Ducati tip over the edge as far as the standings are concerned? After Jonathan Rea gave the opposition half a chance after two rounds, you’d think that the Bologna Bullets would be in far better shape. And Brno is new territory for the Panigale. Troubling times ahead? Unlikely. Championship lost? Almost certainly, especially if Yamaha remain in the mix…

Camier the brave, the conquerer and the potential upset – if he carries on the way he is going. 2009 BSB champion Leon Camier was back in action and literally going from strength to strength through the weekend. A double top ten after the horrible accident at Aragon for Camier is a remarkable achievement considering how much he’s been beaten around. And of the races Camier has finished this year, every single one has been in the top ten, showing that if he carries on in the right direction, he should reach that podium. Don’t be surprised when he does, Leon is a class act and on the Honda, he is really demonstrating his capabilities.

Wildcards done good – a future may well be bright in British racing on the world stage. Britain’s finest Superbike racers were out in force and boy did they show themselves in good light, particularly Bradley Ray – who placed his Suzuki in the points in both races, despite it only being a BSB-spec machine. Luke Mossey showed us that he had rediscovered his mojo and young Mason Law was setting some of his fastest lap times, so when he goes back to BSB, expect him to be knocking on the door of good points. Leon Haslam also showed well, despite crashing out of 2nd in race two. A solid top ten in race one however demonstrated that he is more than capable of running with the best of them on the world stage.

Attendance, attendance. It was the worst WSBK attendance at Donington Park since Dorna took over the series in 2013, with just 13,809 PAYING spectators coming through the gates – not to mention the many people who were sporting passes from teams. Whilst the atmosphere on Sunday may have been – well, distinctively subdued – the overall attendance at the venue for the three days was the 3rd-best since Dorna took over. Having said that, it was just over 4,500 down from last season. Whilst the appetite in Europe for WSBK has somewhat vanished, Assen and Imola both had their best crowds since Dorna took over across the three days.

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