British Superbike Championship

British Superbike Championship
Teams	5 manufacturers
Sport	Motorcycle sport
Founded	1988
Country	United Kingdom
Champion	Ryuichi Kiyonari (Rider) Honda (Manufacturer)

The British Superbike Championship series is the leading motorcycle racing championship in the United Kingdom.

The Series, known to most as "BSB", is managed and organised by MCRCB-Events. The commercial and television rights have been delegated to DORNA UK Limited, part of the wider DORNA Sports group which is the commercial and television rights holder of MotoGP.

The Series and Race Director is Stuart Higgs. Event marshals are provided by the Racesafe Marshals Association.

In 2007 it features 13 meetings, including a single overseas event at Mondello Park in Ireland, each featuring 2 races. Races are covered live by ITV and Sky Sports, with sponsorship from Bennetts bike insurance. The grids usually consist of more than 30 riders, consisting of production-based bikes from Ducati, Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki and Suzuki. Most teams use Dunlop tyres, although Pirelli and Michelin also feature. Team sponsors include Eddie Stobart trucking, Airwaves chewing gun and Rizla tobacco paper.

A "Cup" class exists for riders running in privately owned teams; past champions of this include Shane Byrne in 2001, and James Ellison in 2004. There is also a Manufacturer's Championship, in which the top bike from each constructor scores.

In 2005, the overall championship was won by Spanish rider Gregorio Lavilla on a Ducati 999 F04 (1000cc vee-twin), ahead of 1000cc in-line four Hondas ridden by Japanese rider Ryuichi Kiyonari and Michael Rutter. 2004 champion John Reynolds endured an injury-hit season, after which the veteran (he also won the 1992 and 2001 championships) announced his retirement from racing. The 2003 champion Shane 'Shakey' Byrne returned to the series for 2006 on the Suzuki Reynolds vacated.

The 2006 British Superbike season was won by Kiyonari at the final round in Brands Hatch in front of a capacity crowd and a reported 1.5 million Live TV viewers. Second was Leon Haslam with Lavilla third.

Niall Mackenzie was the most successful rider of the 1990s, with three titles. Other past champions include Neil Hodgson, Australian Troy Bayliss and Steve Hislop. Chris 'the Stalker' Walker has finished as runner up 4 times. Many riders from the series have gone on to race in World Superbikes or MotoGP.

BSB Superbike Champions

Year	Series	Rider	Country	Bike	Team	Notes
1987	Superbike	Gavin Bennett	Wales	Ducati		Gavin went on to race snails professionally across the pub circuit
1988	750cc / TT F1	Darren Dixon	England	Suzuki		Dixon went on to pilot sidecars alongside passenger Andy Hetherington
1989	Superbike	Brian Morrison	Scotland	Honda
1990	750cc / TT F1	Terry Rymer	England	Yamaha
1991	750cc / TT F1	Rob McElnea	England	Yamaha
1992	750cc / TT F1	John Reynolds	England	Kawasaki
1993	Superbike	James Whitham	England	Yamaha	Fast Orange
1994	Superbike	Ian Simpson	Scotland	Norton rotary F1
1995	Superbike	Steve Hislop	Scotland	Ducati 916/955	Devimead	Whitham was suffering from/treated for Hodgkin's_Disease, a form of cancer
1996	Superbike	Niall Mackenzie	Scotland	Yamaha YZF750
1997	Superbike	Niall Mackenzie	Scotland	Yamaha YZF750	Cadbury's Boost
1998	Superbike	Niall Mackenzie	Scotland	Yamaha YZF750	Cadbury's Boost	Included a total of 387 points, 6 race wins, 1 pole position, from 24 races
1999	Superbike	Troy Bayliss	Australia	Ducati 996	INS GSE	Included a total of 394 points, 7 race wins, 6 pole positions, from 24 races
2000	Superbike	Neil Hodgson	England	Ducati 996	INS GSE	Included a total of 422 points, 7 race wins, 5 pole positions, from 24 races
2001	Superbike	John Reynolds	England	Ducati 996 RS	Reve Red Bull	Included a total of 536 points
2002	Superbike	Steve Hislop	Scotland	Ducati 998 RS	Paul Bird MonsterMob	Included a total of 452 points, 8 race wins, 5 pole positions, 17 podiums, & 1 dnf, from 26 races
2003	Superbike	Shane 'Shakey' Byrne	England	Ducati 998 F02	Paul Bird MonsterMob	Included a total of 488 points, 12 race wins, 5 pole positions, 21 podiums, & 1 dnf, from 24 races
2004	Superbike	John Reynolds	England	Suzuki GSX-R1000	Crescent Q8 Rizla	Included a total of 446 points, from 26 races
2005	Superbike	Gregorio Lavilla	Spain	Ducati 999 F04	Airwaves GSE	Reynolds injured in pre-season testing. Included a total of 461 points, from 26 races
2006	Superbike	Ryuichi Kiyonari	Japan	Honda CBR1000RR FireBlade	HM Plant HRC	Included a total of 466 points, 11 race wins, from 26 races
2007	Superbike	Ryuichi Kiyonari	Japan	Honda CBR1000RR FireBlade	HM Plant HRC	Included a total of 433 points, 8 race wins, from 26 races
2008	Superbike

See Also

• 2006 British Superbike season
• 2007 British Superbike season
• 2008 British Superbike season

References

• British SuperBike official site
• Racesafe Marshals Association
• MCRCB-Events
• Fully detailed list of British champions