Brno: Series marks 500th race

World Superbike reaches #500 mark with Czech Republic Round at Brno

The Superbike World Championship notches up an important benchmark this coming weekend at the Automotodrom Brno circuit in the Czech Republic as the production-based racing series reaches the #500 mark with Sunday's race 2. The championship got underway at Donington Park on April 3, 1988 and this weekend's round at Brno will see races #499 and #500. Even though the Czech Republic Round is the 252nd in the championship's history, on four occasions (1988 Le Mans, 2001 Phillip Island, 2005 Imola, 2007 Silverstone), only race 1 was held due to inclement weather conditions. Let's have a look at some of the most important statistics for the 20-year-old championship.

878 riders from 39 different countries have taken part in at least one race of the championship, making a total of 14,544 race presences, made up as follows: <pre> Country Riders Races

Italy           127     3,509
Denmark         4       51
Great Britain   79      1,751
Slovakia        2       48
Australia       108     1,733
Ireland         5       37
Japan           98      1,155
Greece          2       29
France          61      1,087
Brazil          1       26
USA             52      923
Hungary         2       28
Spain           39      812
Columbia        1       18
Germany         57      628
Norway          7       20
New Zealand     31      492
Malaysia        5       16
Austria         44      424
Turkey          1       16
Switzerland     33      307
Poland          3       12
Belgium         10      297
Thailand        2       6
Czech Republic  7       226
Qatar           2       6
Sweden          8       174
Croatia         2       8
Netherlands     22      175
Argentina       2       4
Canada          24      124
Hong Kong       1       2
Slovenia        4       114
Indonesia       1       6
Finland         9       108
Mexico          1       2
South Africa    7       88
Singapore       1       2
Portugal        12      80
Total           878     14,544

Manufacturer statistics are as follows:

Manufacturer Races

Ducati          4,630
Yamaha          2,843
Kawasaki        2,590
Honda           2,548
Suzuki          1,321
Bimota          229
Petronas        177
Aprilia         157
Benelli         29
MV Agusta       20
Total           14,544

-credit: worldsbk.com