#UKWorldSBK Manufacturers profiles from Donington Park

Aprilia have recorded eight podiums at Donington, but they are yet to win their first race here. They finished second three times, the last one in 2013’s Race 2 with Sylvain Guintoli. Last year their best result was recorded by Tati Mercado, a 7th in Race 1. The second race was a nightmare for Aprilia, as none of their three riders made it to the finish.

BMW recorded their first WorldSBK win here in 2012’s Race 1, a 1-2 with Melandri and Haslam. They were in the position to repeat that in Race 2, but last turn contact between Rea and Haslam knocked out both works BMWs. BMW claimed a third podium spot here in 2013 Race 1, with Melandri taking second after passing Rea and Guintoli. Last year BMW’s best result came from Jordi Torres, ninth in Race 1.

Ducati hold the lead in the standings for the most wins at Donington, but this has narrowed considerably in recent times due to Kawasaki success. The Italian bike has won here 17 times, Kawasaki follows at 15. Their last win came in 2011’s Race 2, with Carlos Checa. Last year Ducati took their podium tally to 53 here thanks to a third place from Davies in Race 2. The lead in Donington podiums for Ducati is huge, as Kawasaki follows at 34. In 2014 Giugliano recorded the last of the 15 Ducati poles here, also a record of the track.

Honda have won here seven, with no less than six different riders: Fred Merkel, Aaron Slight, Colin Edwards, James Toseland, Ryuichi Kiyonari and Jonathan Rea. The only Honda rider who won twice at Donington is Colin Edwards (1999 Race 2 and 2000 Race 1). Their last podium finish at Donington Park was with Rea, who won the race in 2012, Race 2. Last year the only Honda to compete was Stefan Bradl’s, who retired in Race 1 and was 11th in Race 2.

Kawasaki have the first chance to equal Ducati’s win tally here this year, as they have 15 wins to Ducati’s 17. The success has come in recent seasons as before the Sykes-Rea era, the count was 17 for Ducati and just five for Kawasaki. Starting from 2013, Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) nailed nine straight wins at Donington and Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) took the string to 10 last year in Race 2. It’s a unique sequence of wins for a manufacturer at this legendary track. In the last eight races at Donington, Kawasaki finished 1-2 no less than seven times: in 2014 with Sykes and Loris Baz (both races), in 2015 with Sykes-Rea (both races), in Race 2 2016 (Sykes-Rea), and last year with Sykes-Haslam in Race 1 and Rea-Sykes in Race 2.

The best result for MV Agusta at Donington is a fourth in 2016’s race one from Leon Camier. 2017 saw Camier take two top six finishes with the Italian manufacturer.

Yamaha have won seven times at Donington, the last one came in Race 1’s 2011, courtesy of Marco Melandri. Up until last year that was also their last podium here, but Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) was able to address that finishing third in Race 1. Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) came close to the podium as he was fourth in Race 2.

Fonte: WorldSBK.com.