The British Superbike Championship began in 1988, with bikes conforming to 750cc
TT Formula I regulations, which the championship used through to 1993, when
Superbike regulations were adopted.
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 the
Superbike World Championship or
MotoGP. The
2006 British Superbike Championship was won by
Ryuichi Kiyonari, in what was one of the most exciting climaxes to a British Superbike season in years.
Kiyonari fought off the challenge of Ducati powered
Leon Haslam and
Gregorio Lavilla at the final round in
Brands Hatch in front of a capacity crowd and a reported 1.5 million live TV viewers, with Kiyonari and Haslam each winning one race, and Lavilla crashing and having an engine problem in both races. The
2009 British Superbike Championship was mainly dominated by the Yamaha of
Leon Camier who set a new record of 14 race wins in a season at event eight of twelve, such was his domination of the championship, beating the previous record of 13 by
Niall Mackenzie in the 1997 season. Guintoli, Brookes and Richards all missed races, allowing
Stuart Easton of Hydrex Honda and
Simon Andrews of MSS Colchester Kawasaki to challenge. It was claimed that BSB was the biggest supported British racing series, During 2009, 368,000 people attended BSB events across the country, and 8,000,000 fans watched 310 hours of television on the live Eurosport and delayed ITV coverage. For
2010, the Privateers cup was replaced by the Evolution Class. MSVR stated that "It will be open to anyone in the series from the official manufacturer-backed teams through to independent entries and will allow homologated machines with full Superbike racing rolling chassis to retain the very important visual impression, but engines will have to be built to very stringent "Stock" regulations. Along with standard engines a series specified control ECU device that eliminates any form of traction control, launch control and anti-wheelie devices will be compulsory". Qualifying was also altered, with the "Roll for Pole" only setting the grid for race one of each weekend. This is due to the race two grid being set by the fastest laps of each rider in race one. Also introduced is a "second chance" system if a rider crashes on lap one, that rider will only drop eight places from where they started the first race. At the pair of triple-race meetings, the same rules apply for race two, but will also be applied for race three.
Playoff Era (2010–present) Perhaps the biggest rule change was the dividing of the championship into two parts, similar to the system used in two major automobile racing series in the
United States – the
NASCAR Chase, and
National Hot Rod Association's Countdown to the Championship. The first nine meetings (19 races) form the "Main Season" of the championship, before the final three meetings (seven races) make up "The Showdown". The championship change has been introduced after
Leon Camier clinched the
2009 title with four races to spare, thus introducing a crescendo of competition. For the
2014 season, the playoff bonus points system was changed. Riders earned five points for a win, three points for second, and one point for third. For the
2021 season, the playoff system was adjusted again. Eight riders, up from six, will now compete in the playoff. == Title sponsors ==