Early years The Superbike World Championship began in , being open to modified versions of road bike models available to the public. For many years, the formula allowed for machines with 1,000 cc
V-twin engines (principally
Ducati, but later
Aprilia and
Honda) to go up against the 750 cc
four-cylinder engines (
Honda,
Yamaha,
Kawasaki and
Suzuki). For the first few seasons Honda won with the
RC30, but gradually the twins got the upper hand. Using 1,000 cc V-twin engines benefited Ducati and it was able to dominate the championship for many years, but the 750 cc was second or third each year between 1994 and 1999. Held under the
FIM, the
Formula TT from 1977 to 1989 once constituted the official motorcycle World Cup. Having proven itself both popular and commercially viable, it was decided by the end of the 1990 season to end the Formula TT and the Superbike World Championship would succeed it.
1990s and early 2000s From to
Carl Fogarty and Ducati dominated, Fogarty won the title a record four times and finished as runner-up twice on factory Ducatis.
Troy Corser also won the 1996 title and finished as runner-up in 1995, both times on a Ducati. Realizing that 1,000 cc V-twin engines suited the superbike racing formula more, Honda introduced its own V-Twin powered motorcycle the
VTR1000 SPW in . The result was clear right away as
Colin Edwards won the championship in the bike's first year of competition. Ducati regained the title in with
Troy Bayliss. Colin Edwards again reclaimed the title in 2002 on the same VTR1000 SPW bike.
2002 Colin Edwards won his second
championship in what was arguably the most impressive comeback in the history of motorcycle racing. The season started with
Troy Bayliss winning the first 6 races and by the end of race 1 at
WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca he had 14 wins and was leading the championship by 58 points. Race 2 at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca was the start of
Colin Edwards' comeback, he went on to win all 9 remaining races and (aided by a race 2 crash for Bayliss at
Assen) Edwards won the championship at the final race of the season at
Imola. The final race of the season saw both riders fighting wheel to wheel for the entire race. The race is known by fans as the "Showdown at Imola". The manufacturer's championship was won by
Ducati. During these years the Superbike World Championship reached the zenith of its popularity, with global fan and full factory support.
2003 In the FIM changed the rules to allow 1,000 cc machines (twins, triples or four-cylinder) to race. Rule changes in
MotoGP to allow
four-stroke engines meant that the Japanese manufacturers focused their resources there, leaving the Superbike World Championship with limited factory involvement (only Ducati and Suzuki). also saw the entry of
Carl Fogarty’s Foggy
Petronas FP1. The bike was developed under the previous regulations and was powered by a
three cylinder 900 cc engine. With most of the field running Ducati motorcycles, the championship received the derogatory title "the Ducati Cup". The factory Ducati Team entered the only two Ducati 999s in the field, taking 20 wins from 24 races in a season where all races were won by Ducati.
Neil Hodgson won the title on a factory Ducati.
2004 In an effort to create a more competitive field in organizers announced a series of changes to the championship. The most significant was that from the teams have had to run on
Pirelli control or 'spec' tyres. The decision to award the control tyre to Pirelli was controversial. The Pirelli tyres were considered to be below the standard of
Dunlop and
Michelin that most of the teams had been using. Dunlop looked to take legal action against the decision while Pirelli claimed that Michelin and Dunlop were also asked if they would be interested in the one-make tyre rule contract. Partly as a result of the control tyres, Motorcycle Sports Manufacturer Association (Aprilia, Ducati, Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki and Yamaha) announced that no MSMA teams would participate in the Superbike World Championship, later modifying their statement allowing Ducati to participate.
2005 (1) on a
Ducati leads
Chris Walker (9) on a
Kawasaki and
Yukio Kagayama (71) on a
Suzuki during a 2005 Superbike World Championship race Following Ten Kate Honda's success Japanese motorcycles made a return in with major teams from all four Japanese manufacturers run through teams ran by European importers.
Troy Bayliss attempted to defend his title, riding once again a
Ducati 999. Though 999 production ended in 2006 and the bike was replaced by the
Ducati 1098, Ducati produced 150 limited-edition 999s at an elevated race specification to satisfy
homologation requirements. Bayliss' main rivals in his title defense included former MotoGP rider
Max Biaggi riding a Suzuki, 2004 champion
James Toseland riding a Honda and
Noriyuki Haga riding a Yamaha. The combination of some uneventful races in MotoGP and some exciting races in SBK saw the championship's popularity increase even more. The championship was won by James Toseland in the season's last race. His 415 points put him two points ahead of Noriyuki Haga, with former MotoGP winner Max Biaggi following with 397 points on a Suzuki.
2008 After introducing the
Ducati 1098 in 2007 powered by a 1,099 cc v-twin engine Ducati requested that Superbike rules be changed to allow v-twins of up to 1,200 cc compete against 1,000 cc four-cylinder bikes. Ducati argued that they no longer produced a road-going 1,000 cc V-twin superbike and that the level of tuning now needed to make their 999 competitive on the race track was too expensive. Ducati said they would quit if the rules were not changed, The FIM eventually included the 1,200 cc displacement limit for twins in the superbike rules. According to the new rules, twin-cylinder motorcycles would be 6 kg heavier than four-cylinder machines (168 kg to 162 kg) and would also have a 50 mm
air restrictor fitted. The weight limit and the intake-restrictor size of twin machines would be updated, if needed, during the Championship, by a system analysing the race points obtained. The new rules also changed the minimum number of bikes required to acquire
homologation. For 2008 and 2009, all manufacturers, regardless of total production numbers, had to produce a minimum of 1,000 bikes to acquire homologation. From 2010 onwards, the minimum production number was increased to 3,000 bikes. In the past, smaller manufacturers were allowed to build as few as 150 bikes to meet the homologation requirements. Manufacturers took advantage of this by producing 'homologation specials'--highly tuned versions of their road bikes with performance parts designed especially for racing. The 2008 SBK championship was dominated by
Troy Bayliss of Australia, on his Ducati 1098, who concluded his season and his career with a double win at the brand new, 195-million-Euro Portimao circuit in Portugal, after which he retired.
2009 During the offseason,
Yamaha lost
Noriyuki Haga to
Ducati, who signed him to replace the retired
Troy Bayliss. His place was taken by 3-times
AMA champion
Ben Spies, who was expected to give Haga serious competition. Ben Spies took a record 11 poles in the 14 round series and 14 wins (17 podiums) in 28 races; his main rival Haga was more consistent, finishing on the podium 19 times but winning only 8 races. 2009 also saw the debut of
BMW and the return of
Aprilia. Aprilia took a fourth final place in the championship with
Max Biaggi, while BMW finished thirteenth with
Troy Corser.
2010 2009 Champion
Ben Spies moved to
MotoGP.
James Toseland returned to the championship after 2 seasons in MotoGP and took Spies place at the Sterilgarda Yamaha World Superbike team, partnered by fellow Brit
Cal Crutchlow. The factory
Ducati team retained their two riders. The 2010 season started on February 28 at
Phillip Island and ended on October 3 at
Magny-Cours.
2011 The knockout system introduced for
Superpole in
2009 was revised as the number of riders admitted to the first two sessions was reduced from twenty to sixteen and from sixteen to twelve respectively.
Ducati no longer competed with a factory team in 2011, after 23 seasons which had brought the marque a total of 29 riders' and manufacturers' championship titles, instead limiting its participation to privateer teams running their works bikes.
Aprilia's gear-driven
camshafts on its
RSV4 motorcycle – which won the title in with
Max Biaggi – was banned for the 2011 season. After a dominating since season opening,
Carlos Checa won his first championship and Ducati's 17th manufacturer title.
2012 The season saw the number of complete motorcycles in use limited to one per rider; this meant that the rules allowing bike changes during a race (
flag-to-flag) were cancelled.
Aprilia rider
Max Biaggi clinched his second SBK championship, pipping
Kawasaki rider
Tom Sykes by just half a point.
Marco Melandri won more races than both Biaggi and Sykes this season but failing to score points in 5 of the last 6 races cost him the title.
2013 The season saw the number of riders per row on the starting grid reduced from four to three; the knockout system in use for
Superpole was revised as the number of riders admitted to the first and to the third session changed from sixteen to fifteen and from eight to nine respectively. Aprilia's
Sylvain Guintoli became the Superbike World Champion at the last race, prevailing over
Tom Sykes by six points in the standings. But both
Marco Melandri and
Tom Sykes won more races than
Sylvain Guintoli this season. With Sykes winning 8 and Melandri 6 compared to Guintoli's 5.
2015 Jonathan Rea became 2015 World Superbike Champion riding a Kawasaki.
2016 Jonathan Rea won his second consecutive Superbike World Championship title at the first race of the last round at
Losail, while
Kawasaki had secured the manufacturers' title at the previous event at
Jerez.
Chaz Davies won the most races this season with Davies winning 11 races to Rea's 9. After changes in the standard weekend timetable, the first race, which was previously run on Sunday along with the second one, was scheduled to be held on Saturday.
2017 The season saw the revision of the starting grid format for the second race, which was previously based on qualifying results for both races: riders placed from fourth to ninth in Race 1 were promoted to the first two rows for Race 2; then the third, the second and the winner followed on the third row; the remaining riders were sorted from the tenth grid slot onwards according to Superpole results.
Jonathan Rea won his third Superbike world title for Kawasaki, by winning the
Magny-Cours Race 1. His victory gave him an unassailable lead with five races remaining. The season was marred by the death of Honda rider and
former MotoGP World Champion Nicky Hayden, who succumbed to injuries sustained in a
pedal-cycling accident near
Rimini, Italy, on 22 May.
2018 Jonathan Rea won his fourth Superbike world title for Kawasaki. 2018 was the final season run with the two-race format, as a three-race format was introduced for 2019.
2019 A new race format was introduced for the 2019 season. As in
2018, two normal length races (Race 1 and Race 2) were held – one each on Saturday and Sunday (Friday and Saturday in Qatar). A third race, a ten lap sprint named the Superpole Race, was held on the final morning of the weekend prior to Race 2. The starting grids for Race 1 and the Superpole Race were determined by a single 25-minute Superpole Qualifying session. The grid for Race 2 featured the top nine riders in the Superpole Race in the order in which they finished followed by the remaining riders sorted by their Superpole Qualifying times.
Jonathan Rea won his fifth Superbike world title for Kawasaki.
2020 In a season shortened by the Covid pandemic,
Jonathan Rea won his sixth Superbike world title for Kawasaki.
2021 The championship was won by
Toprak Razgatlıoğlu.
2022 Álvaro Bautista won his first championship and
Ducati's 18th manufacturer title.
2023 On 23 April 2023,
Ducati reached
400 victories in Superbike and
Álvaro Bautista won
40 victories.
Álvaro Bautista won his second Superbike world title for
Ducati and
Ducati won its 19th manufacturer title.
2024 Jonathan Rea moved from
Kawasaki to
Yamaha.
Nicolò Bulega, 2023 Supersport champion, makes his debut at the Superbike World Championship.
Toprak Razgatlıoğlu moves from
Yamaha to
BMW. On March 24, 2024,
Álvaro Bautista reached
60 victories with Ducati. On 1 April 2024,
Formula One Owners
Liberty Media Bought 86% of
Dorna Sport which owns
MotoGP and World Superbikes.
Toprak Razgatlıoğlu, who had previously won the championship in 2021, won his second Superbike world title. Ducati won its 20th manufacturer title.
2025 Jonathan Rea declared his retirement at the end of this season.
Toprak Razgatlıoğlu won his third Superbike world title.
Ducati won its 21st Superbike world title. On 19 October 2025,
Nicolò Bulega achieved
20 Superbike victories. While Toprak Razgatlıoğlu left Superbike at the end of this season as world champion, moving on to
MotoGP with
Yamaha for 2026. Toprak Razgatlıoğlu has achieved
78 Superbike victories, second only to Jonathan Rea in the all-time Superbike wins list.
2026 ==Riders==