Alvaro Bautista’s victory in Saturday’s World Superbike race at Autodrom Most was the 1000th for Ducati drivers in the Superbike World Championship.
52 different motorcycle racers have brought Ducati victories since 1988 when the FIM Superbike World Championship was born.
Entry into the championship did not bring Ducati success immediately. It took the factory project and its satellites a year to reach the podium in a fight with Honda and Bimota. The first victory in 1989 Ducati was brought by the 1981 Moto Grand Prix World Champion Marco Lucchinelli: the Italian took two cups over the weekend – silver in the 1st race and gold in the 2nd.
Ducati’s golden era at WorldSBK began in the 90s when Doug Polen and Carl Fogarty played for the factory. In just a couple of years, Ducati pilots managed to reach the 100 podium mark and reach 150 in 1993.
The 300th Ducati podium brought Fogarty in 1998.
Troy Bayliss crossed the mark of 375 prizes, but the 400th Ducati podium was brought by pilot Steve Hislop, who went to the start on a wildcard.
In 2003, Neil Hodgson and James Toseland, two British racers fought for the right to take the 500th Ducati prize, and it went to Tozland, but Hodgson took the title.
The 600th on the account of Ducati factory pilot Regis Laconi, who won the 2nd race in Misano in 2005.
The last decade has been marked by Ducati’s constant battle for the title. Chaz Davis, Marco Melandri, and Alvaro Bautista scored 300 prizes together.
Ducati became the first factory that managed to reach the 1000 podium mark among all manufacturers in the World Superbike.
382 out of 1000 prizes are gold cups for victories.
Carl Fogarty personally earned Ducati 100 prizes, Troy Bayliss second after him with 94.
53 different riders have reached the podium at 46 different championship tracks in 34 years.
Ducati has not missed a single World Superbike season in these 34 seasons.