World Super Bikes Donington Park

Images by RPW and Steven Smith Photography

20 July 2024

Photographing the Motul FIM Superbike World Championship at Donington Park is one of the must-do events of the year for the spectator photographer who likes a bit of two wheel action. With the best Superbike riders pushing the limits of man and machine around the Donington track, WSBK has started to attract large crowds again. Not as large as the Foggy days in the 1990s but still probably the biggest international event that Donington Park will host.

For this event we will usually have a lot of the PistonClick team out track side capturing the action but due to unfortunate circumstances only two managed to make this event. RPW Photography went on the Friday practice day and Steven Smith followed up for the weekend. As you can see they did a quality job capturing the action, and by all accounts it was a cracking event.

For this article I decided to focus on specific riders, and I did this for two reasons. First, there is a good chance you are reading this report in 2025 after searching for photography, WSBK and Donington Park. When visiting a major sporting event as an amateur photographer I find having a defined plan for your project helps you focus on what you want to get out of your visit trackside. 

Therefore, a list of riders for you to photograph is a great theme to get you motivated for the day, especially if you are not up to speed on the international racers. There are also wild cards given out at every round for local riders to have a one off race in the series, look out for those riders as well. The rider standings are before the Czech round held in July 2024.

#54 Toprak Razgatlioglu won the championship in 2021 and is leading the championship with 241 points in 2024 on his ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team BMW M 1000RR. Known for massive rolling stoppies, Toprak won all three races at Donington and smashed the lap record posting a 1’24.629s.

#11 Nicolo Bulega won the WorldSSP title in 2023, and moved up to WSBK in 2024. A very fast stylish rider on the stunning looking Aruba.it Racing Ducati Panigale V4 R and second in the championship.

#1 Alvaro Bautista is a tiny rider with an interesting haircut. With two consecutive titles to his name, Bautista is the rider with most wins for Ducati with 61 v Carl Fogarty’s 59 wins. This total will only increase with his third season on the Ducati Panigale V4 R Aruba.it Racing team. He is third in the championship.

#22 Alex Lowes is now the main rider for the Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK after Jonathan Rea moved to Yamaha last year. With two wins this year, he is having one of his best seasons so far. A P2 in race one and a P3 in race two secured Alex some valuable championship points. He is in fourth place on 145 points.

#65 Jonathan Rea Sitting in P11 this year Jonathan Rea is worth looking out for with six championship and 119 WSBK wins to his name, he is one of the all time greats of WSBK and should never be dismissed in a race. He demonstrated this in the Donington sprint race, coming in third.

#45 Scott Redding is a fan favourite, me included. He hasn’t set the WSBK paddock on fire since he moved from British Superbikes in 2019, his championship winning year. He is a great rider to watch, having an extreme riding style and a maverick persona, it’s not unknown for Redding to scrap his helmet on the track in corners, just for fun. 

#14 Sam Lowes usually runs number 22 but that has been taken by his twin brother Alex. Moving from Moto2 with the Elf Marc VDS Racing Team I find the purple Ducati Panigale V4 R to be one of the most photogenic bikes in the WSBK paddock. Sam was sitting in 15 place.

#95 Tarran Mackenzie won the British Superbikes in 2021 and moved to the World Super Sport series where he gave Honda its first win in a long time. Moving up to WSBK, he is in his rookie year and languishing in 20th place.

#28 Bradley Ray is another British rider who moved from BSB to WSBK after winning the BSB championship. In dead last place with the Yamaha Motoxracing Racing Team on the Yamaha YZF R1, he is having a tough time of it. 

World Super Sport 

In the World SSP there were a few British riders you can look out for that Ive listed below. Ive included the title favourite #99 Adrian Huertas but he will probably be racing in WSBK in 2025 he is that good, so look out for him in the main event in 2025.

#17 John McPhee spent 10 years in Moto3 with 4 Grand Prix victories to his name. In WorldSSP his is riding the Triumph Street Triple RS 765 WRP-RT Motorsport by SKM-Triumph.

#69 Thomas Booth-Amos rides a Triumph Street Triple RS 765 PTR Triumph for the 2024 season.

The race card at the WSBK is packed with plenty to keep you occupied between the headline racers appearing on track. At all of these events a domestic race series or two are thrown in. For the UK it was the BMW F900 R Cup and British Junior SuperSport, both support series from British Super Bikes.

One race series that is unique to WSBK is the FIM Women’s Circuit Racing World Championship. Ones to watch are #22 Ana Carrasco who won the 2018 World Supersport 300 Championship, making her the only female world champion in history. She is second in the championship after a win and second place at Donington.

#6 Maria Herrera riding for the Klint Forward Factory Team leads the championship by 7 points. All riders in the WorldWCR race the same motorcycle, the Yamaha YZF-R7.

So there is your list of riders to look out for at the British round of the World Super Bikes and a few British riders that are interesting and well know within the BSB Championship. You could of course capture all of these riders at one corner but where is the challenge in that. If you want to challenge your self and try out multiple locations our guide to where to take photos at Donington Park is here.