It was the year 1988. In a spring afternoon, at the track of Donington Park, England, it take off the World Superbike Championship.

Marco Lucchinelli is riding the Ducati 851 (the prototype of the strong 888) and he will captures, at surprise, the victory over the beautiful English track. "The dice are rolling", the DUCATI and the Superbike become a inseparable binomial, with the factory of Borgo Panigale since then has never ceased to win the league dedicated to the beautiful big-four-stroke motorcycle, derived from the series. The formula adopted by SBK, in which the public can attend races with motorccycle that they can buy from dealers (at least in the aesthetic part ..), and it was immediately a success.

The first to love this new league were the British. This passion, even an accomplice to the repeat victories of DUCATI (which in the Italian collective it's the Ferrari of the two wheels ..) it did fast "landed" in Italy.

The SBK always gave us competitions and championships very exciting, often decided at the last " curve", a technical regulation accomplice very well studied, capable of leveling the values in the field between different types of motorcycles. From the beginning the rules provided for the displacement up to 1000cc for the two cylinders up to 900cc for a three-cylinder bikes up to 750cc for four cylinders. Being a championship for the series derived from the intelligence of its designers, is' the fact that technical regulations are not "fossilized," but follow the market trends, giving the possibility at the Manufacturers to flaunt their best sporting models.

Today, given the spread between the fans of big-engine capacities, the regulation provides bicilindriche up to 1200cc four-cylinder, up to 1000cc.

The SBK at first and it was seen as the "poor cousin" of the GP.

Over the years it has taken its own personality, giving a show, now unknown to the GP. Pilots who initially were represented by "old glories" of the GP that they were going to "make them retirement" in this league. Gradually have given way to more ' "specialists" of this formula, until it has' come to a reverse trend: the SBK is become an important reservoir from which the draw GP pilots. Examples of this trend are the world champion James Toseland SBK 2007, the world champion of GP 2006 Nicky Hayden, the SBK world champion in 2000 and 2002 Colin Edwards and many others. The Manufacturers have always been invested in this league (for example, KAWASAKI  did get back to the GP with the introduction of the propellers of four-stroke in 2003, while they was a constant presence in SBK, winning a world championship in 1993 by Scott Russell), who has a great follow-up by the public, seeing it as a showcase key to access the sport market.

Present challenge for the victory: DUCATI, HONDA, SUZUKI, YAMAHA, KAWASAKI, and from this year they will be part of bagarre also APRILIA BMW. In addition ther's talk about a return to competition of the glorious MV AGUSTA (now in the hands of the American colossus HARLEY-DAVIDSON) and the unforgettable BIMOTA.

The number of marks involved in this league give us the idea of the importance that the manufacturers give to the fact of giving a visibility their sporting creations.