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Championship Winners - All Years
Jonathan Rea 6 Carl Fogarty 4 Troy Bayliss 3 Fred Merkel 2 Doug Polen 2 Colin Edwards 2 Troy Corser 2 James Toseland 2 Max Biaggi 2 Alvaro Bautista 2 Raymond Roche 1 Scott Russell 1 John Kocinski 1 Neil Hodgson 1 Ben Spies 1 Carlos Checa 1 Tom Sykes 1 Sylvain Guintoli 1 Toprak Razgatlioglu 1
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Race Wins - Top Ten Jonathan Rea 119 Carl Fogarty 59 Alvaro Bautista 59 Troy Bayliss 52 Noriyuki Haga 43 Toprak Razgatlioglu 39 Tom Sykes 34 Troy Corser 33 Chaz Davies 32 Colin Edwards 31 |
Races Started - Top Five Jonathan Rea 413 Troy Corser 377 Tom Sykes 367 Leon Haslam 325 Noriyuki Haga 313
Podium Places - Top Five Jonathan Rea 263 Troy Corser 130 Noriyuki Haga 116 Toprak Razgatlioglu 115 Tom Sykes 114
Superpole Qualifying - Top Five
Tom Sykes 51 Troy Corser 43 Jonathan Rea 43 Troy Bayliss 26 Carl Fogarty 21
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Race Fastest Laps - Top Five
Jonathan Rea 104 Noriyuki Haga 59 Alvaro Bautista 52 Carl Fogarty 48 Troy Corser 45
Career Points - Top Five Jonathan Rea 6172.15 Troy Corser 4021.5 Tom Sykes 3711.5 Noriyuki Haga 3691 Carl Fogarty 3020
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So much for the absolute top of the tree thing , and who is your most personal candidate for your best WorldSBK rider of all time from that lot . If we are looking at the proven Champion then we should also spread the roots of our WorldSBK family tree into an adjacent fertile soil where one question does not lay dormant in any ‘ discussion ’ for long .
Who is the greatest WorldSBK rider never to have won a Championship ?
I mean , the names just come hurtling out of your head , if it is as old a head as mine , at least .
Look at the list above and Noriyuki Haga springs forward . He so nearly won the title against Spies in 2009 , but it all got too much on the final day . He also missed out by just two points in 2007 . Probably , statistically , it ’ s Haga . Maybe .
Mind you , could be the same idea with Aaron Slight , who could and maybe should have won the 1998 title but for tyre choice and performance issues , not helped by the pressure and expectation surrounding the three-way fight for the Championship with a suddenly injured Corser and made Fogarty Champion again .
What about Marco Melandri , who came close more than once ? Chaz Davies even more so , as he was only kept from potential multiple title success by the absolute GOAT , Jonathan Rea . Was his second place worth more than most others , given who he was up against . Like Melandri , he proved he could win on almost any bike .
Early era runner Stephane Mertens was another Swiss army knife of a rider , who was just points away from Championship success more than once . And what about Pierfancesco Chili ? Chris Vermeulen ? Leon Haslam ? Rob Phillis ?
Please feel free to continue this particular conversation in the bar or restaurant after today ’ s race action is finished , because like all the really big hypothetical questions , there is no correct answer . Except your own .