INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTIONS · OFFICIAL PROGRAMME
NDUSTRIAL OLUTIONS
EXCITING CONTENT replacing all sorts of artisan and cottage industries . Powered by coal and steam , masses of factories , employing masses of humanity , turned raw materials into finished products for all on a scale never before seen .
In so many ways WorldSBK delivered an industrial revolution to the entire world of motorcycle racing from 1988 onwards . In the blue ribbon MotoGP™ world the use of fully prototype machinery is still certainly at the very centre of it , but if you want to understand why everybody in BSB , MotoAmerica , JSB , IDM , The Isle of Man TT , etc , is running something that started out as a road bike , you have to go back to a grey weekend at Donington Park in April 1988 .
Within five minutes of its birth WorldSBK was a vastly over-subscribed success with the potential competitors . There were over 60 different riders trying to qualify at Donington , a number that was even beaten and frequently repeated during the opening season , as almost everybody tried this new WorldSBK thing on for size . So , take time to remember , at some point during the endless sensory overload that this ‘ re-opened ’ Donington weekend will deliver , you are walking through the earliest memories of WorldSBK ; a form of racing that has changed the entire scene .
The old Donington Hall circuit - which the modern Donington Park still more-or-less shares some layout with - was first used in 1931 . During WWII the property was requisitioned as a depot for military vehicles until local businessman , Tom Wheatcroft , bought it and built it into a race venue fit to host MotoGP™ , F1 and WorldSBK races . A different owner ’ s ambitions did not meet with reality in the 2000s , and Donington came close to eventual closure in its entirety . Saved by Kevin Wheatcroft , son of Tom , and then transformed by the current MSV rights holders , the biggest event on Donington ’ s schedule is WorldSBK .
Geographically , Donington is the centre of the middle . It is simply surrounded by cities , some of them among the biggest in the UK .
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