Donington Park in the UK will stage the seventh Superbike World Championship round on 11-13 July. For this upcoming event, the PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda Team will field experienced rider Tito Rabat alongside Ivo Lopes, who stands in for permanent entry Zaqhwan Zaidi.

Malaysian rider Zaidi will be competing in the ARRC round at Motegi, Japan this coming weekend, with the event affording him another chance to advance and sharpen his skills in international competition. Zaidi will be substituted by Ivo Lopes, who rejoins the team for the British WorldSBK round. Lopes collaborated with the team during the 2024 season, serving as a substitute rider at the Portimão, Magny-Cours, Cremona, Estoril and Jerez rounds. The Portuguese rider has solid knowledge of the bike and team, but has never competed at Donington, so a new challenge awaits in that respect. 28-year-old Lopes is nevertheless keen to do his best and make the most of this latest opportunity to perform on the world stage.

On the other side of the garage, experienced SBK rider Tito Rabat will compete with the PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda Team for the first time. Although he has no experience of the Honda CBR1000RR-R, the 36-year-old has solid knowledge of the production-derived series, having made his WorldSBK debut in 2021 after many years seasons in the 125cc, Moto2 and MotoGP world championships. The 2014 Moto2 World Champion is keen to show what he can do aboard a new bike at Donington, a track that combines tight technical sections and sweeping corners.

The British circuit of Donington Park was originally inaugurated in 1931, which makes it the oldest circuit still in operation today. It has been a regular fixture on the WorldSBK calendar since hosting the very first production-derived races back in 1988. The track measures 4.023 km and comprises seven right-hand corners and five left-handers. 

Tito Rabat

“After sitting out the Misano round, I’m definitely going into the Donington round highly motivated to do well. This will be the first time that I’ll be riding the Honda Superbike and working with the team, without any preparation or test time, so it won’t be easy of course. But it is a great opportunity and I’ll be doing my best to make the most of it. The goal will be to try and improve as much as we can session by session; we’ll see what we can do. I want to thank the PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda Team for the opportunity and hope I’m up to the task!”

Ivo Lopes

“First of all, a big thanks to the team for giving me another opportunity to compete in the world championship. As for Donington, well, I don’t know the track at all, so I'll need to work to understand it as quickly as possible. The goal is to interpret the track effectively, help the team as much as I can and do as well as I can. I know it will be tough as I don’t know the circuit but I’m ready to work hard; let's see what we can do.”

Track Information:

Country: UK
Name: Donington Park
Length: 4.023 km
Pole position: left
Race distance: 23 laps/92.529 km
 

SBK RECORDS: Best lap: Razgatlioglu (BMW) 1'25.597 (2024). Superpole – Razgatlioglu (BMW) 1'24.629 (2024).

2024 RESULTS: 

Race 1 - 1. Razgatlioglu (BMW); 2. Lowes (Kawasaki); 3. Bautista (Ducati).
Superpole race - 1. Razgatlioglu (BMW); 2. Bulega (Ducati); 3. Rea (Kawasaki).
Race 2 - 1. Razgatlioglu (BMW); 2. Bulega (Ducati); 3. Lowes (Kawasaki).

Weekend schedule (CET -1): 

Friday
10.20 - 11.05 – SBK Free Practice 1
15.00 – 15.45 – SBK Free Practice 2

Saturday
9.00 – 9.20 – SBK Free Practice 3
11.00 – 11.15 – Superpole
15.00 – SBK Race 1

Sunday
9.00 – 9.10 – SBK Warm-up
11.00 – Superpole race
14.00 – SBK Race 2