
ParkinGO MTC Aprilia racer Chaz Davies (pictured) was thrilled with his recent Superbike World Championship race win at Nurburging, Germany, for obvious reasons, but the Welshman's success in race two also triggered a freakish occurrence that will be of interest to anyone with a head for sporting statistics.
With Davies' win, the total number of SBK race victories accrued by British riders (that is, riders of English, Welsh, Scottish or Northern Irish nationality, and who race under a British ACU licence) over the 25-year history of the Superbike World Championship is 118. Now while that figure in itself won't raise an eyebrow, it takes on a new level of intrigue when you consider the fact that American riders have also tallied 118 SBK wins, as have Australian riders.
Davies' victory then has led to an historic three-way tie for overall race wins between Britain, America, and Australia. Next comes Italy, with 90 wins, followed by Japan (62), France (38), Spain (36), New Zealand (13) and Belgium (11). Canada, Germany and Ireland have two wins apiece, while Austria, Brazil and Portugal have one each.