Hannspree Ten Kate Honda rider Jonathan Rea took the early advantage at home in Silverstone, posting the fastest time of 2'06.927.

He was followed by fellow Britons James Toseland (Sterilgarda Yamaha), Leon Haslam (Suzuki Alstare) and Cal Crutchlow (Sterilgarda Yamaha).

The top five was completed by BMW Motorrad Motorsport rider, Troy Corser, who is returning from injury.

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100 and 150: Max Biaggi and Jakub Smrz in Silverstone will start their 100th Superbike race. It's an important race also for Aprilia, at their 150th start.

• Shane Byrne was present in the 2002 races, the first held in Silverstone, when he classified ninth and fifth;

• Troy Corser reached the podium three times out of nine in Silverstone. His best result is a second in both 2005 races;

• Michel Fabrizio retired twice out of three races run in Silverstone: he only finished in 2006 in race two, fifteenth. He won the Superstock 1000 race in 2003;

• Noriyuki Haga won the first race in 2004. Curiously he has finished second five times, including the last three races run here. Noriyuki always qualified on the front row in the British track;

• Leon Haslam was fifth and fourth in the 2004 races, the only time he raced there for the World Superbike Championship;

• Lorenzo Lanzi obtained his best result in the last of his five races run here, in 2007, when he was seventh. He was the polesitter in the 2003 Superstock 1000 race;

• The opposite can be said for Max Neukirchner, who obtained his best result on his first visit here, in 2005, race 1 (seventh). His best qualifying effort came in the same year, when he was tenth;

• James Toseland won race 2 in 2005, has climbed on the podium a total of five times and, if we exclude a retirement in the first 2004 race, he has always classified in the top 10. James is the only one to have started in all eleven races held here;

• Ruben Xaus has finished all his Silverstone races, climbing onto the podium three times in third and always finishing in the top-10, both in qualifying and in the races.

• Aprilia finished the first Silverstone race in second place, in 2002, with Noriyuki Haga;

• Ducati has won nine of the eleven races run here. The Borgo Panigale squad missed out on only the first 2002 race, won by Colin Edwards on a Honda and the second 2004 race, won by Chris Vermeulen, again on a Honda;

• Alongside the aforementioned two wins, Honda scored four more podium placements. The Japanese manufacturer has always placed a bike inside the top 4 at the finish except for the 2003 edition, when they were not involved with a works team;

• Kawasaki has never managed to climb on the podium in Silverstone, but since 2004 have always placed a bike in the top 10. The best result came in 2002, race 2, when Chris Walker was fourth;

• Three podium placements for Suzuki, always in second place: in 2003 race 2 with Gregorio Lavilla and in both 2005 races with Troy Corser;

• Yamaha in the last three races held here have always classified in second place, in all three cases with Noriyuki Haga;

• In the last three editions the pole went to three different manufacturers: 2005 Suzuki, 2006 Yamaha and 2007 Ducati.




2003 - first fastest lap and tenth podium for Gregorio Lavilla;
2004 - first win and first fastest lap (the 75th for Honda) for Chris Vermeulen;
2005 - tenth fastest lap for Regis Laconi; 250th race start for Pierfrancesco Chili;
2006 - first pole position for Tommy Hill at his first presence;
2007 - 110th podium for Troy Corser, 50th fastest race lap for Yamaha.