The first permanent race circuit in England, the original Donington Park motor racing circuit was 2 miles and 327 yards in length. The first motorcycle race at the track took place on Whit Monday in 1931. Held upon crude, unsealed roads, two years later, a man named Fred Craner created-a purpose-built circuit, the track widened and surfaced. The first car race was staged on the new tarmac on March 25, 1933. In 1935, the modern facility hosted the first Donington Grand Prix, won by Richard “Mad Jack” Shuttleworth in an Alfa-Romeo P3. In both 1937 and 1938, the Donington Grand Prix was won by Bernd Rosemeyer and Tazio Nuvolari, respectively (both were at one time great motorcycle racers). Both drivers won in the now almost mythical race machines known as the Auto Union “Silver Arrows.” Donington Park was shut down and locked close in 1939 due to the outbreak of World War II. In 1971 a man named Tom Wheatcraft was able to bring the great circuit back to life and in 1977, the racetrack was back in action. In 1985, the Melbourne Loop was incorporated into the circuit, increasing its length to 2.5 miles. Soon after, Donington began to host Grand Prix motorcycle races.

Which brings us to Sunday, June 28 and the Donington Park stop of the 14-round World Superbike Series. To celebrate the occasion, on Thursday, June 25, 2009, a press gathering was held at the storied venue.

Last Sunday at round eight of the 14-round Campionato del Mondo Superbike on the 16-turn, 4,226-meter Misano World Circuit in Italy, Jonathan Rea of the Hannspree Honda team won the first World Superbike race of his career. And he did it in spectacular fashion, fighting tooth and nail with Ducati Xerox copilots Michel Fabrizio and Noriyuki Haga right to the finish line, his pass of Fabrizio on the white fag lap allowing him to come up roses by a mere .063 of a second! The man of the hour, the Englishman was the first rider to speak to those on and.

"It was nice for me and the whole team to win at Misano because they've been working so hard since the start of the year,” smiled Rea. “For me to be the guy who gets the team's first win of the year is really surreal because Carlos and Kiyo are such accomplished riders and it's really set me up with some momentum for my home race here".

Noriyuki Haga of the Ducati Xerox team and leader of 2009 WSB Championship added, "I remember coming here many years ago and winning both races against Corser and Fogarty, which was a great satisfaction for me. I actually like this track and always find strange conditions here, but I hope this weekend it will be sunshine and I have to try and win again. With Ducati I try to push hard and win the title this year".

Ben Spies of the Yamaha World Superbike team rode the Donington circuit last year when he took of from the starting grid for the MotoGP race: "We were here last year, so I know this one!” laughed the American who has taken the ’09 WSB Series by storm. “This weekend's important for us, it's good with all the British guys in town. Right now for me, we need a good result, it could backfire but we're going to give it everything, hopefully we'll get some good weather and some good racing. My team-mate Tom knows the circuit well, so I'm going to be latching on to him in the first session!"

Eric Johnson