The 2010 British Superbike season was the 23rd British Superbike Championship season. The season commenced on 5 April at Brands Hatch and ended on 10 October at Oulton Park after 26 races at twelve meetings held in England and Scotland. Due to the economic climate many rule changes were discussed including one bike per rider and the banning of electronic aids.^[1] The season featured a new Evo Class for less-developed bikes and a new 'Showdown' points system to keep the championship close until the end.

After a spell in the Superbike World Championship, 2006 and 2007 champion Ryuichi Kiyonari returned to the championship and duly picked up his third championship title, with superior results in the seven-race Showdown element of the championship; winning three races, to add to four he picked up in the first part of the season. His HM Plant Honda teammate Josh Brookes finished as runner-up, taking five victories as he finished 24 points behind Kiyonari. Tommy Hill finished third, having tailed off from a positive start to the season, having finished each of the first six races in the top three placings. He ended the season with four victories and 15 podiums. Michael Laverty finished fourth in the championship with two wins, with the Ducati of Michael Rutter – another double race-winner – finishing in between Laverty and his teammate Alastair Seeley, who took a single victory at Brands Hatch. Three other riders took race victories during the season; Swan Honda racers James Ellison and Stuart Easton took three wins between them, as they finished the season in seventh and ninth places respectively, while Tom Sykes took two wins on a single wildcard outing from his normal World Superbike commitments.

The début season of the Evolution Class was, for the most part, a two-rider battle for the championship. Steve Brogan, riding a BMW for Jentin Racing and Hudson Kennaugh, riding a Kawasaki for Malcolm Ashley Racing and an Aprilia for Splitlath Motorsport, duked it out for class glory. By season's end, just three points separated the two riders, with Brogan finishing as victor, winning the class on twelve occasions. Kennaugh won seven, including the best result for an Evo rider, finishing in ninth place in the second race of the first Oulton Park meeting. Gary Johnson, Chris Burns and David Anthony also won two races, while Pauli Pekkanen took a single victory at Brands Hatch.

New for 2010 was an "Evolution Class", to replace the Privateers Cup, and was designed for teams to enter the championship for a reduced cost.^[2][3] The new rules attracted larger numbers than the Privateers Cup, and also attracted three new manufacturers in KTM, Aprilia and BMW.^[4] The Evo rules allowed for full Superbike rolling chassis allied to stock engines and a control ECU which eliminates rider aids.^[5]

Series organisers MotorSport Vision announced a series of rule changes on 3 February 2010. Qualifying was altered, with the "Roll for Pole" only setting the grid for race one of each weekend. This was due to the race two grid being set by the fastest laps of each rider in race one. Also introduced was a "second chance" system if a rider crashes on lap one, that rider only dropped eight places from where they started the first race. At the triple-race meetings, the same rules applied for race two, but were also applied for race three.^[6]

Perhaps the biggest rule change was the dividing of the championship into two parts. The first nine meetings, totalling nineteen races, formed the "Main Season" of the championship, before the final three meetings, the remaining seven races, make up "The Showdown". The championship change was introduced after Leon Camier clinched the 2009 title with four races to spare, thus introducing a crescendo of competition.^[6]

The normal FIM point-scoring system still applied, with 25 for the winner all the way down to a single point for fifteenth place. At the end of the Main Season, all riders dropped their two worst scores, which had to be from events they qualified for. From this points order, the first six riders in the championship standings were elevated to a new base level and became the Title Fighters for the final three events and seven races of the championship.^[6]

The six-rider format was based on the 2007–10 NASCAR Playoffs format of rewarding wins with bonus points for the playoff. Unlike the NASCAR Playoff format where only wins awarded bonus points, any top-three finish in the Main Season was awarded bonus points, referred as Podium Credits. A win was worth three bonus points, second place was worth two bonus points, and third place was worth one bonus point. Each Title Fighter started The Showdown with 500 points and bonus points earned for each podium finish.^[6] The standard points scoring format from the Main Season then continued for The Showdown, with all points scores from the final seven races counting.^[6] All riders outside of the Title Fighters continued to race for the BSB Riders' Cup, continuing to add to their points total from the end of the Main Season. This also applied to the new Evolution class.^[6]

The Swan Combi Roll for Pole remained, but set the grid for Race 1 only. All riders take to the track for Q1 over 20 minutes. The field was then whittled down to 20 riders in Q2 over 12 minutes, and then the final 8 minutes shoot-out for pole position by the top 10 riders in Q3. Significantly all the riders were on race rubber during all the qualifying sessions. The Race 2 grid was then established by the order of the riders best lap times set during Race 1. If a rider suffered a crash or mechanical failure before the end of the first lap in Race 1, the rider lined up for Race 2 in their Race 1 starting grid position plus 8 "penalty places".^[6]

• A provisional calendar had been released on 11 October 2009, with twelve rounds listed, including a provisional date at Donington Park due to renovation of the circuit.^[7] Two months later, a revised calendar was released, with Donington Park losing the rights to hold their race on 10–12 September, after Donington Ventures Leisure Ltd was placed into administration. These dates were latterly used for a round at Croft,^[8] with a second meeting at Cadwell Park replacing the original Croft date.^[9]

2010 Calendar[9]
Main Season
Round		Circuit	Date	Pole Position	Fastest Lap	Winning Rider	Winning Team
1	R1	Brands Hatch Indy	5 April	Ryuichi Kiyonari	Josh Brookes	Tommy Hill	Worx Crescent Suzuki
	R2				Alastair Seeley	James Ellison	Swan Honda
2	R1	Thruxton	18 April	Tommy Hill	Martin Jessopp	Tommy Hill	Worx Crescent Suzuki
	R2				Tommy Hill	Josh Brookes	HM Plant Honda
3	R1	Oulton Park	3 May	Tommy Hill	Ryuichi Kiyonari	Stuart Easton	Swan Honda
	R2				Michael Laverty	Michael Laverty	Relentless Suzuki by TAS
4	R1	Cadwell Park	23 May	Tommy Hill	Ryuichi Kiyonari	Ryuichi Kiyonari	HM Plant Honda
	R2				Josh Brookes	Josh Brookes	HM Plant Honda
5	R1	Mallory Park	27 June	Ryuichi Kiyonari	Ryuichi Kiyonari	Ryuichi Kiyonari	HM Plant Honda
	R2				Ryuichi Kiyonari	Ryuichi Kiyonari	HM Plant Honda
6	R1	Knockhill	4 July	Josh Brookes	Michael Rutter	Michael Rutter	Riders Motorcycles.com
	R2			Race Cancelled1
7	R1	Snetterton	17 July		Josh Brookes	Josh Brookes	HM Plant Honda
	R2		18 July	Josh Brookes	Josh Brookes	Josh Brookes	HM Plant Honda
	R3				Ryuichi Kiyonari	Ryuichi Kiyonari	HM Plant Honda
8	R1	Brands Hatch GP	7 August	Michael Rutter	Alastair Seeley	Alastair Seeley	Relentless Suzuki by TAS
	R2		8 August		Michael Laverty	Tom Sykes	Kawasaki World Superbike
	R3				Michael Rutter	Tom Sykes	Kawasaki World Superbike
9	R1	Cadwell Park	30 August	Tommy Hill	Josh Brookes	Tommy Hill	Worx Crescent Suzuki
	R2				Ryuichi Kiyonari	Josh Brookes	HM Plant Honda
The Showdown
10	R1	Croft	12 September	Tommy Hill	Tommy Hill	Tommy Hill	Worx Crescent Suzuki
	R2				Tommy Hill	Michael Laverty	Relentless Suzuki by TAS
11	R1	Silverstone Arena GP	26 September	Josh Brookes	Michael Rutter	Michael Rutter	Riders Motorcycles.com
	R2				James Ellison	James Ellison	Swan Honda
12	R1	Oulton Park	9 October	Tommy Hill	Tommy Hill	Ryuichi Kiyonari	HM Plant Honda
	R2		10 October		Ryuichi Kiyonari	Ryuichi Kiyonari	HM Plant Honda
	R3				James Ellison	Ryuichi Kiyonari	HM Plant Honda

Notes:

1.^ – The second race at Knockhill was cancelled due to bad weather conditions. As a result, the race was run at the next round of the championship at Snetterton, with the second race grid positions standing for the race.^[10]

2010 Entry List Team Bike No Riders Class Rounds Swan Honda[11] Honda CBR1000RR 2 James Ellison[12] 1–2, 5–12 3 Stuart Easton[11] All HM Plant Honda Honda CBR1000RR 4 Josh Brookes[13] All 8 Ryuichi Kiyonari[13] All SMT Honda Honda CBR1000RR 5 Christian Iddon[14] 1–6 9 Chris Walker[15] 7–12 Riders Racing Ducati Ducati 1198 6 Michael Rutter[16] All 40 Martin Jessopp[16] 1–5, 12 Relentless Suzuki Suzuki GSX-R1000 7 Michael Laverty[17] All 34 Alastair Seeley[18] All CW Racing Suzuki GSX-R1000 9 Chris Walker[19] 1–2, 5–6 MSS Colchester Kawasaki Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R Chris Walker[20] 3–4 17 Simon Andrews[21] 1, 5–12 43 Howie Mainwaring[22] 2 101 Gary Mason[23] All Buildbase Kawasaki Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R 10 John Laverty[24] All 11 Adam Jenkinson[24] All Magic Bullet Racing Suzuki GSX-R1000 14 Michael Howarth[25] E 1–3 20 David Johnson[26] E 1–3 Graphic UK/Trademte Honda Honda CBR1000RR 15 Matt Layt[27] 7 Adept Water Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R Leon Hunt[28] E 11–12 East Coast Racing Yamaha YZF-R1 16 Karl Harris[29] 5 Jentin Racing BMW S1000RR 19 Steve Brogan[30] E 1, 3–12 [31] 2 Two Brothers Racing Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R 20 David Johnson[32][33] E 4–7 Becsport/Two Wheel Tuning Suzuki GSX-R1000 8–11 66 James Webb[34] E 12 Doodson Motorsport Honda CBR1000RR 21 Tom Tunstall[35] 1–11 MIST Suzuki Suzuki GSX-R1000 23 Chris Seaton[34] E 12 25 David Anthony[36] E 1–4 Wilson Craig Racing Honda CBR1000RR 29 Guy Martin[37] 3 Astro-Chase SST Racing Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R 32 Peter Ward[38] E 1, 3–9 2 Worx Crescent Suzuki Suzuki GSX-R1000 33 Tommy Hill[39] All 71 Yukio Kagayama[40] 1–3, 8–12 Splitlath Motorsport Aprilia RSV 4 35 Chris Burns[41] E 1–8, 10–12 [42] 9 53 Joe Burns[41] E 1–3 56 Hudson Kennaugh[43] E 7–8, 10–12 [42] 9 Bournemouth Kawasaki Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R 37 James Hillier[44] E 10–12 Quay Garage Racing Honda CBR1000RR 46 Tommy Bridewell[45] All D.H.R Free-Brothers Honda Honda CBR1000RR 50 David Haire[34] 12 Quattro Plant Honda CBR1000RR 54 Steve Heneghan[46] E 1–2 [32] 4–12 Motorpoint / Henderson Yamaha Yamaha YZF-R1 55 Ian Lowry[47] 3–4 65 Loris Baz[48] 10–12 99 Dan Linfoot[49] All 100 Neil Hodgson[50] 1–2 188 Andrew Pitt[29] 5–8 MAR Kawasaki Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R 56 Hudson Kennaugh[51] E 1–6 Ultimate Racing Yamaha YZF-R1 60 Peter Hickman[52] All Red Viper Spike Suzuki GSX-R1000 64 Aaron Zanotti[53] E All SMR Racing Yamaha YZF-R1 66 Steve Mercer[36] 1 Kawasaki World Superbike Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10R Tom Sykes[54] 8 87 Ian Lowry[55] 8 PR Racing M/C & Moore Yamaha YZF-R1 68 Luke Jones[56] 1–3, 7 AIM Racing Suzuki GSX-R1000 69 Gary Johnson[57] E 1–3, 5–12 Motomob – O'Brien Hifi Yamaha YZF-R1 72 Michael O'Brien[58] E 2–4, 7–9, 11 Close Print Finance Honda Honda CBR1000RR 75 Craig Fitzpatrick[59] E 1–3, 5–12 777 RR Motorsport Suzuki GSX-R1000 77 Pauli Pekkanen[60] E All Redline KTM KTM 1190 RC8 88 James Edmeades[61] E 1, 5–12 Dave Wood[58] 2 Alex Lowes[62] E 3–4

Icon Class E Evolution Class Key Regular Rider Wildcard Rider Replacement Rider

Pos Rider Bike BHI THR OUL CAD MAL KNO SNE BHGP CAD CRO SIL OUL Pts R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R3 The Championship Showdown 1 Ryuichi Kiyonari Honda 2 Ret 9 4 Ret 4 1 DNS 1 1 2 C 2 Ret 1 3 2 2 3 3 11 4 5 2 1 1 1 649 2 Josh Brookes Honda 5 Ret 2 1 6 8 5 1 2 2 3 C 1 1 Ret 4 Ret 6 2 1 6 8 2 3 5 3 2 625 3 Tommy Hill Suzuki 1 2 1 2 2 3 Ret 2 Ret 8 8 C 3 2 2 15 6 4 1 2 1 2 8 5 2 Ret 5 620 4 Michael Laverty Suzuki Ret 4 10 6 5 1 2 3 3 3 4 C 6 5 3 6 4 Ret 4 4 2 1 3 Ret 4 8 4 604 5 Michael Rutter Ducati 7 6 5 7 Ret 2 3 4 4 4 1 C 4 Ret 4 2 3 3 5 5 23 5 1 Ret Ret 4 Ret 559 6 Alastair Seeley Suzuki 4 3 12 9 4 6 9 7 10 11 5 C 5 3 Ret 1 Ret Ret 8 9 Ret 15 6 4 15 5 7 550 BSB Riders Cup 7 James Ellison Honda 3 1 DNS DNS 13 12 24 C 7 4 Ret 7 5 5 6 6 Ret 6 4 1 3 7 3 210 8 John Laverty Kawasaki 10 7 7 8 3 5 6 5 8 6 6 C 12 10 5 9 Ret 9 Ret 12 8 13 Ret 9 9 6 8 190 9 Stuart Easton Honda 6 5 4 3 1 Ret Ret 10 5 Ret 19 C Ret 8 Ret Ret 7 8 10 11 3 3 17 Ret 7 2 Ret 189 10 Chris Walker Suzuki 9 Ret Ret 15 6 5 10 C 130 Kawasaki 8 11 7 8 Honda 11 7 7 22 Ret 13 11 15 9 12 9 8 16 Ret 9 11 Tommy Bridewell Honda Ret Ret DNS DNS 10 7 4 6 11 9 Ret C 10 6 Ret 12 Ret 12 DSQ 8 Ret 7 Ret 12 6 DNS DNS 105 12 Gary Mason Kawasaki 13 Ret 8 10 7 Ret DNS DNS 12 14 8 C 9 11 9 Ret 10 Ret Ret 10 10 11 14 7 8 14 Ret 104 13 Simon Andrews Kawasaki Ret 8 7 7 7 C 8 9 6 Ret 12 10 Ret DNS 5 10 7 Ret 12 Ret 15 103 14 Dan Linfoot Yamaha 8 Ret Ret 12 9 14 10 Ret Ret 14 Ret C 13 Ret 12 13 9 Ret 9 13 5 9 10 6 11 Ret 10 101 15 Yukio Kagayama Suzuki 12 Ret 3 11 Ret DNS Ret DNS 21 10 8 8 7 7 7 16 14 13 14 13 13 11 92 16 Tom Sykes Kawasaki 5 1 1 61 17 Martin Jessopp Ducati 11 9 6 5 11 12 8 9 Ret DNS DNS DNS DNS 57 18 Adam Jenkinson Kawasaki 16 11 DNS DNS 13 10 12 11 Ret Ret 23 C 19 Ret 16 21 15 16 12 14 13 22 WD WD 18 10 12 43 19 Peter Hickman Yamaha 15 Ret 11 13 12 17 13 13 Ret 15 Ret C 15 Ret 11 19 13 14 Ret 16 12 16 20 10 14 Ret Ret 43 20 Loris Baz Yamaha 7 Ret 11 Ret 10 9 6 37 21 Andrew Pitt Yamaha 9 10 11 C 14 12 8 11 Ret DNS 37 22 Steve Brogan BMW 14 10 16 14 15 15 14 14 14 Ret 22 C 16 13 13 Ret 14 Ret 13 17 17 19 22 Ret 20 11 16 34 23 Ian Lowry Yamaha Ret Ret 11 12 25 Kawasaki 10 11 11 24 Gary Johnson Suzuki Ret Ret 14 18 17 18 21 19 12 C 17 14 14 17 21 19 14 18 Ret 18 19 11 23 DNS 18 17 25 Hudson Kennaugh Kawasaki 18 15 Ret 19 14 9 16 18 18 17 20 C 16 Aprilia 22 16 15 20 16 Ret Ret Ret 15 17 16 15 19 15 14 26 Tom Tunstall Honda Ret 17 Ret 16 Ret DNS 15 17 15 20 15 C 18 15 Ret 23 20 15 15 19 14 21 15 17 17 12 13 16 27 Chris Burns Aprilia 19 16 19 25 DNS DNS 17 Ret Ret 22 17 C DNS DNS DNS 14 19 Ret 16 20 20 24 12 Ret Ret DNS DNS 6 28 Christian Iddon Honda Ret 13 17 Ret Ret Ret Ret 16 17 DNS 14 C 5 29 Luke Jones Yamaha 17 12 Ret 21 DNS DNS 16 C 23 DNS DNS 4 30 Pauli Pekkanen Suzuki 24 21 20 26 20 19 19 19 20 21 21 C 20 19 DSQ 24 18 17 17 21 21 23 18 13 24 16 20 3 31 David Johnson Suzuki 20 19 18 20 18 21 18 Ret Ret 18 22 Ret Ret Ret DNS 3 Kawasaki 18 21 Ret 18 13 C 24 20 19 31 Aaron Zanotti Suzuki 25 22 21 23 19 13 21 20 Ret 23 18 C 21 18 17 16 17 18 20 23 19 25 DNS 18 21 20 DNS 3 32 David Anthony Suzuki 21 18 13 17 16 16 Ret DNS 3 34 Steve Mercer Yamaha 22 14 2 35 Alex Lowes KTM Ret 20 NC 15 1 36 Craig Fitzpatrick Honda 23 20 15 Ret Ret 22 22 Ret 17 18 25 Ret Ret 19 24 WD WD Ret 16 WD WD WD 1 James Hillier Kawasaki 18 20 Ret Ret 22 DNS 17 0 Peter Ward Kawasaki 28 23 23 24 21 24 20 22 19 Ret Ret C DNS DNS DNS DNS 22 20 0 Steve Heneghan Honda 26 24 DNS DNS 23 Ret DNS DNS 23 20 DNS Ret DNS 22 25 DNS DNS WD WD WD 0 Michael O'Brien Yamaha 24 27 23 DNS 22 23 22 Ret 26 23 21 21 26 Ret DNS 0 James Edmeades KTM DNS DNS Ret Ret Ret DNS DNS DNS DNS Ret Ret 22 26 21 Ret 27 Ret DNS 0 Dave Wood KTM 22 22 0 Michael Howarth Suzuki 27 Ret Ret Ret 22 23 0 Karl Harris Yamaha Ret Ret 0 Leon Hunt Kawasaki Ret Ret Ret 18 21 0 Howie Mainwaring Kawasaki Ret DNS 0 Joe Burns Aprilia DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 0 Neil Hodgson Yamaha DNS DNS 0 Guy Martin Honda DNS DNS 0 Matt Layt Honda WD WD 0 Pos Rider Bike BHI THR OUL CAD MAL KNO SNE BHGP CAD CRO SIL OUL Pts

Colour Result Gold Winner Silver Second place Bronze Third place Green Points finish Blue Non-points finish Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Retired (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Withdrew (WD) Race cancelled (C) Blank Did not practice (DNP) Did not arrive (DNA) Excluded (EX)

Pos Rider Bike BHI THR OUL CAD MAL KNO SNE BHGP CAD CRO SIL OUL Pts R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R3 1 Steve Brogan BMW 14 10 15 15 14 14 14 Ret 22 C 16 13 13 Ret 14 Ret 13 17 17 19 22 Ret 20 11 16 431 2 Hudson Kennaugh Kawasaki 18 15 Ret 19 14 9 16 18 18 17 20 C 428 Aprilia 22 16 15 20 16 Ret 15 17 16 15 19 15 14 3 Gary Johnson Suzuki Ret Ret 14 18 17 18 21 19 12 C 17 14 14 17 21 19 14 18 Ret 18 19 11 23 DNS 18 340 4 Pauli Pekkanen Suzuki 24 21 20 26 20 19 19 19 20 21 21 C 20 19 DSQ 24 18 17 17 21 21 23 18 13 24 16 20 306 5 Aaron Zanotti Suzuki 25 22 21 23 19 13 21 20 Ret 23 18 C 21 18 17 16 17 18 20 23 19 25 DNS 18 21 20 DNS 275 6 David Johnson Suzuki 20 19 18 20 18 21 18 Ret Ret 18 22 Ret Ret Ret DNS 200 Kawasaki 18 21 Ret 18 13 C 24 20 19 7 Chris Burns Aprilia 19 16 19 25 DNS DNS 17 Ret Ret 22 17 C DNS DNS DNS 14 19 Ret 20 24 12 Ret Ret DNS DNS 178 8 Craig Fitzpatrick Honda 23 20 15 Ret Ret 22 22 Ret 17 18 25 Ret Ret 19 24 WD WD 107 9 David Anthony Suzuki 21 18 13 17 16 16 103 10 Michael O'Brien Yamaha 24 27 23 DNS 22 23 22 Ret 26 23 21 21 26 Ret DNS 91 11 Peter Ward Kawasaki 28 23 21 24 20 22 19 Ret Ret C DNS DNS DNS DNS 22 20 82 12 James Hillier Kawasaki 18 20 Ret Ret 22 DNS 17 58 13 James Edmeades KTM DNS DNS Ret Ret DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS Ret Ret 22 26 21 Ret 27 Ret DNS 35 14 Chris Seaton Suzuki 25 17 19 33 15 Alex Lowes KTM Ret 20 Ret 15 29 16 Jamie Hamilton Suzuki 26 19 22 26 17 Leon Hunt Kawasaki Ret Ret Ret 18 21 20 18 Michael Howarth Suzuki 27 Ret Ret Ret 22 23 19 19 Steve Heneghan Honda 26 24 DNS DNS 13 Joe Burns Aprilia DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS DNS 0 Pos Rider Bike BHI THR OUL CAD MAL KNO SNE BHGP CAD CRO SIL OUL Pts

Colour Result Gold Winner Silver Second place Bronze Third place Green Points finish Blue Non-points finish Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Retired (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Withdrew (WD) Race cancelled (C) Blank Did not practice (DNP) Did not arrive (DNA) Excluded (EX)