The World Superbike Championship began more than 30 years ago at Donington Park as an official motorsport series sanctioned by the FIM, featuring modified production bikes available for sale to the public, unlike the purpose-built prototypes used in MotoGP. It succeeded the Formula TT as the official motorcycle World Cup after proving to be commercially viable and popular to motorcycle fans around the world.

Currently, there are five manufacturers competing in World SBK — BMW, Honda, Yamaha, Ducati and Kawasaki, and each of them enjoyed success in varying eras of the championship. Throughout the sport's history, there have been more than 70 riders who have won at least one race in the championship, but a select few have managed to repeat that success. With that being said, let's take a look at the riders of WSBK over the years that have had the most number of wins.

10 Jonathan Rea - 107 Wins

World SBK's most successful rider is reigning world champion Jonathan Rea. Quite simply, the Northern Irish rider and the Kawasaki Ninja combination have proved to be a dominant pair in WSBK, as they've won a record six straight championships from 2015 to 2020.

Rea leads all riders by a huge margin in terms of race wins and holds a number of records in terms of victories, podiums and fastest laps in a single season. In 2021, he's gunning for seven straight championships onboard the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10RR race bike.

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9 Carl Fogarty - 59 Wins

Before the Rea and Kawasaki combination set the WSBK world on fire, Carl Fogarty's record of 59 career wins seemed to be unreachable, as he and the Ducati 916 were the team to beat during the 90s era of superbike racing.

All but four of Fogarty's wins came onboard Ducati machinery, and he won four titles in 1994, 1995, 1998 and 1999. His record run was unfortunately cut short when he suffered a career-ending injury in 2000.

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8 Troy Bayliss - 52 Wins

Australian rider Troy Bayliss continued Ducati's success in WSBK after Fogarty's retirement by winning the championship in 2001. After losing out in the 2002 championship, Bayliss moved to MotoGP to ride the new Desmosedici.

However, after three unsuccessful years riding prototype bikes, he returned to the factory Ducati team in WSBK, winning the 2006 and 2008 titles before retiring. Bayliss could have won more races had he not made a move in MotoGP, but he still sits third on the all-time list with 52 victories.

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7 Noriyuki Haga - 43 Wins

Noriyuki Haga is the most successful rider in this list who has not won a WSBK title, despite earning 43 victories in his superbike racing career. The Japanese rider came agonizingly close to winning a championship after finishing runner-up three times in 2000, 2007 and 2009.

Haga demonstrated his ability to adapt and win races using different machinery, as his 43 wins were achieved using Yamaha, Ducati, and Aprilia superbikes. To add to that, Nitro Nori managed to stand on the podium 116 times in 312 career starts.

6 Tom Sykes - 34 Wins

Tom Sykes sits fifth on the all-time list with 34 wins in his SBK career that started in 2008, when he was signed up as a wildcard entry for the works Suzuki team.

Sykes then moved on to the Kawasaki team for 2010 and won his only title in 2013. He holds the record for the most pole positions in SBK history, and was nicknamed "Mr. Superpole" by superbike fans. He will be retiring at the end of the 2021 season, riding for BMW Motorrad WSBK.

5 Troy Corser - 33 Wins

Troy Corser had a lengthy career in WSBK that dates back to 1995, and he rode for six different manufacturers until he retired at the end of the 2011 season. Corser won the 1996 title with the Ducati 916, and later on with the Suzuki GSX-R in 2005.

He holds the record for being the most experienced rider in WSBK history after competing in 377 races, and converted 33 of those into victories.

4 Chaz Davies - 32 Wins

Chaz Davies started out riding in the junior classes of the MotoGP before he made his superbike debut for the Aprilia team, where he finished an impressive 9th in the standings after registering a single win and four podiums in his rookie season.

He will be retiring at the end of the 2021 season riding for Team GoEleven, using the Ducati superbike that powered him to 28 of his 32 career victories. Despite not winning a WSBK title, Davies finished runner-up in the championship in 2015, 2017 and 2018.

3 Colin Edwards - 31 Wins

The "Texas Tornado", Colin Edwards, could have achieved more wins in the WSBK had he not switched to riding prototype bikes in MotoGP. The American rider won the 2000 and 2002 titles onboard the Honda VTR1000 superbike after a titanic duel between him and Ducati's Troy Bayliss.

Unlike the Australian Bayliss, Edwards never returned to the WSBK after his spell with MotoGP, in which he failed to register a race win, and his 31 wins is good enough for eighth on the all-time list.

2 Doug Polen - 27 Wins

Doug Polen may have only started 80 races in his WSBK career, but he was able to convert 40 of those into podiums, and most notably, won 27 of them.

Polen was a two-time WSBK champion, winning the 1991 and 1992 titles riding the Ducati 888, and holds the record with Jonathan Rea as the riders with the most number of wins in a single season, with 17 victories in the 1991 season.

1 Carlos Checa - 24 Wins

Carlos Checa was also one of those riders who achieved more success racing in WSBK, as he switched to production bikes in 2008 after a decade of MotoGP racing.

Checa started his WSBK career riding for Ten Kate Honda, and achieved 2 wins in his rookie season. After switching to Ducati for 2010, he won the championship a year later, after registering 15 victories and 21 podium finishes while riding the 1098R. The Spaniard won four more races in 2012 to bring the tally to 24, and retired from motorcycle racing a year later.