The leading riders in the Motul FIM Superbike World Championship have praised the new Donington Park track surface after a record-breaking weekend at the East Midlands circuit.

The all-time lap record for motorcycles was broken twice across the event, with Kawasaki’s Jonathan Rea the first to establish a new benchmark in Superpole qualifying on Saturday, with the Northern Irishman breaking his own record with a time of 1m26.041s.

The race lap record then fell in the first World Superbike contest of the weekend, as Ducati’s winner Alvaro Bautista shaved more than two tenths of a second off the existing record, with a 1m26.550s being the quickest ever set in race conditions. Bautista then shattered the all-time record in Sunday's Superpole race, with a 1m25.896s.

The entire 2.5 mile circuit was resurfaced over the winter, undertaken by Aggregate Industries following an initial design process by consultants Driven International.

A series of records had already been broken heading into the event, and there was much anticipation that the outright benchmark would be broken by World Superbike machinery. Despite damp conditions reducing the amount of track time on Friday, riders were still able to set new records on both Saturday and Sunday. 

“The track is amazing now,” said six-time World Superbike champion Rea. “It’s like a proper track, because it’s very flat and very dark and very grippy. Goddards is now a different corner, completely different than in the past and it’s actually nice! Goddards you were always nervous going into it, so they’ve done a great job with the tarmac.”

Reigning champion Bautista added: “With the asphalt without bumps for sure for me it’s a big big help. Now I can ride it like a normal track, so for sure it’s helped a lot.”

Rea’s teammate Alex Lowes, who lives just 10 minutes away from the venue was also complimentary.

“The track surface is good because a lot of the bumps from the old surface are gone now. It is really smooth and they have done a good job.”