Interest in the first two seasons of the World Championship had been overwhelming; so many teams and riders had the desire to compete in the superbike class that a European Championship was established in 1990, and riders had to declare their participation in one of the two international championships. The European series became populated mainly by riders who either lacked the budget to travel outside Europe or were additionally competing in their country's domestic championship. Still, grid sizes were healthy and the racing was good. Suzuki Deutschland's Sven Seidel and the Italian-domiciled American Richard Arnaiz stood clear at the top of the standings - though they were two of the few riders to show up to every race - and they were so evenly matched that their equal points scores had to be settled with a tie-breaker. Arnaiz's 4 wins bested Seidel's 3, so the American was crowned the first European Superbike champion.