Among the things to remember before the round of Superbike in Barcelona, the 450th of World SBK, note that the Supported Test, which took place on Thursday 14 and Friday 15, allowed the WorldSBK field to prepare for the Pirelli Catalunya Round.
It's the official Ducati Nicholas Bulega (Aruba.it Ducati) who dominated, being the fastest during the two days of action, whilealex lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) arrives in Barcelona at the top of the standings, closely followed by the rookie Nicholas Bulega. The current leader of the championship, alex lowes, has yet to take his first victory at the Circuito de Barcelona-Catalunya, Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK's local race.
Conversely, the current title holder Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) can boast of mastering the Catalan circuit, with six victories to his credit.
His teammate, Nicholas Bulega, aims to maintain its good start to the season and translate the efforts it made during the last two-day test into success.
Jonathan Rhea (Pata Prometeon Yamaha), who faced injury problems at the Australian round, is looking to rediscover his pre-season form with the Yamaha YZF R1 at a circuit where he has twice reached the podium.
His teammate Andrea Locatelli, currently third in the standings, is determined to bounce back with a good result after a technical problem prevented him from claiming victory in Race 2 of the Australian round.
Soil Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) is preparing to make its debut on the Catalan circuit with BMW. He successfully completed support tests before the Catalan round, which suggests that he will be among the fastest during the event. As for his teammate Michael van Der Mark, he has already won a victory on this circuit with another manufacturer. Together they will focus on adapting their BMW M 1000 RR to the circuit and aim for a good performance.
Scott Redding (Bonovo Action BMW) and Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Team Motocorsa Racing) also experienced victory on this circuit.
Not victorious but sharp and particularly appreciated by the public, are Andrea Iannone
(Team GoEleven) and Danilo Petrucci
(Barni Spark Racing Team).
Meanwhile, the Team duo HRC, Xavi Virgo et Iker Lecuona, the latter returning from an injury picked up at Phillip Island, is focused on improving his performance for his local round.
In terms of statistics, six different winners have succeeded one another in the 12 races contested here so far: in 2022, Alvaro Bautista went from zero to three wins and doubled that last year, with six wins. The only other driver to have more than one victory here is Jonathan Rhea, with two victories.
Download the program and the superb poster from which our opening illustration is taken
