WorldSBK heads to Barcelona for Round 4
Making its debut on the WorldSBK calendar in 2020, the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya became the sixth Spanish track in the Championship history. A permanent fixture on the MotoGP™ calendar since 1992, the fast and flowing venue has witnessed classic races across all forms of motorcycle racing.
DID YOU KNOW?
There have been six different winners out of nine races run at the Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona. In 2022, Alvaro Bautista went from no wins to the track record of three. He is followed by Jonathan Rea on two victories in Barcelona.
BARCELONA’S HOT SPOTS WITH XAVI VIERGE
T1/ “The main straight is quite long and finally from mid-way until the end it is always going downhill, so you can reach a high speed.”
T5/ “If it is a little bit cold you have to take care on T5. Then you have a big corner at T6, which is also nice because the kerb is a little bit higher in the inside.”
T10/ “You can have very hard braking into T10 but T12 is like a transition corner, to arrive at the last few corners, which are very difficult.”
WorldSBK | KEY STAT
250 – Currently standing at 248 podiums, Jonathan Rea can be the first rider to reach 250.
What to look out for in Barcelona
After a hat-trick of victories in the Netherlands, reigning WorldSBK Champion Alvaro Bautista will be aiming to extend his lead in the standings. He holds the record of wins at the Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona with three victories claimed in 2022 and was close to the all-time lap record pace during the private test at the track in March.
Second in the Championship standings, Toprak Razgatlioglu will be chasing his first victory at the Catalan circuit where his best result so far is a second place claimed in 2021.
Andrea Locatelli has had a strong start to his 2023 season, sitting in third place in the standings with 104 points after nine races, 20 more than the same stage last year. He will aim to continue his fine form, with four podium places claimed so far in 2023, matching his 2021 total of podiums after just three rounds this season.
It will be the home round for the Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK as their rider, Jonathan Rea, will look to bounce back after his Assen Race 2 crash. He will benefit from a test at the Catalan track before Assen hoping to close the gap to the top three in the standings.
Team HRC’s Xavi Vierge and Iker Lecuona will look forward to bouncing back at their home round after a difficult Dutch Round as they believe the Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona can work better for them. Iker Lecuona will head from Barcelona directly from Jerez where he replaced Marc Marquez in the factory Repsol Honda.
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WorldSSP returns to Barcelona for more surprises at the Catalunya Round
What to look out for in Barcelona
Pole position, lap record and two wins out of two, Nicolo Bulega claimed it all in Assen and arrives with confidence in Barcelona. The Ducati rider tested at the Catalan circuit a few weeks ago and declared back then: “I have a good feeling. I think we have a good package here for the round in Barcelona.”
Bulega currently leads the Championship standings, followed by Stefano Manzi (90 points), Marcel Schroetter (79 points) and Federico Caricasulo (77 points). It will be Manzi’s first time at Barcelona with Yamaha, and Schroetter’s first time there in WorldSSP.
Turkish rider Can Oncu was collected by Yari Montella in Race 2 and was diagnosed with multiple fractures to his left arm. The Kawasaki rider’s participation to the Prosecco DOC Catalunya Round is still uncertain.
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WorldSSP300 hits Catalunya for Round 2 of the 2023 season
What to look out for in Barcelona
Czech rider Petr Svoboda, who took his first WorldSSP300 win and his first double win at Assen, will be one rider to look out for at Catalunya. Reacting after his Race 1 victory, he said: “I think it will be good to stay in the top ten or top five positions every race.”
Having both scored 30 points during the opening round, Humberto Maier and Samuel Di Sora will look to a solid weekend with the objective to recover points to Svoboda.
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