For the first time this year, all five manufacturers of the Superbike World Championship met last week. During the test in Barcelona, Yamaha, Ducati, Kawasaki, BMW and Honda spent two days gathering experience for the season opener of the Superbike World Championship in two weeks.
On the first day of testing, Alvaro Bautista set the fastest time with his Ducati Panigale V4R. Defending champion Toprak Razgatlioglu shone on the second day, doing his laps for the first time with the number 1 on his Yamaha R1.
In the combined score of both days, Razgatlioglu took the lead with his 1:40.571 lap from day two. Bautista was 0.253 seconds behind. Both Yamaha and Ducati saw some new parts. Yamaha tested a new exhaust. Ducati gained further experience with the 2022 swingarm.
Honda works driver Iker Lecuona caused a surprise, moving up to third place on the second day. The former MotoGP rider came within 0.462 seconds of Razgatlioglu’s best time on his Fireblade.
The test went less well for teammate Xavi Vierge, who was injured in a fall. Honda tested new cooling elements on the front brakes in Barcelona. For the first time, two cooling ducts were mounted on each side to cool down the Nissin brakes.
Former champion Jonathan Rea received hardly any new parts from Kawasaki. Fins were mounted on the tank of the Kawasaki with the number 65, which should ensure better ergonomics. Rea’s feedback on this wasn’t too positive. In the combined classification, the Brit only ended up fourth, almost half a second behind.
BMW is looking to catch up to the top
BMW was even further behind. Scott Redding, who was the best BMW driver, was more than a second behind. This put the 2021 World Championship third in seventh place behind GRT Yamaha rider Garrett Gerloff and ex-Ducati teammate Michael Ruben Rinaldi.
BMW had to do without Michael van der Mark in Barcelona, who will be out for a while after his crash in training. IDM pilot Ilya Mikhalchik piloted the second factory M1000RR and provided information to BMW. And the two Bonovo newcomers also provided valuable data.
Philipp Öttl leaves some experienced pilots behind
Philipp Öttl left a positive impression during the test in Barcelona, having already done well with the Panigale V4R in Portimao and Misano. The Superbike rookie was just 1.164 seconds behind, leaving Eugene Laverty, Loris Baz (both Bonovo-BMW) and Yamaha works rider Andrea Locatelli behind.
The Superbike World Championship starts the new season on April 8th in Aragon. On the 4th/5th There will be a final test in April.