WorldSBK hits Aragon this weekend | Comprehensive preview and AEST schedule

2023 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship
Round Ten – MotorLand Aragón

This weekend for the Aragon round of the 2023 FIM Superbike World Championship, Pirelli will make available a new soft compound front specification, the C0927, which has never been used before. This solution represents an evolution of the B1148 specification, the first ever front soft developed by Pirelli, which has the same carcass but features a new compound which Pirelli tells us offers an even higher level of grip.

Giorgio Barbier – Pirelli

“From a development point of view, in the Superbike class this season our efforts have concentrated above all on the extra soft rear, the SCQ, and on the brand new soft front, the SC0, which represented an absolute novelty. Until this year, in fact, Pirelli had never developed a tyre in SC0 compound for the front but, with the development carried out on the rear in the direction of softer solutions and the consequent introduction of compounds such as SCX and SCQ into the range, the need quickly emerged to work on a softer alternative for the front too which could offer a greater level of grip so as to balance that provided at the rear. The first specification we developed, the B1148, gave good results but did not fully satisfy us so we decided to project a new compound, the spec. C0927, which should offer an even better level of grip. We will certainly try it in Aragón and then also in Portimão and at the end of the year we will decide whether to make it a standard solution or whether to continue development next season.”

After Aragon this weekend there are only the Portimão and Jerez rounds remaining, with almost a month separating the final two rounds.

Defending champion Alvaro Bautista is in a commanding position as WorldSBK hits Spain this weekend thanks to a 57-point lead over Yamaha’s Toprak Razgatlioglu, and Bautista has a great track record here on home soil.

However, at Magny-Cours, it was proven that even Bautista can be subject to bad luck and misfortune, with a technical hiccup restricting him to P10, whilst a collision with his own team-mate Michael Ruben Rinaldi in the Superpole Race saw him have to fight back to second.

Alvaro Bautista

“It’s always special to race at Aragon, in front of my family, friends, and Spanish fans. It’s a Home GP for me, and that’s why I’m eager to get on the track. Motorland is a very beautiful but also very demanding circuit. We’ve always had a good feeling with the bike on this track, so the goal is to work well from Friday morning and have fun.”

Rinaldi is also strong at Aragon, with it being the site of his maiden WorldSBK win and Bautista hopes that he’ll be a rider packing out the places between himself and title rival Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK), particularly after their strong test here at the end of the European summer holidays.

Michael Rinaldi

“We go to Aragon with confidence. It’s a track I really like, and the tests we did three weeks ago helped us to have a good starting base. We are aware of our potential, so I can’t wait to get on the track and give it my all, as always.”

Razgatlioglu’s form at Aragon hasn’t been anything to shout about coming into the round; a best of third place achieved four times – including a hat-trick of third places last year – and a pole position are the key takeaways from a track that Yamaha have historically struggled at.  The 2021 World Champion did make in-roads into Bautista’s title advantage at Magny-Cours with a 17-point swing and whilst on paper it doesn’t look likely this weekend, races aren’t decided on paper. However, Razgatlioglu and the Yamaha team opted not to test at Aragon during the mid-season break.

Toprak Razgatlıoğlu

“Aragon is not easy, but there are some good parts – I like the last corner! I had a great fight with Michael Rinaldi last year – touching in the last corner, like when we raced Superstock 600 in 2015! I am enjoying a lot. Last year we had a very nice pole position, a new record, but the race is more important. In Aragon you need to look after the tyre to be able to fight, it’s not easy but we will try our best and just look race by race. I hope we are on the podium and fighting for the win – we still have many races, anything can happen.”

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A solid Magny-Cours for Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) with three podiums means that he consolidated third in the Championship and pulled away from 2024 team-mate at Yamaha Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) behind him. Aragon is a happy hunting ground for Rea, with nine wins and he’s aiming to become the first rider at Aragon to make it to double figures.

Jonathan Rea

“Aragon is a really cool track, It’s one that I really enjoy and very challenging for a rider. I have got great memories there from the past and in fact the first ever time I rode the Ninja ZX-10R was in Aragon and I fondly remember the first laps. I hope to recreate that feeling where I really enjoyed the bike. We had a test there during the summer break and it was positive. I felt fast and consistent. Since the middle part of the season we have started to find some momentum with bike set-up. We have been working well as a team and we have been able to challenge for podiums. It is important to be strong but also consistent. We have two race weekends on the bounce now and the target is to maximise our opportunities to fight for podiums and continue scoring big points.”

After Alex Lowes was forced out of the final two races at the previous round in France, and having an operation to remove the damaged meniscus from his left knee shortly afterwards, the decision was taken to withdraw Alex from the Motorland round.

The team’s regular test rider, Florian Marino, will take over the second official Ninja ZX-10RR machine this coming weekend, joining the overall KRT race weekend set-up alongside Jonathan Rea. Qualifying and race action will be held between 22-24 September.

Alex Lowes

“After Magny Cours I took the tough decision to go to Barcelona to have surgery on my knee. The operation went well. Since then I have been fully focused on my recovery and working as hard as possible. Physically, I feel good and in a position where I could ride. However the team have decided the best option is to wait for Portugal next weekend. I respect their decision and switch my focus toward supporting Florian, Jonathan and the team, while improving myself in time for the next event in Portimao. It’s a shame because I showed some strong speed in the recent Aragon test and Magny Cours weekend. But, they are behind us now, and it’s time to look forward and try to get on the podium again before the end of the 2023 season.”

It’s an all-Italian fight for fourth overall; with the #65 of Rea looking to get one hand on the bronze medal for 2023, Andrea Locatelli’s consistency saw him also put a gap into Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) behind him, although the Ducati star is top Independent. At Aragon, ‘Loka’ and ‘El Bocia’ will renew their fight for fourth overall, Bassani keen to overcome the deficit that was put into him in France; the gap is 37 with nine races and three rounds remaining.

Andrea Locatelli

“Aragon will be interesting because the last time we were there was the first race of 2022 in April – so for sure we will find different conditions and it’s been a long time since we rode there. But honestly, I like the track a lot! I have always enjoyed racing there, it has a nice layout, it’s interesting as a rider – up and down, slow parts and fast parts! I like it, so we will try to enjoy and continue with the improvement that we had in Magny-Cours. We are so close to fighting for the podium, we were close in France and we will try again in Aragon. I believe we can have another great weekend and now it’s very important to finish the season strongly, especially because we have these the two back-to-back races in Aragon and Portimão before the final round in Jerez. I have good motivation to get back on track quickly and push hard to get the maximum results.”

However, closing in behind them is Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) and with a new deal to stay with the team in 2024. He’s 76 points behind Locatelli and whilst in 2023, that may be a bridge too far, ‘Petrux’ will aim to reel in the 39-point deficit to Bassani ahead of him.

Whilst Scott Redding (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) may be the top BMW in the Championship standings, Garrett Gerloff (Bonovo Action BMW) stole the show in France with a career-first pole position and two top five finishes in the full races. Despite being taken out by Redding in the Superpole Race, the American moved to just 16 points behind him in the standings. A recent test at Aragon will serve as a basis for all BMWs and Gerloff hopes he can sparkle with him back to something of his former self.

Garrett Gerloff

“I’m happy that we were able to do the Aragón test a couple of weeks ago. I hope that will help us this race weekend. We have to wait and see. The test was okay, so hopefully from Magny-Cours we can make some improvements and bring those to Aragón. The team and I are working really well together. I know that we can have a solid weekend. It was also good to having tested on the BMW at Portimão even if it was long ago, at the beginning of the year when we didn’t know anything. So, it’s going to be different by the time we finally get there. But I’m looking forward to it. I like both tracks a lot. I know that as a team we’ll be ready for anything. I’m also super excited to have my friends coming for both rounds. That should be really cool to show my friends what World Superbike is like. It’s nice to have some home vibes there.”

Off-track, teammate Loris Baz’s future is still up in the air, whereas Michael van der Mark (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) returns to Aragon for the first time since his double top five finish in 2021. BMW had a nightmare in 2022 at the Spanish track, with just three top ten results out of a possible 15, a best coming from Baz in P7 during Race 2.

Holding onto a top ten overall in the Championship, Xavi Vierge (Team HRC) continues to lead Honda’s charge in WorldSBK but is yet to get near the heights of his early season podium success from Mandalika. The Spaniard, who enjoys a second ‘home round’ of the season, is tenth overall and comes off the back of a double top ten finish on Sunday at Magny-Cours with P9, his first back-to-back top ten results since Misano.

Xavi Vierge

“Aragón is another home round, and a track where we had a fruitful testing session just a few weeks ago. We completed many laps and tried a lot of different things also in terms of set-up so part of the work is done ahead of the racing weekend. Now we just need to try and obtain all that we can from what we have, while on my side I’ll also be focusing on myself and my riding style. I’ve been training as usual since Magny Cours and have fully recovered from the hard crash I suffered in France, so I feel ready to begin and do my very best at Aragón”.

As for Iker Lecuona, he debuted in WorldSBK at Aragon last year and was a strong P6 in Race 1 at a track where the bike has had a podium, back in 2020, although a lot has changed since then. Both were at the Aragon test in August with positive findings hoping to propel them forwards for this round and beyond.

Iker Lecuona

“We have been to Aragón recently for some test sessions, which went quite well despite being affected by strong winds. I was happy with the way we worked there and, as well as testing some new items, we focused a little on the base set-up of the bike so hopefully that will help us to start the weekend on the right foot. We have the potential to do well enough at Aragón and be there in the second group but I prefer to wait and see, keeping my feet on the ground.”

MotorLand Aragon could be considered a slightly more ‘normal’ circuit, away from the quirks and intricacies of hard-to-learn tracks such as Donington Park, Imola, Most and Magny-Cours, so expect double WorldSSP Champion Dominique Aegerter (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) to be back in the thick of the action.

Dominique Aegerter

“To be honest, Aragon’s not up there with my favourite circuits, but there are some parts that make it special and that I like, such as the corkscrew and the ups and downs. I’m hoping for some good weather again and looking for a good result, trying to be the best independent rider. I needed some days to recover after the Magny-Cours crash, but I’m fully ready for Aragon. Finally, I would like to congratulate the YART Yamaha team for winning the FIM Endurance World Championship, a big congrats to them all, especially as Niccolò (Canepa) is our coach and Massimo (Neri) is our electronics guy.”

Aegerter’s GRT Yamaha team-mate Remy Gardner will also be keen to shine as the Australian chases a top ten overall. Aegerter is P9 with 123 points, Gardner P12 with 107.

Remy Gardner

“I hope we can enjoy a good weekend in Aragon. I used to be quick in the past there, so I hope I can quickly adapt with my Yamaha R1 machine too. In the previous rounds we showed progression and we’re confident about making more steps forward in the right direction, looking for a good result this weekend.”

World Superbike Championship Points

WorldSSP

Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team) leads the standings with 358 points, and enjoys a commanding lead of 68-points which means he could potentially securing his first WorldSSP title on Sunday if he dominates this weekend.

Stefano Manzi (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) is currently the closest challenger and while the Championship remains a mathematical possibility, the stark points deficit makes each race crucial for his title aspirations.

Occupying the third spot with 236 points, Marcel Schroetter (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) still harbours hopes of closing the gap, but the statistical odds are stacked against a Championship win. Nevertheless, Schroetter’s impressive consistency makes him a contender.

Federico Caricasulo (Althea Racing Team), Bahattin Sofuoglu (MV Agusta Reparto Corse), and Niki Tuuli (PTR Triumph) complete the top five in the standings, each with their unique ambitions and strengths. Caricasulo, with 181 points, might not be in immediate contention for the title, but he remains a formidable presence on the track, being one of the rider with the most successes at Aragon from the current grid.

John McPhee joins the D34G squad as a stand-in rider for the injured Oli Bayliss at this round.

There will still be two Aussies on the grid though with Tom Edwards and Luke Power contesting the European cup category of the class, a sub-category that Power topped last time out at Magny-Cours.

World Supersport Championship Points

WorldSSP300

As the 2023 FIM World Supersport 300 Championship reaches its penultimate round at MotorLand Aragon, the spotlight falls on the top five contenders, who are separated by just a handful of points.

Jeffrey Buis (MTM Kawasaki), fresh off a spectacular double win at Magny-Cours, currently leads the standings and is eager to clinch his second consecutive WorldSSP300 title. However, only five-points separates him from the relentless Jose Luis Perez Gonzalez (Accolade Smrz Racing), and a mere 13-points off Dirk Geiger (Freudenberg KTM-Paligo Racing) who is even more resolute after his last-lap crash in Race 2 at Magny-Cours that cost him the Championship lead.

Mirko Gennai (Team BrCorse) and Petr Svoboda (Fusport-RT Motorsport by SKM-Kawasaki), are not far behind in fourth and fifth place, respectively, are poised to seize any opportunity to close the gap and thrust themselves into contention.

Additionally, Matteo Vannucci (AG Motorsport Italia Yamaha), could still mathematically be in the title race, adds another layer of intrigue to this thrilling Championship battle.

World Supersport 300 Championship Points

WorldSBK Aragon Schedule
(AEST)

2023 FIM Superbike World Championship Calendar
Date	Circuit	WSBK	WSSP600	WSSP300
24-26 Feb	Phillip Island	X	X
3-5 Mar	Mandalika	X	X
21-23 Apr	Assen	X	X	X
5-7 May	Catalunya	X	X	X
2-4 Jun	Misano	X	X	X
30 Jun-02 Jul	Donington Park	X	X
14-16 Jul	Imola	X	X	X
28-30 Jul	Autodrom Most	X	X	X
8-10 Sep	Magny-Cours	X	X	X
22-24 Sep	Aragón	X	X	X
29-Sep-01 Oct	Algarve	X	X	X