WorldSBK Catalunya Test
Springtime in Catalunya delivered mostly good weather and useable track conditions for World Superbike riders late this week. Only a ‘green’ track surface on day one and a delay on Friday morning to let the track surface dry out after overnight rains cut into the available track time for the full complement of WorldSBK teams.
Nicolò Bulega continued to set the testing pace with a new outright lap record for a World Superbike at the Montmelò circuit. Bulega tested different tyre solutions alongside Ducati team-mate and defending champion Alvaro Bautista with a view to the second round of the championship being staged at the same venue next weekend.
Nicolò Bulega – P1
“We are on the right path. Together with the team, we have done a very effective job as always. We’ve worked hard on tyre choice and setup and I think the indications we got will be beneficial ahead of next weekend. The feeling with the bike was very good and this is confirmed by both the race pace and the time attack times. It is clear that we still have work to do to fix details that could take us a step forward, but the result of these tests is undoubtedly positive”.
Toprak Razgatlioglu ran Bulega close for top spot, less than three-hundredths behind the Italian, and also under the lap record. The Turk is still searching for more engine braking on his M 1000 RR machine and also compared two different swing-arms on Friday.
Toprak Razgatlioglu – P2
“For P1, I was very close but anyway, I’m very happy. Today, we focused on race pace and finally, I feel very good with the grip. I did a short, 11-lap race simulation with all the laps in the 1’41s. After, when I felt the bike was ready for the race, I put two Q tyres at the end of the day, and the second one, I rode a little bit better. My last run was three laps, and I did 1’40.1s, 1.40.4 and 1.40.8, which is good. In general, I’m happy, and so is the team; we found some good grip, and we’re ready to race. The last run was with the old swingarm but with a different shock, the new front forks, and different linkage, so I tried many parts. The old and new swing arms are close, but I’m happier with the old one. It’s a small change, maybe psychological, but I’m happy anyway. It’s my dream to win here because I’ve never won here, the tyre is so important. I’ll try to do my best!”
Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) displayed commendable pace, securing third position despite encountering technical issues and a Turn 10 crash earlier in the day. Petrucci was pleased to have found a better feeling with both the SCX and SCQ tyres, something the Umbrian rider was not too comfortable with before.
Danilo Petrucci – P3
“After having raced in Australia, we needed to return to a ‘traditional’ track, even though Barcelona is quite abnormal for tyre wear and poor grip. It was important to get back on the Pirelli SCX and SCQ, the tyres I traditionally struggle with the most, but I must say that this time we were fast with both. I couldn’t put together a perfect lap time and when I tried to push the limit I crashed. Luckily it was a low-speed crash with no consequences. Last year, we struggled a lot at this track, and being ahead in testing gives us great motivation and confidence for the race weekend. I want to thank the team for the work they are doing.”
Andrea Iannone worked with the new Pirelli rear solution, the 900, finding good results especially over long distances. In the last hour, the work shifted to exploiting the qualifying tyre, one of the weak points of Iannone in previous tests. There were two attempts, improving step by step, thanks to the analysis of the data compared to the previous lap; at the last SCQ, Iannone managed to get the most out of the extra grip, dipping into the 1m40s, placing himself in fourth place overall.
Andrea Iannone – P4
“It was a good day of testing, I’m satisfied with the teamwork and I think that little by little my feeling with the bike and the tyres is improving, making me more and more competitive. In the first few days I struggle slightly more, due to the long stop, but then I am back to interesting levels quite quickly, surprising myself with our results. I’m happy with how we worked with the team and the support from Ducati. I thank Gigi Dall’Igna, Claudio Domenicali, Paolo Ciabatti, Mauro Grassilli and the whole Go Eleven team for support. This week we hope to recover well and to find similar conditions during the race weekend.”
Utilising as much of the 16 hours of available track time across both days as conditions allowed, the Pata Prometeon Yamaha squad pulled out all the stops to test and improve the official Yamaha YZF-R1M WorldSBKs of both riders. Jonathan Rea and Andrea Locatelli finished fifth and sixth, respectively, on the combined timesheets. Rea’s time was from just a single time-attack run before lunch.
Jonathan Rea – P5
“We were able to really get down to business with no major issues. We tested some things back-to-back and found some clear positives and negatives, but we were able to tick most things on the list as well as some tyre options for the race weekend including a front tyre option from Pirelli. I was also able to do a race simulation for both the Superpole Race and long race. It’s very hard to compare, but it was very competitive and could be a fast race pace compared to last year. With that information and how the track conditions were today, at least we have good data to try to improve. We can be satisfied with the result and now we can start the “real work” to prepare further. The team worked in a really good way all through the test – we ran out of time you could say, as there’s always more boxes you could tick but I started to really feel more confident with the R1. Yamaha and the guys in Milan have done a lot of positive work and I feel like I can get stuck in and ride the bike and have fun. I had a smile on my face most of the test and always want more! We can be happy with the job we have done here and the progression made since Australia, it gives me a lot of confidence – I feel good and ready to start the weekend.”
Andrea Locatelli – P6
“It was an interesting day – It’s always a bit strange riding here compared to some other circuits, we know that on this track we can have some wheel spin compared to Phillip Island. In Australia the grip from the new tarmac was incredible, so here is another condition and it is important to learn and know what we can improve in the set-up to manage this. But in the end, I think we did a good job – I have good confidence and a good feeling on my R1. I am not 100% physically, because when I crashed in Phillip Island, I had some pain in my knee – the confidence on the bike is quite high like always but my feeling when I am trying to push is not quite fully there. We did a lot of laps, understood a lot of things but we will see during the race because that can be another story. We are always focused only on ourselves during testing to try to do the best job – I was happy we did a lot of laps on used tyres yesterday, but unfortunately today during the long run we had a technical problem so we lost a little bit this opportunity. Now I have some days to recover at home and I hope to be fighting again for the podium next week.”
Sam Lowes was just under eight-tenths off the new benchmark set by fellow Ducati rider Bulega.
Michael van der Mark was eighth on combined times. The Dutchman attempted both a time attack and a race simulation on Friday.
The test concluded on a positive note for Kawasaki Racing Team’s Alex Lowes and Axel Bassani as they each made progress toward finding a race set-up for next weekend.
Alex Lowes, championship leader and winner of two races at the previous round in Australia used the test to work towards maintaining a strong tyre life over the full race distance. On day two, Alex made a long run to evaluate tyre life and set a high lap count despite having two small crashes on the final day.
Alex Lowes – P9
“It was busy here today and I think I did 80 laps. I worked a lot. I did a race simulation while trying to look after the tyres – especially the front tyre as this track seems to have quite low grip and that makes it critical on the front. I was happy with my consistency in the race run and it was certainly a lot better than last year, when we had similar track conditions. We are making steps forward but so is everybody else. Until we check the analysis of the data it is hard to really know where you are. I don’t think tenth today was our true position. We have all the information now for the race next week and I feel good.”
Pere Riba – Crew Chief for Alex Lowes
“We had some items to test and we worked through them. We made some changes in the electronics and that was a little bit difficult yesterday. Today we tried to understand it more and collected all the info. This track is very different to the first round in Australia and the grip was not so good. Alex crashed a couple of times but in the end we collected good information. Now we will analyse everything and then see how we will prepare for the race weekend.”
A crash without consequences in the time attack at the end of the session prevented Bautista from improving his place in the standings. The Spaniard finished the test almost a second slower than team-mate Bulega and just behind ex-team-mate Michael Rinaldi.
Alvaro Bautista – P11
“On the one hand, I am really happy because I feel that my physical condition is returning to its highest level. At the same time, however, today things didn’t go as I hoped because I couldn’t make progress in terms of feeling. I had a little bit of difficulty in finding the right grip to allow me to push to the maximum of my possibilities. We will study the data over the next few days to understand what happened and I’m sure we will be back in Barcelona next Friday with the solution”.
The GYTR GRT Yamaha pairing of Remy Gardner and Dominique Aegerter completed 304 laps across the two days, building confidence and pace. Both worked on long-distance runs on the second and final day. After missing some track time in the early stages due to a damp track, Gardner finished 11th on combined times, with a lot of potential left untapped.
Remy Gardner – P12
“It was a solid test overall, we did some good work in my opinion. We focused on long distance runs and I can say I’m satisfied with the job done, it was a productive test. Unfortunately, a small crash slowed the whole process on the first day; despite having a decent feeling with the front tyre, it probably got cold and I ended up crashing at Turn 5. That didn’t prevent us from improving and our pace is good, even though we know there’s still margin to improve. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to put together all my best sectors during my fast lap, but we can be confident for the race weekend.”
Dominique Aegerter – P14
“It was nice to jump back on the bike after the first round of the season, also for my body. My physical condition is getting better and better, that’s a very positive aspect overall. We mainly focused on looking for a good base setup that could work in any condition, then moved on working on long distance trying different solutions. We did a good job but there’s still some work to do, but that was a positive test, it was great to have some track time to try different things.”
Axel Bassani continued to work on finding greater pace and consistency in the early stages of his first season as an official Kawasaki rider.
Axel Bassani – P16
“Like yesterday we found something near the end of the session. That’s good because finally we arrived with a good lap on the race tyre, better than the one we did using the SCQ qualifying tyre. It is important to start to understand what to do for the coming race weekend here. We need tests to improve our work and we did that here. We found some more confidence on the front but we also have to work on the rear during turning, as right now we are losing time in the long corners. Pirelli brought new front and rear tyres here and I liked the new front tyre. On the rear, I still have to make a choice.”
Both Bonovo Action BMW riders finished outside the top ten, with Garrett Gerloff in 13th and Scott Redding in 17th.
HRC factory riders Xavi Vierge and Iker Lecuona were on track across both Thursday and Friday, as the team continues to develop the 2024 version of the CBR1000RR-R, building on the recent work completed during the tests and races at Phillip Island.
After sustaining a shoulder injury in the first Australian round, Lecuona used this test to assess his physical condition. The Spaniard opted to ride on Thursday morning and then completed more laps on Friday in preparation for the upcoming races. Although not yet at full strength, Iker will continue to focus on his recovery in the coming days to ensure he is in the best possible shape for the race weekend ahead.
Iker Lecuona – P24
“This is the first time I’ve ridden the bike since Australia, and back home I haven’t been able to train as I normally would, nor have I been able to do any gym work. So, that’s the current situation. I’m doing my best, but I need to take things slowly. I’m listening to the physios and doctors. That’s why, on Thursday, I chose to ride only in the morning before visiting the physio in Barcelona in the afternoon. The shoulder felt a bit better than I expected on Friday morning, so once the track conditions improved a little after early rain, I went out and rode most of the day. I didn’t feel too bad on the bike though of course there’s some fatigue at the end of the day. We tested everything we wanted to, and now it’s time to check the data and understand what’s worked and what hasn’t. It’s clear that we still need to work on all areas of the bikes rather than on any one specific aspect. Grip will be an issue for next week’s races, for everybody I think, so we need to find something there. The bike normally works well here but we’ll have to see next week what conditions are like, and how I am doing physically“.
Vierge meanwhile made use of the full two days, focusing on refining his Fireblade’s base set-up with a view to next week’s races. His work was supported by that of test rider Tetsuta Nagashima, who was also in attendance for these tests. Vierge was the fastest Honda rider at the test but it looks as though HRC still have plenty of work to do as he was only just inside the top 20, more than 1.6-seconds away from Bulega’s benchmark.
Xavi Vierge – P19
“We’ve been able to complete our work plan for these tests, while making adjustments along the way of course. The feeling with the bike wasn’t so bad when we started on Thursday but when we made a set-up change later that day, to try and improve the drive, this unfortunately caused my feeling to diminish. The work continued on Friday though, when we made a lot of laps and tested some new parts, particularly concerning the electronics, the engine brake area, and the swing-arm. Even though we haven’t yet realized all the benefits we were hoping for, the test has given us indications of the direction to follow. We now have a lot of data to analyse in order to find the best possible base for the race weekend. I want to thank the team for all their hard work here and also Honda and HRC – everyone is working tirelessly in Japan to bring us new items and improve our machine, so a big thank you to everyone. Let’s keep pushing forward.”
Having not had a lot of track time with the 2024 bike to date, Petronas MIE Racing Honda Team riders Tarran Mackenzie and Adam Norrodin were keen to put this test session to good use. Exploiting the dry weather, both riders clocked up the miles on Thursday and Friday, collecting more precious data and working closely with their respective technicians to better understand the bike, refine the base set-up and identify solutions that can serve them well during the upcoming second championship round and beyond.
Tarran Mackenzie
“Thursday was probably the most positive day of the year so far for me. I’m now working with a new crew chief, Mick Shanley, and although the bike was the same as at Phillip Island, I’ve had much better feeling with it here. We made a small geometry change for Friday and I started to improve as the day went on. My times were similar over the two days, but when we put in a qualifying tyre, I found a good bit of time, so I’m happy overall with how we’ve done. I also feel that I’ve improved in myself, which is very important, and think we’ve made a good step. I haven’t done so many laps at Barcelona in the past, aside from last season’s race weekend of course, so it’s been nice to be able to enjoy some solid track time with the bike. We’ll do our best to carry this positive momentum into the race weekend.”
Adam Norrodin
“This test has been a good opportunity to understand more about the bike after the Phillip Island round. I was quite happy on Thursday morning but then we changed a few things in the afternoon that were less effective. On Friday we made more modifications and completed a lot more laps, and I felt quite comfortable, also because I’ve changed up my training since the Phillip Island round with the aim of improving my physicality. I can feel an improvement there already so that’s another positive as we look ahead to next weekend’s races. I can feel the potential is there; we just need to put it all together.”
Riders and fans alike need not wait much longer for more track action. The second round of the season kicks off next Friday, 22 March.
WorldSBK Combined Catalunya Test Times
| Pos | Rider | Team | TIme/Gap |
| 1 | Nicolo BULEGA | DUCATI | 1m40.172 |
| 2 | Toprak RAZGATLIOGLU | BMW | +0.027 |
| 3 | Danilo PETRUCCI | DUCATI | +0.429 |
| 4 | Andrea IANNONE | DUCATI | +0.490 |
| 5 | Jonathan REA | YAMAHA | +0.600 |
| 6 | Andrea LOCATELLI | YAMAHA | +0.676 |
| 7 | Sam LOWES | DUCATI | +0.772 |
| 8 | Michael VAN DER MARK | BMW | +0.789 |
| 9 | Alex LOWES | KAWASAKI | +0.813 |
| 10 | Michael Ruben RINALDI | DUCATI | +0.848 |
| 11 | Alvaro BAUTISTA | DUCATI | +0.857 |
| 12 | Remy GARDNER | YAMAHA | +0.872 |
| 13 | Garrett GERLOFF | BMW | +0.988 |
| 14 | Dominique AEGERTER | YAMAHA | +1.006 |
| 15 | Michele PIRRO | DUCATI | +1.307 |
| 16 | Axel BASSANI | KAWASAKI | +1.385 |
| 17 | Scott REDDING | BMW | +1.402 |
| 18 | Tito RABAT | KAWASAKI | +1.628 |
| 19 | Xavi VIERGE | HONDA | +1.632 |
| 20 | Tetsuta NAGASHIMA | HONDA | +1.930 |
| 21 | Philipp OETTL | YAMAHA | +2.149 |
| 22 | Tarran MACKENZIE | HONDA | +2.199 |
| 23 | Bradley RAY | YAMAHA | +2.241 |
| 24 | Iker LECUONA | HONDA | +2.623 |
| 25 | Sylvain GUINTOLI | BMW | +2.949 |
| 26 | Adam NORRODIN | HONDA | +3.015 |
| 27 | Bradley SMITH | BMW | +3.197 |
| 28 | Florian MARINO | KAWASAKI | +3.211 |
WorldSBK Championship Points
| Pos | Rider | Points |
| 1 | Alex Lowes | 50 |
| 2 | Nicolo Bulega | 41 |
| 3 | Andrea Locatelli | 29 |
| 4 | Andrea Iannone | 29 |
| 5 | Alvaro Bautista | 27 |
| 6 | Danilo Petrucci | 24 |
| 7 | Dominique Aegerter | 19 |
| 8 | Toprak Razgatlioglu | 18 |
| 9 | Michael Van Der Mark | 16 |
| 10 | Garrett Gerloff | 15 |
| 11 | Sam Lowes | 14 |
| 12 | Michael Ruben Rinaldi | 13 |
| 13 | Xavi Vierge | 9 |
| 14 | Axel Bassani | 9 |
| 15 | Remy Gardner | 8 |
| 16 | Scott Redding | 5 |
| 17 | Philipp Oettl | 2 |
| 18 | Bradley Ray | 1 |
2024 WorldSBK Calendar
| Date | Circuit | WSBK | WSSP600 | WSP300 | WWSBK |
| 23-25 Feb | Phillip Island | X | X | ||
| 22-24 Mar | Catalunya | X | X | X | |
| 19-21 Apr | Assen | X | X | X | |
| 14-16 Jun | Misano | X | X | X | X |
| 12-14 Jul | Donington | X | X | X | |
| 19-21 Jul | Most | X | X | X | |
| 9-11 Aug | Algarve | X | X | X | X |
| 23-25 Aug | Balaton Park | X | X | X | |
| 6-8 Sep | Magny-Cours | X | X | X | |
| 20-22 Sep | Cremona | X | X | X | |
| 27-29 Sep | Aragón | X | X | X | |
| 18-20 Oct | Jerez | X | X | X | X |
