WSBK

Alvaro Bautista says Kawasaki has the luxury of being able to treat its World Superbike project with the same level of dedication that rival manufacturers commit to their MotoGP bikes.Honda rider Bautista made the remark during last week’s post-season test at Jerez, where Kawasaki unveiled the 2021 version of its ultra-successful ZX-10RR machine featuring radically revised front bodywork and an updated engine. Jonathan Rea set the fastest time of the test using the new bike at Jerez, and is back in action for another two-day test this week at Aragon. While Kawasaki’s 2021 machine represents its biggest year-on-year change in some seasons, the Japanese manufacturer has not gone down the route of producing a ‘homologation special’ in the mould of Ducati’s V4 Panigale R or BMW’s M1000RR. Asked if he was surprised about Kawasaki’s decision, Bautista replied: “When the bike is working well, why change? They keep winning, so why change the bike? “Maybe you think it’s a normal Superbike, but them for it’s like a MotoGP [bike] because they don’t have any other championships and they put all the effort in this championship. Maybe the bike looks normal, but inside is the secret.” Ex-MotoGP rider Bautista was eighth-fastest of the 11 WSBK riders present at Jerez, three places behind Honda teammate Leon Haslam. The Spanish rider said he found “some good points but also some bad points” experimenting with different set-ups, as the CBR1000RR-R goes into its second season of competition. “[This year] the bike was very new and I hope that for next season we have now a normal base, to start the work, especially in the winter,” said Bautista. “Maybe last season we start to work, not late, but with the [limited] time like this, and the COVID situation, we could not make more tests to make a base set-up.” Asked specifically what he has asked Honda’s engineers in Japan to deliver with the 2021 bike, Bautista said: “I want more turning and more rear grip, especially, and just fix a little bit on the electronic side, with the engine brake and the power delivery. “Today we made some set-up adjustments and we found some positives and some negatives. Now they have the data and I say to them, ‘I want this, this and this’ and they have to work to put all the good things together. We’ll see.”

Jonathan Rea says the 2021-spec Kawasaki World Superbike challenger has left him “really satisfied” after sampling the new machine in this week’s Jerez post-season test. Six-time series champion Rea set his fastest time using a qualifying tyre towards the end of the the two-day test using the revised ZX-10RR, which notably features an updated engine and distinctive new front fairing to aid aerodynamics. His time of 1m38.324s was within a tenth of his own pole record from the 2019 Jerez round, and left him over half a second clear of nearest challenger Toprak Razgatlioglu. “I did a lot of laps with an old tyre and it seems like that’s the biggest issue I faced in this test, I haven’t been super fast with a fresh tyre,” said Rea. “The more laps the faster I got, which is a good problem to have, but it’s strange when that I put a new tyre on I don’t go any faster. “There were pluses and minuses and we have a lot of information to go back now and assess everything before we return to the track and go further at Motorland [Aragon] next week. “We can see some differences, but I think we need to put all the package together. We still some expect some new items to test before the 2021 season starts. It’s very young in the project, so we’ll keep working like every off-season, but really satisfied with this test.” Rea’s crew chief Pere Riba added: “We have the new bike and we have been testing all the items, the old ones and the new ones, just to collect the information. “The engine has a new character and this has an effect. The aerodynamics of the new fairing seems to be working very well and it helps in different areas. It also makes the bike work a little bit different in terms of balance and we need time to look for the best package.” Rea’s teammate Alex Lowes was also using the new Kawasaki on the second day of the test and ended up third-fastest, fractionally behind Yamaha man Razgatlioglu. GRT Yamaha rider Garrett Gerloff topped the first day of running ahead of Rea by almost four tenths, but was only fourth-fastest on Wednesday, and overall, following a Turn 12 crash. The American, who has been in the headlines recently for his impressive MotoGP practice cameo at Valencia, got to join Razgatlioglu in sampling the 2021 Yamaha R1 on Wednesday after spending the opening day of the test on the 2020 version. Leon Haslam was fifth-fastest on both days of the test for Honda, ending up nearly half a second clear of teammate Alvaro Bautista, who was eighth overall. In between the pair were two World Supersport graduates, factory Yamaha signing Andrea Locatelli and Lucas Mahias, who will race next year with the Puccetti Kawasaki squad. Rounding out the order were three more rookies – newly-crowned All-Japan Superbike champion Kohta Nozane (GRT), ex-Moto2 rider Isaac Vinales (Orelac Kawasaki) and another rider making the step up from Supersport, Loris Cresson (Pedercini Kawasaki). The factory Ducati and BMW teams were not present at Jerez, but Michael Ruben Rinaldi and Michael van der Mark previously made their first appearances with their respective new teams during a post-season test immediately after the season-closer at Estoril. A further two-day test will take place next week at Aragon.

Tragedy struck the SuperBike community after Matheus Barbosa died when he lost control of his bike during a race in Brazil.The tragic incident occurred at the SuperBike Brazil event in Sao Paulo when Barbosa came around a left turn and collided with barriers at the edge of the racetrack. He was pronounced dead at the scene despite medical help arriving in less than 60 seconds. The fatal accident saw the race suspended with 10 laps remaining. “The nearest medical team reached Matheus in less than 60 seconds but despite all their efforts he succumbed to his critical injuries,” a SuperBike Brazil spokesperson said. “The cause of the accident is still being investigated. “Out of respect to Matheus, and above all his family, the remaining day’s activities were immediately cancelled.” “The competition was being held with all the necessary security conditions established by the appropriate authorities,” it said in an added statement. “The organisation’s priority at this time is to fully support Matheus’ family.” Only last year rider Danilo Berto died after he was thrown from his SuperBike during a warm-up session at the Interlagos circuit. It was the fourth death in three years involving SuperBikes at the Brazilian track with Barbosa the latest tragedy.

Ducati rider Scott Redding was fastest in both Friday practice sessions ahead of this weekend’s World Superbike title decider at Estoril.Redding, who has experience of the Portuguese track from his grand prix racing days, went over four tenths clear of the field in morning’s opening session with a benchmark time of 1m37.181s aboard his factory Ducati Panigale V4 R. His nearest pursuers in that session were four Yamaha riders: GRT’s Garrett Gerloff, Ten Kate man Loris Baz and works pair Toprak Razgatioglu and Michael van der Mark. In the early stages of the afternoon session, Baz managed to beat Redding’s benchmark with a time of a 1m37.084s – shortly before a crash that ruled him out of much of the session. That remained the time to beat until the closing stages of the session, as Razgatlioglu became the first rider to dip beneath the 1m37s barrier with a 1m36.975s. Redding then retook the top spot as the chequered flag flew, posting a 1m36.886s to end the day on top by 0.089s. Baz remained third-fastest with his time from the start of the session, followed by champion-elect Jonathan Rea on the best of the Kawasakis in fourth. Rea goes into Saturday’s opening race needing only three points – the equivalent of a 13th-place finish – to be a certain of a sixth consecutive WSBK title, while nothing less than a victory would be enough to keep Redding’s hopes alive. A late improvement from Alex Lowes made it two factory Kawasakis in the top five, demoting Gerloff to sixth. Chaz Davies, who is out of a ride for 2021 after losing his Ducati seat to Michael Ruben Rinaldi for next season, was seventh fastest on the second works V4 R. Ex-MotoGP rider Jonas Folger is back for a second wildcard outing of the season on his MGM Racing Yamaha and was a solid eighth fastest ahead of factory man van der Mark. Completing the top 10 was Honda’s Leon Haslam, who this week was handed a fresh deal to remain at the team alongside Alvaro Bautista next year. Tom Sykes was best of the BMW riders in 12th, a place behind Bautista, while Eugene Laverty struggled to a low-key 18th on the second of the S1000RRs.

Eric Granado joins the Estoril grid as teammate to Takumi Takahashi as the MIE Racing HONDA Team revert back to a two-rider squad. Brazilian Eric Granado will make his MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship debut with the MIE Racing HONDA Team at the Pirelli Estoril Round this weekend, joining Takumi Takahashi for the final event of the season. Granado has been a regular in World Championship competition since 2012 and now, the 2017 CEV Moto2™ Junior World Champion will step up to WorldSBK for the final round, becoming the first Brazilian rider since Alex Barros in 2006 to race in the Championship. Three-time MotoE™ race winner Granado joins the MIE Racing HONDA Team, who have had a challenging first year with the all-new CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP. However, Granado has bags of experience across a wide spectrum of motorcycles and Championships and hopes that his skills and past Moto2™ World Championship experience can be put to good use this weekend. He has won at the Estoril circuit before, during his Championship season in the Moto2™ Junior World Championship, so could be fast from the get-go on Friday morning. Speaking about the deal, Granado said: “I want to thank Honda Brazil for giving me a chance to be one of few riders in the country to race in the FIM Superbike World Championship. It will also be my first contact with the new CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP, and I am very happy about this. I’ve already raced at Estoril, which is a good thing, and have actually won two European Moto2 rounds at the track.” Granado won the first ever races at Estoril in the CEV Moto2™ class back in 2017. In Race 1, he took the lead with two laps to go to beat Championship rival Ricard Cardus by less than a second whilst in Race 2, he took the lead on Lap 4 and only surrendered it on the penultimate lap to Cardus, before the two battled on the final lap before a collision at the tight chicane left Cardus on the ground and Granado with the win. Continuing, Granado said: “I know this is a high-level competition though, and I have no expectations when it comes to results. I will be a new rider who needs to adapt, racing a new bike, so it’s another big challenge in terms of my career. I hope this is going to be a weekend in which I can learn a lot and carry this experience forward.”

Kawasaki Pucceti team has signed Lucas Mahias who is the 2017 World Supersport Champion for the 2021 World Superbike championship and he is to take Xavi Fores’ place. Mahias has been racing in the World Supersport since 2014 and he later on in 2017 went ahead to take the World Supersport championship with the GRT Yamaha team. He has also made selected Moto3 outings in the early parts of the last decade. The french rider moved to Pucceti Supersport team back in 2019, after losing last year’s title to Sandro Cortese and has enjoyed two supersport seasons with the team. He currently sits in the second position in the Supersport championship with only the Estoril run remaining to finalise the 2020 World Supersport season. Pucceti Kawaski have now decided to give the opportunity in the WorldSuperbike class for 2021, replacing Xavi Fores who had announced last week that he will be parting ways with the team just after one year. Fores was previously racing for Barni WSBK Ducatti from 2016-2018, but was asked to give way for Michael Reuben Rinaldi and spent a year out of WSBK before securing his seat with Pucceti for 2020 season. “I’m excited to be able to compete in WorldSBK,” Mahias said. “That was always my goal, and to move up with the Kawasaki and Puccetti Racing is absolutely fantastic. “I’ve competed in two Superbike races in the past and have ridden a 1000 in Superstock and in World Endurance, but I know that the ZX-10RR is a very powerful and competitive bike, and I can’t wait to get on it. “I had two aims in my sporting career, the first was to become WorldSSP champion and the second is to win the Superbike World Championship. “Having achieved the first, I’ll now do everything I can to obtain the second too. I know it’s a very tough championship, but I’ll have a great team and a competitive bike on my side. I want to thank Manuel Puccetti and Kawasaki for this amazing opportunity.” The Puccetti outfit has been struggling in the 2020 WSBK season as they only have one bike on the track. Fores has been able to make to the top 10 only twice in the 7 season openers. This results are contrary to last years results when Toprak Razgatlioglu who is currently Factory Yamaha rider scored two wins and ten podium finishes and helped the team score the indepedent title. “I’m pleased to announce that we have decided to promote Lucas Mahias from Supersport to Superbike next year,” team boss Manuel Puccetti said. “Supporting our riders from the Stock or Supersport classes right up to the top class is part of our team’s DNA and is something we have previously done with riders like Franco Morbidelli, Michael Ruben Rinaldi, Randy Krummenacher and Toprak Razgatlioglu. “I’m convinced that Mahias is a real talent, a solid rider who is always highly motivated. Racing in Superbike has always been his dream and so I’m sure he’ll put in maximum effort to achieve the best results. “On our side, we’ll do all we can to help him adapt to the new bike and the new category, without applying any pressure. As soon as we have a 2021 calendar, we’ll schedule some tests so that we’re prepared for the new season.”

Scott Redding took the Sunday’s victory at Magny-Cours in a wet superbike race making him to be a close contender ti the 2020 superbike championship title with only one round remaining which will be held at Estoril. Jonathan Rea only managed to finish fourth despite having won the opening two races of the weekend in France, Rea only needed to finish in the top three to extend his unapproachable lead margin of over 62 points. He was in a position to achieve that, as he had taken the pole position as Redding took the second row, starting the race at fourth. Redding showed his pure performance and talent throughout the race, in the opening stages he was able to pass Michael van der Mark as they approached Adelaide hairpin on the first lap as he later on overtook Alex Lowes who was second at Turn 1 on lap 2. On lap 3, Redding took on the championship leader, Rea from the inside at the Turn 9 hairpin pushing out the Kawasaki from its racing line and taking the lead at the turn. 33-year-old Rea would have settled for the second place to seal the championship title, but he appeared to struggle for speed on the track which was now drying up as he made further errors by running wide through several corners. This gave Loriz Baz the advantage to pass the championship leader as Redding’s teammate at Ducatti, Chaz Davies moments later took his chances to overtake Rea. This saw Rea settle to the fourth position on lap 14, as he tried to fight back in the final five laps as he closed the gap with Davies who was third down to under a second. However, in the penultimate lap Rea made a mistake on Turn 1 which saw Davies widen the gap further. Rea tried to close the gap once again on the final lap, but it was too late to make a move as Davies crossed the finish line just a sixth of a second ahead of Rea after 21 laps of racing. Redding on the other hand, enjoyed an uninterrupted victory since he took the lead on lap 3 and he was able to delay Rea’s championship victory coronation to the final WSBK round which will take place at Estoril. His lead is still very sizeable having a 59 point gap lead with only 62 points on offer in the last race in portugal. Loriz Baz finished second on the Ten Kate Yamaha, scoring a third consecutive podium finish of the weekend. Yamaha’s Michael van der Mark finished seven seconds behind Rea and landed him in fifth place, while Team Go Eleven’s Michael Reuben Rinaldi finished sixth despite running as high as second in the opening stages of the race. Alex Lowes finished seventh on the second works Kawasaki ahead of GRT Yamaha’s Garrett Gerloff and the factory M1 of Toprak Razgatlioglu. Tom Sykes rounded out the top 10 riders on his BMW while the Hondas of Leon Haslam and Alvaro Bautista scrapped for minor points, finishing 13th and 15th respectively.

Jonathan Rea successfully defied the threat of both the weather and some stiff opposition in tricky wet conditions to take another important step towards the 2020 WorldSBK Championship title with victory race one at Magny-Cours. As it has been almost entirely throughout the weekend, steady but persistent rain awaited the riders for what promised to be a treacherous 21 laps around the French venue, but any hopes for Scott Redding it would literally unseat Rea as it did during FP3 became unfounded as the Kawasaki man rebuffed the challenges around him for another exemplary win. Rea had to work hard initially despite grabbing the lea d from third on the grid into Turn 1, not least because he was lucky to be just in front of a dramatic coming together into Turn 1 after both BMW riders came down in a disaster for the German marque. With Eugene Laverty – starting from pole position for the first time since 2012 – leading a BMW 1-2 on the grid, the Irishman suffered for a ponderous start which put him on the outside of Turn 1, so when BMW team-mate Tom Sykes to his inside was swiped down by contact with Garrett Gerloff it resulted in both S 1000 RRs barrelling through the gravel just seconds into the race. Both riders were unhurt and will get another chance to make the most of their qualifying efforts in the Superpole Race when they start 1-2 again. Out front, Rea was defending hard as positions swapped behind him, the riders ducking in and out of the spray, fending off the attention from an in-form Gerloff initially. However, his attempt to pass at d’Eau on lap three instead resulted in the line being chopped off by the Kawasaki, thus dropping him behind Loris Baz. Rea, Baz and Gerloff soon sprinted clear to form the lead pack, but the latter would see his hopes of a second consecutive podium ruined by a crash on lap seven at Nurburgring when he lost the rear of the GRT Yamaha and it flipped him back over into a high-side. With Baz left to take up the fight, he stayed close to Rea for the majority of the race and it was only until the latter portions that he began to lose ground before easing off to settle for second place. His tenth win of the year, it means Rea has extended his lead over Redding to 65 points. He needs 62 points in hand at the end of the weekend to be crowned champion for a sixth time in six years. A third podium of the year – and a first WorldSBK podium on home soil – for Baz and Ten Kate Yamaha – he was followed by Alex Lowes who despite being a distant ten seconds off the front notched up his first podium since the Australian season opener back in February/March. Making good gains from his ninth place starting position, Chaz Davies consolidated third overall with fourth position, ahead of Ducati team-mate Redding, whose fifth place result was a hard-fought reward for an eventful race. Struggling initially down in a distant tenth, the confidence returned as the laps ticked off to the point where Redding was on the back of a fierce race-long battle for fifth between Toprak Razgatlioglu and Leon Haslam. With the Yamaha and Honda pair swapping positions right up to the final lap, it was Haslam’s last attack into Imola that proved his undoing, the veteran getting the move done, only to high-side dramatically on the exit. That slowed up Razgatlioglu, allowing Redding to jump from seventh to fifth, with the Turk left in sixth. With everyone behind jumping a late position, Michael Ruben Rinaldi was seventh, ahead of Xavi Fores – for his equal best result of the year – and Michael van der Mark, who ran fourth for much of the race before a crash at d’Eau dropped him down the order. Leandro Mercado returned to the top ten on the Motocorsa Ducati, with Federico Caricasulo and a lacklustre Alvaro Bautista left to fly the flag for GRT Yamaha and Honda in 11th and 12th after their respective team-mates’ incidents. Sylvain Barrier, Valentin Debise and WorldSBK debutant Xavier Pinsach – another to fall and remount – picking up the final points’ paying position.

Garett Gerloff(GRT Yamaha) set the pace in the WorldWSBK Free Practice 2 held at Magny-Cours which remained wet for the second practice session, after setting a benchmark timed lap in the last minutes taking on Jonathan Rea. Jonathan Rea had topped the morning practice session after recording a time of 1m 49.356s and his dominance continued for the better part of FP2 and continuously improved his time from 1m 53.140s to 1m 50.381s in the first half of the session. Later on, with only 21 minutes to go to the end of the session Team Go Eleven’s Michael Reuben Rinaldi was able to beat Rea’s time after recording 1m 50.489s and a few moments later improved on his time, recording 1m 50.122s. Jonathan Rea was able to take back the lead recording 1m 50s 10 minutes later, and later improved on his record creating a gap between him and the other riders as he set a series of fast laps. His final effort landed him at 1m 48.991s which was the fastest lap so far in the two Friday practice sessions and appeared to have sealed the practice honours to continue leading in the championship standings to get his 6th world championship title. Garett Gerloff would later challenge the benchmark time by recording 1m 48.830s moments before the chequered flag was put down, emerging the fastest in the Friday afternoon session. Rea had to settle for the second position after he was beaten by only 0.015s. Michael Reuben Rinaldi took the third spot being the only rider to achieve the 1m 48s time bracket. Ten Kate Yamaha’s Loriz Baz finished fourth as Alex Lowes took the fifth position only a tenth of a second later finishing the second of the Factory Kawasakis. BMW’s Tom Sykes finished sixth after recording 1m 49.717s, which had been ranking as high as 2nd in the better parts of the session, but his record was later challenged. Ducatti’s Scott Redding finished seventh, despite being Rea’s closest challenger in the title fight. Honda’s Leon Haslam, Eugene Laverty(BMW) and Michael van der Mark on the factory Yamaha finished 8th, 9th and 10th respectively rounding the top 10 riders of the Friday afternoon session. Chaz Davies (Ducati) and Toprak Razgatlioglu (Yamaha) were 11th and 12th respectively, both setting their quickest times in the afternoon session.

Wet conditions welcomed the WorldSBK riders for their First Practice at Magny-Cours as Kawasaki’s Jonathan Rea emerged on top in the morning session. The second last round of the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship started on Friday morning at Magny-cours for the Pirelli French WorldSBK round and it was a completely captivating session which was topped by Jonathan Rea who is the current championship leader. The 33-year-old Kawasaki rider was the last to head out to the track and put in very quick laps to subdue Ten Kate Racing Yamaha rider, Loriz Baz who was in the lead. With only thirty minutes to go, Rea went ahead to set a time of 1m 51.924s, which was over 1.5 seconds over Loriz Baz and BMW Motorrad’s Tom Sykes. The last 10 minutes to the conclusion of the session were spent by Rea to bring down the time benchmarks that Baz had made. Rea went ahead to be the only rider that made a lap time below the 1m 50s bracket. Pata Yamaha’s Toprak Razgatlioglu managed to get the fourth place as he was continuously progressing in his lap times throughout the session. He was closely followed by Xavi Fores(Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) who had mentioned earlier in the week that he would not be remaining with the Kawasaki satellite team for the 2021 season. Alex lowes finished 6th as the second Kawasaki Factory rider after Rea. Scott Redding(Ducatti ARUBA.IT Racing) who is a rookie managed to be the seventh fastest as he is contending for the world championship being second after Rea. Team Go Eleven’s Michael Reuben Rinaldi finished eighth despite a crash at Turn 15 late in the practice session. The ninth place was taken by Michael van der Mark(PATA Yamaha WorldSBK) although he experienced a mechanical issue at the end of the session. Team HRC’s Leon Haslam rounded up the top ten riders in the practice session. Chaz Davies(Ducatti ARUBA.IT) finished all the way down at 16th place as the wet conditions proved to be very tough for him as Team HRC’s Alvaro Bautista finished all the way down at the 19th place. Federico Caricasulo on the GRT Yamaha had a very huge crash at the Adelaide Hairpin around Turn 5, the rider was however able to walk away from the incident as a red flag was brought out to give some time for his bike wreckage to be cleared from the track, the 24-year-old however ended up ranking 13th in the session. Samuele Cavalieri(Barni Racing Team) was also not spared by the wet conditions as he also crashed at Turn 2 with only 20 minutes to go to the conclusion of the session, the Italian however managed to rank 21st in the practice session.

Jonathan Rea says he is praying for a new Kawasaki World Superbike base model for the 2021 season that will help him to keep up with the championship’s newer machinery. The rider is currently on a Kawasaki ZX-10RR which came in back in the 2017 WSBK season and apart from its re-homologation in the 2019 season, the bike has been receiving very minor upgrades ever since. On the other hand, BMW and Ducatti presented new bikes for the 2019 season, the Ducatti Paningale V4-R and the BMW S1000RR respectively as Honda brought the CBR1000RR-R Fireblade in the 2020 season, Yamaha made a very major update on their YZF-R1. BMW also recently announced their new BMW M1000RR which is an upgraded special variant of the S1000RR and it will debut in the 2021 season. Jonathan Rea said that there was room to improve the ZX-10RR though the bike package was giving its best in terms of performance, but the 5-time champion and the 2020 championship leader did not hesitate to say that he fears the current Corona virus global pandemic will hamper Kawasaki’s commitment to build a new bike. Asked on whether he felt like he needed another Kawasaki base model for the 2021 season, Rea said,”I’m praying every night for that…That would be the best Christmas present I could ever imagine.” “In the current climate with what we’re going through right now in the world, I don’t know what’s going to happen, so I cross my fingers, but it’s out of my hands, It’s a Japanese decision, so let’s see.” Jonathan Rea was also asked on what else he would be looking for in a new bike besides horsepower, he added “We need to improve the chassis a little bit, especially the rear of the bike and how it transfers [its weight] on to the rear. “In stop-and-go circuits like Magny-Cours and Thailand, with these corners where you’re at zero and then going, the Kawasaki is working really well. But in all long corners where we need to transfer to the rear to be smooth, we’re struggling a little bit. “That’s the main focus of development for the winter into next year. It’s very hard to chase that feeling during a race weekend, that’s the target for the off-season.” Rea currently holds the top championship position with 290 points having a 51-point lead over Ducatti’s Scott Redding who is second in the championship with 239 points as the 2020 WorldSBK Season having only two more rounds to go. The 33-year old had his 9th win of the year during the Barcelona WSBK, which was the first ever superbike race on the Catalunya track. He also went ahead to commend the bike saying that it had the smallest margin for error compared to the other bikes, this was following the second race of the 2020 WSBK season where he ranked fourth behind Chaz Davies(Ducatti Aruba.IT), Michael van der Mark(Crescent Racing) and Garett Gerloff(Yamaha junior WSBK). “When the stars align I can win, but it’s really easy to see from racing that when others make a mistake on the lap, they can keep the laptime, I get penalised quite a lot if I run wide. It has a real knock-on effect on the lap.” Rea said.

A new motorbike has been revealed by BMW with the M 1000 RR based on the current S 1000 RR model… German manufacturer BMW has unveiled a brand-new motorbike, the BMW M 1000 RR, with the contents “consistently aligned with the motorsport requirements from customer sport to WorldSBK.” The M 1000 RR is based on the current S 1000 RR model, currently competing in MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship with Tom Sykes and Eugene Laverty. It is the first time the M 1000 RR has been shown around the world and features aerodynamic development designed for maximum performance on a racetrack, plus an engine power output of 212 horsepower. Although BMW Motorrad has been offering its M equipment as options since 2018 and M performance parts since then, this is the first bike in the BMW Motorrad M model. The M 1000 RR has a more powerful engine than the S 1000 RR and has geometries along the same line as the competition bike, as well as carbon wings to help with performance both on the road and on the racetrack. Suspension and aerodynamics have been designed for maximum on-track performance and “meets the main expectations in the top segment of superbikes.” Tom Sykes will remain at the BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team for 2021 but will have a new teammate as Dutch rider Michael van der Mark (PATA YAMAHA WorldSBK Official Team) switches from Yamaha machinery to BMW.

Chaz Davies became the seventh different winner of the 2020 WorldSBK season while American star Garrett Gerloff scores his first WorldSBK podium. Race 2 from MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship’s was full of drama and intrigue at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya as Chaz Davies (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati) claimed his first win of the 2020 season and became the seventh different winner in 2020, while American rookie Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Junior Team) claimed his maiden World Superbike podium. Davies was able to get to the front in the early stages of the races before taking the lead and controlling the race, withstanding pressure from Tissot Superpole Race winner Michael van der Mark (PATA YAMAHA WorldSBK Official Team) after the pair passed each other in the first half of the race. Van der Mark then fell into the clutches of Gerloff after the American made a sensational start from fifth place to run in the top three, putting pressure on van der Mark all race. Gerloff passed van der Mark for second place on the last lap but a mistake from Gerloff on Lap 10 allowed the Dutchman through for second; Gerloff coming home in third place. Davies held on to win his 31st race in his career, equalling Colin Edwards on the all-time list of winners. Gerloff’s podium means he becomes the first American to stand on the WorldSBK podium since Nicky Hayden in 2016. Championship leader Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) extended his lead at the top of the standings with fourth place, finishing five seconds clear of Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team). Scott Redding (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati) finished in sixth place after being passed by Sykes with just a couple of laps to go. Rea had lost ground at the start, but was able to regroup to finish in fourth place and take a 51 point lead into the next round at Magny-Cours. Eugene Laverty (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) secured his best result of the season with seventh place as he showed more impressive pace, ahead of Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) in eighth. Leon Haslam (Team HRC) was the sole Honda rider in Race 2 and finished in ninth, with Loris Baz (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) in tenth after losing lots of ground at Turn 1 at the start. Jonas Folger’s (Bonovo Action by MGM Racing) impressive wildcard weekend continued as he battled his way from the back of the grid to 11th place; Folger not setting a time in Tissot Superpole and missing out on a top nine starting grid for Race 2 by the smallest of margins. Federico Caricasulo (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Junior Team) was 12th after starting from the back of the grid; Caricasulo penalised for irresponsible riding in the Superpole Race after a collision with Haslam Lorenzo Zanetti (Motocorsa Racing) scored points after being called up to the Championship on Friday evening with 13th place while Takumi Takahashi (MIE Racing HONDA Team) and Xavi Fores (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) completed the points-scoring positions. Alvaro Bautista (Team HRC) did not start the race following a technical issue on the sighting lap; the Spanish rider, who was declared fit following his dramatic highside crash in the Tissot Superpole Race, pulling off the track shortly after leaving the pit lane. Samuele Cavalieri (Barni Racing Team) crashed out in the early stages, while Sylvain Barrier (Brixx Performance) and Valentin Debise (OUTDO Kawasaki TPR) had a coming together on Lap 17 while battling for 15th place. Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Team GOELEVEN), who had been running in the top four for the majority of the race, had a technical issue in the latter stages of the race forcing him to retire from the race on Lap 19.

Jonathan Rea stretched his WorldSBK Championship win after finishing the top in the second round of the Aragon grand prix. The 33-year-old was able to break through the stiff Ducatti defence of Michael Reuben Rinaldi and Scott Redding to take the Sunday’s win. This was arguably one of the hardest fought victories of his career as he takes a step further to extend his 6th WorldSuperbike championship. The top three riders(Rea, Rinaldi and Redding) stood-out on the two weekends as they closely competed for the top up to the final stages. This was Rea’s eighth win of the year giving him a 36 point lead over Redding who comes in second in the overall standings. Following Scott Redding’s success on his superpole race, the 27-year-old began race 2 at the pole position but was overwhelmed by Rea in the drag to the first corner a move which appeared to be unorthodox. However, Redding was able to retake the lead at turn 13 forcing his rival to sit up. Rea tried to fight back in his Kawasaki through the first technical parts of the circuit but would later loose it to the Ducattis which were practically faster on the straights. Jonathan Rea kept the pressure on the Ducattis which eventually payed off on lap 6 when he overtakes Redding agressively early in on the lap which leads to a robust back and forth between the riders through the next few corners. Their fight through the corners just give Rinaldi a chance, first getting ahead of Rea before going off and overtaking Scott Redding and moving into the lead. Redding eventually recedes behind Rea when approaching the end to the back straight steadily dropping out of the fight. The battle for victory became an unlikely one between Rinaldi and Rea as Rinaldi tried as hard to keep defence of the top position through three-quarters part of the lap section. Rea tries to overtake at Turn 7 with four laps remaining instead bucked him out of his seat as he ran wide. However, he was quickly back onto the tail of Rinaldi, with Rea avoiding the same mistake at the same turn a lap later to grab a lead and win he had to work incredibly hard for. Leon Haslam secured his best WorldSBK result of the season with a confident ride to fourth on the Honda, the Briton helped in part by first Alvaro Bautista and then Chaz Davies both tumbling out of fourth place in separate incidents. Alex Lowes completed the top five, ahead of a quintet of Yamahas – Michael van der Mark, Toprak Razgatlioglu, Loris Baz, Federico Caricasulo and Garrett Gerloff – between sixth and 10th, the Iwata marque no doubt itching to leave Aragon after two average weekends. Eugene Laverty was the sole BMW finisher in 11th after problems for Tom Sykes, while Marco Melandri, Xavi Fores, Matteo Ferrari and Roman Ramos picked up the remaining points.

Ducatti team Go Eleven’s Michael Ruben Rinaldi set the pace in today’s two practice sessions for this weekend’s second Aragon WSBK round. He also topped up being the best overall, setting a time of 1m 49.840s which was achieved in the first session in the morning. This came as Rinaldi defeated the reigning champion Jonathan Rea on the Kawasaki by only a thousandth of a second. Quite close! Rinaldi also continued to win the afternoon session with 1m 50.377s again three tenths of a second faster than Rea. Scott Redding(Aruba IT Ducatti Racing) and Alvaro Bautista(Honda WSBK) finished top three in the afternoon session. The other Kawasaki ZX-10RR made it into the top three being driven by Alex Lowes with a 0.507s off the pace. This afternoon turned out to be better for BMW Motorrad as Tom Sykes and Eugene Laverty finished 9th and 10th respectively in the overall timesheet, although Laverty had a crash in the afternoon’s session after hitting the deck at turn 1. Federico Caricasulo(GRT Yamaha Junior Team) and Maximilian Scheib(Orelac Racing) ranked 7th and 10th respectively as Chaz Davies(Aruba Ducatti) became another crash victim after losing control on turn two but managed to get back up and return his Ducatti Paningale V4R back to the pits, he ended up ranking 6th overall. On the combined timesheet though it’s Loriz Baz who was the quickest on the Ten Kate Yamaha. Jonathan Rea and Rinaldi. Bautista, Redding and Davis complete the top six respectively, with Toprak Razgatlioglu and Michael van der Mark in 7th and 8th. Leon Haslam and Alex Lowes complete the top 10 in the overall standings. Marco Melandri was 12th on his return to WSBK, after briefly making an appearance inside the top 10. The Italian has replaced the injured Leon Camier at the Barni Racing Ducati team. 

Jonathan Rea(Kawasaki Racing team WSBK) won the second race feature in Aragon with a 10 point championship lead despite a late mistake which saw his rivals closing in on him. Chaz Davies(Aruba IT Ducatti team) finished second despite trying very hard to overtake Rea who made a mistake on lap 14, he also tried to be top around turn 1 in the 15th lap but the reigning champion was able to hold him off. It was a fantastic day for Honda WSBK Team’s Alvaro Bautista who finished third in the Sunday afternoon’s race. He had started by being fourth which was also a best for his team, he got ahead of Redding(Aruba IT Racing) in the early stages of the race claiming his first podium for Honda since 2016 Magny-course. Bautista was the only rider to go on Pirelli SCX tyre. Team GoEleven’s Michael Reuben Rinaldi fought his way to complete 5th after Redding who finished 4th after being overtaken by Bautista and Chaz Davies. Michael van Der Mark finished 6th while the sister Honda bike with Leon Haslam finished 7th. Toprak Razgatlioglu(PATA Yamaha WSBK) completed the race 8th. Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) ended the Sunday afternoon race in ninth and Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Junior Team) completing the top 10. The 8th, 9th and 10th position contenders were separated by a split second. The 11th place was closely followed by Xavi Fores(Kawasaki Pucceti Racing) as GRT Yamaha Junior team’s Garett Gerloff ranked 10th. The group of five riders from the 7th to 11th were having a really close competition fighting for 7th. BMW Motorrad rider Tom Sykes earned his points in the 12th position as his teammate Eugene Laverty finished 14th. The two BMW 1000RR’s were seperated by Federico Caricasulo(GRT Yamaha Junior team). Maximilian Scheib finished 15th closing the points. Loriz Baz(Ten Kate racing Yamaha) crashed in the fifth lap around turn 15 as Roman Ramos(OUTDO Kawasaki TPR) and Marco Melandri(Barni Racing) were also unable to finish the race.