Spanish rider Iker Lecuona (Team HRC) will compete in his second MotoGP™ race of 2023 at the TT Circuit Assen in place of the still-recovering Joan Mir. The 23-year-old, who replaced Marc Marquez at Jerez earlier this season, will be back on board the RC213V at the iconic Dutch circuit – the same venue he took his maiden MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship podium in 2021 as he returns to the Repsol Honda Team in the Netherlands.

Lecuona was declared unfit during the Pirelli Emilia-Romagna Round after a crash with Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) with a left hip injury and left ankle contusion. However, he revealed last week that he would be back on a bike to resume his training as he aimed for a return to action at Donington Park. His racing return will now take place a week earlier with a second MotoGP™ outing of the season during the Motul TT Assen. The Valencian rider will take the place of 2020 World Champion Joan Mir as he continues to recover from a finger injury sustained at Mugello, with Lecuona racing alongside Marquez if the eight-time World Champion is declared fit after withdrawing from the German Grand Prix.

2023 has been mixed so far for Lecuona. After a strong start to the campaign in Australia, Indonesia proved to be a challenge and he took a best of ninth while teammate Xavi Vierge claimed his first podium. As WorldSBK returned to Europe, the Spaniard had two retirements from crashes at the TT Circuit Assen before finding form again in Barcelona with fourth in the Tissot Superpole Race. He was running in the top nine at Misano before the collision with Petrucci in the Superpole Race, which ruled him out of Race 2.

Discussing his return to MotoGP™, Lecuona said: “First of all, I want to wish Joan all the best in his recovery. I am excited to join the team again, it’s a true honour. Assen is a circuit I like; I got my first WorldSBK podium there so hopefully we can have another good weekend like in Jerez. I am still recovering a bit after the crash in Misano, so this will be a good physical test too. Let’s ride!”

Enjoy the 2023 WorldSBK season wherever you are with the WorldSBK VideoPass!

Source: WorldSBK.com

Round 6 of the 2023 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship is fast approaching and Donington Park marks the halfway point of the season. The Donington Park circuit is steeped in history and often produces incredible classic races. While this year’s Prosecco DOC UK Round is still just over a week away, why not warm up for Donington with some classic races? After looking back at some wildcard wins already, this time it’s a visit to 2007 and Race 2 for a last corner showdown.

In 2007, there was much hype coming into the Donington Park round as Britain’s James Toseland led the Championship standings aboard his Ten Kate Racing Honda. The British rider had never done the double but after winning Race 1, he was right in contention to send a packed Donington Park absolutely crazy. However, it wasn’t to be as a rare mechanical problem took the British rider out on the exit of Turn 1 on Lap 4, with Yamaha riders Noriyuki Haga and Troy Corser narrowly avoiding him.

This left a huge land of opportunity for the chasing pack as Toseland’s 25-point lead in the Championship could be completely wiped out if Max Biaggi on the Alstare Suzuki won, whilst Haga was 52 points back, meaning a win for him would put him back into contention. With Haga taking over the lead and teammate Corser in second, it was Biaggi who was closing in and on Lap 10, went through on Corser for second place at the Melbourne hairpin before setting off on closing down the 1.4s gap that Haga had pulled out. On Lap 14, Biaggi was right there and made his move on Haga at the Foggy Esses but then went wide at Melbourne, allowing Haga back through as Corser now made it a three-way fight.

Biaggi finally got through at the Foggy Esses the following lap and despite continuously running deep at the Melbourne hairpin, looked like he had it covered. Onto the last lap, Haga was right there and at the final corner, Biaggi went wide, throwing away the victory as Haga sliced under him and out-dragged the rookie to the line. It was a first win of the year for Haga and his last win in the UK, where he was a popular figure. Biaggi was now five points adrift in the title race, as although he lost the win, he made up big ground on Toseland.

Watch more classic races in style and watch this season’s classics LIVE in 2023 with the WorldSBK VideoPass!

Source: WorldSBK.com

Reigning Champion Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) is temporarily swapping his Panigale V4 R machine for the Desmosedici GP bike at the Misano World Circuit “Marco Simoncelli” as part of a prize from Ducati for winning the 2022 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship title. He jumped on the bike on Tuesday morning for his first MotoGP™ action since 2018. You can see images from Bautista’s test at Misano in the gallery at the top of this article!

Watch more WorldSBK action throughout 2023 using the WorldSBK VideoPass!

Source: WorldSBK.com

Donington Park hosts the next round of the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship at the start of July and there will be an extra unknown heading to the historic British circuit. Ahead of the 2023 motorsport season in the United Kingdom, the full circuit at Donington Park was resurfaced for the first time in more than 20 years as part of major developments to the track where WorldSBK had its first race in 1988.

The process to resurface the 2.5-mile circuit started by taking 40mm of material off the top surface allowing the new surface to be laid down. This was to allow the removal of undulations as well as to optimise drainage in the event of rain, while the works also helped with the camber of corners. The resurfacing took place in two sections, with the surface initially laid in the pit lane and from the Craner Curves to the start-finish straight. After that, the rest of the circuit was completed.

There was a sustainability push to the works too with materials that were taken up set to be used around the Donington circuit in order to benefit other areas of the circuit including campsites and pathways. A series of tests were held following the resurfacing, including a day dedicated to motorbikes, before racing events took place. The British Superbike championship raced there in May on the Grand Prix circuit, which WorldSBK will use in July. Lap records were broken at this event, with the new lap record around one second quicker compared to the previous one.

MSV Chief Executive Jonathan Palmer said: “Donington Park is an extremely important circuit in MSV’s portfolio, hosting both World Superbike and British Superbike events, where some of the best international riders push their 220bhp race bikes to the absolute limit. With just two tyre contact patches, the size of the palm of a hand, to be able to rely on the grip and consistency of the surface is critical. I was at Donington for the British Superbike weekend and heard nothing but the highest praise for our new surface, which was immensely satisfying. Riders loved the increased grip, in both dry and wet conditions, and its smoothness. Just a few weeks before, the top British Touring Car Championship drivers echoed these sentiments.”

The existing lap record for WorldSBK at Donington is held by Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) after he posted a 1’26.080s to take pole position last year, while Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) holds the race lap record with a 1’26.767s from last year’s Tissot Superpole Race. If the conditions are dry, could both of these records fall on the new Donington surface?

Watch all the action from the UK Round at Donington Park using the WorldSBK VideoPass!

Source: WorldSBK.com

The 2023 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship is gearing up for the Prosecco DOC UK Round at the start of July, and what better way to get hyped for it than re-watching some classic races from Donington Park? Heading back to where it all began, the historic British circuit has hosted some incredible races throughout its history and Race 2 in 2000 sticks out as a magical moment. Neil Hodgson claimed victory for Ducati ahead of Chris Walker as the two wildcards battled it out at the front of the field in front of a packed partisan crowd for glory.

Summer was on the horizon and Great Britain was searching for its next WorldSBK ‘King’ in 2000, following the career-ending crash of four-time World Champion Carl Fogarty earlier in the year at Phillip Island. By the time the paddock had reached the United Kingdom and Donington Park, all eyes were on the wildcards – particularly GSE Racing’s Neil Hodgson and Crescent Suzuki’s Chris Walker. Little did they know that on Sunday evening, they’d be national heroes as they did the unthinkable.

Whilst Race 1 saw Colin Edwards ease to victory, Race 2 was an entirely different affair; Edwards crashed early on, leaving Pierfrancesco Chili to work his way to the front of the field on his Dunlop-shod Suzuki – Donington Park was historically a circuit where Dunlop runners would come good. However, despite having a lead of over two seconds at one stage, his tyres began to fade. Coming onto the final lap of the race, he had a gap of 0.996s over the chasing Hodgson, who had been closing in all the time. As they came through Coppice for the final time, Chili had a huge moment, allowing Hodgson to get right alongside him down towards the ‘Foggy Esses’. Hodgson swept majestically around the outside of the Italian to the roar of a capacity Donington Park crowd, whilst on the exit, Chris Walker got through too. Hodgson took victory ahead of Walker in what was his first win in WorldSBK and Walker’s first podium; the first 1-2 for the United Kingdom in WorldSBK.

Watch the 2022 Prosecco DOC UK Round LIVE and UNINTERRUPTED with the WorldSBK VideoPass!

Source: WorldSBK.com

While the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship enjoys a short break between rounds, one rider is keeping busy by jumping on a MotoGP™ bike. Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) will ride the Desmosedici GP at the Misano World Circuit “Marco Simoncelli” during a two-day test in Italy as a reward for his 2022 WorldSBK title success with the Aruba.it Ducati team running the Misano outing with Bautista.

Bautista raced in MotoGP™ as recently as 2018 before he switched to WorldSBK in 2019 where he initially challenged for the title before falling away in the second half of the campaign. Two years with Honda proved to be difficult for the 38-year-old but a return to Ducati last season paid dividends. He claimed the World Championship after a season-long fight with Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) and his title defence is well underway with 14 wins in 15 races.

Between the Emilia-Romagna an UK Rounds, Bautista will return to MotoGP™ machinery as part of a two-day test with the Aruba.it Ducati squad which ran Michele Pirro at the Italian Grand Prix, with the local rider finishing 16^th in the Grand Prix. The test will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday this week as he tests the Ducati MotoGP™ machine at Misano; a circuit he recently took a hat-trick at in WorldSBK.

Looking ahead to the test, the 38-year-old said: “I feel so happy to ride a MotoGP™ bike again as it’s been a long time since I rode this kind of bike. For sure, the excitement is there. At the same time, I know it’s just a prize so it’s about taking it easy, building some references, some feeling with the bike and that’s it. I’ll try to have some fun riding the bike. In the end, I approach this test with the mentality that it’s a test. It’s not for anything in the future. It’s to have some fun during the two-day test. I don’t want to take risks because we have three races in a row very soon, and that’s the important thing. This test is just to have fun. I don’t try to find the limit. I just go there and take some references and feeling and have some fun.

“I don’t have any lap time in mind. I’m going to make the test just with my feeling without watching the lap times. That’s all. There is no target with lap times. The target is just to have fun, try to get a good feeling and understand the new MotoGP™ machinery with the aero packages and all the electronic items and everything that the bike has now compared to when I raced. That’s all. After the test, there is nothing more. We have the test because it’s a prize for the World Championship we won last season. It’s a prize. There is no other reason. After the test, if we have a good feeling, I will be happy. Otherwise, I will not be as happy as I expect to be!”

While Bautista has spoken ahead of the test about there being “nothing more” after the test, he has spoken about a potential wildcard previously. The test will be covered extensively on WorldSBK.com with a team on the ground to produce video footage of Bautista on track while he will also be interviewed to get his first reactions on the test at Misano.

Follow the test on WorldSBK.com and watch more action in 2023 using the WorldSBK VideoPass!

Source: WorldSBK.com

Troy Corser made history during his time in the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship. The Australian rider claimed two titles but had to wait an unprecedented nine years between his first in 1996 and second in 2005, longer than anyone else in WorldSBK and it was also a longer wait than anyone in MotoGP™. In a special video, the 33-time WorldSBK race winner looked back on his entire career including the historic gap between his two titles, with Corser saying about the wait: “1996 to 2005, nine years, to arrive at the top again after this time was more satisfying for me to win the Championship.”

Watch the FULL Troy Corser flashback in the video at the top of this article and watch more incredible action using the WorldSBK VideoPass!

Source: WorldSBK.com

With the 2023 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship approaching the halfway stage of the season, with five out of 12 rounds in the books, paddock personalities have been taking stock of the campaign so far. One of these is two-time World Champion James Toseland, who spoke at the Pirelli Emilia-Romagna Round about the season so far, Alvaro Bautista’s (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) near-perfect start to the season and several other topics.

BAUTISTA’S FORM: “hats off… not all of the Ducatis are doing this”

Reigning Champion Bautista has enjoyed an almost perfect start to his title defence, winning 14 out of the first 15 races. The Spaniard has won every race he has finished this season so far as he goes in search of a second consecutive title, with 2004 and 2007 Champion Toseland reviewing his start to the season so far and the Championship race. Bautista is 86 points clear of nearest rival Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) with seven rounds remaining.

Toseland said: “It’s a domination by Bautista, but it’s so impressive. Not all of the Ducatis are doing this kind of level or consistency and performance. You have to take your hat off to him individually but it’s not easy for everybody else. The Ducati has stepped up massively this season. It’s Bautista’s to lose. If you look at the advantage he has on that bike, it is Bautista’s to lose. He made mistakes in 2019 which we’ve all said but the experience he’s got on the Pirelli tyres now… 2019 was his first year on Pirellis, and he didn’t understand them at every corner at every circuit. Now he does. You can just see that experience is making the consistency come to the forefront.

A TURNING POINT: could Razgatlioglu close the gap at Donington?

WorldSBK heads to the iconic Donington Park circuit for Round 6 of 2023 at the start of July which has, in recent seasons, been a difficult circuit for Ducati while Razgatlioglu has thrived there. The 2021 Champion took a hat-trick there in 2022 as well as two wins in 2021; including from 13^th on the grid after he had an Ayrton Senna-like start in Race 1. Ducati have not tasted victory at Donington since 2011, so could the UK Round be a turning point in 2023?

Looking ahead to the upcoming rounds, Toseland said: “Donington especially because I think that’s Toprak’s favourite track. It has heavy braking, especially in the second part of the track. He had good results around there as well so don’t rule Toprak out at Donington Park. It’s damage limitation now on who’s going to fight for second place in the Championship even at this point in the season. He’ll have a good chance at Donington of closing the gap on the Ducati.”

“MORE DETERMINED THAN EVER”: Toseland on Rea’s motivation

Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) is yet to win a race in 2023 and has only collected four podiums, finishing in second place on three occasions as his best result of the year. His last win came in Race 1 at Phillip Island in 2022 and the six-time Champion will be hoping he can end his win drought which has currently been going on since November 2022.

Speaking about Rea’s motivation, Toseland said: “I think finishing outside the top five for Jonathan Rea is actually going to add to his motivation because he wants to get back there. I think staying at #1 and being quite comfortable for him would be more difficult to keep his motivation in that situation. I think trying to get back up there and beating Bautista and Toprak… he’ll be more determined than ever.”

RAZGATLIOGLU TO BMW: Toseland shares his thoughts

The shock news ahead of the Emilia-Romagna Round was the announcement that Razgatlioglu would switch Yamaha for BMW in 2024. The 26-year-old spoke about his aiming of winning the title with the German manufacturer, as did his manager Kenan Sofuoglu, and Toseland, who won the title with Ducati in 2004 and Honda in 2007, gave his thoughts on the news.

Toseland said: “It’s going to be a challenge, that’s for sure. The BMW’s weak points seems to be on the corner entry; braking and entry. The best rider for braking and entry is Toprak Razgatlioglu. I’m sure BMW’s noticed that. Will Toprak be able to mask that issue for the bike and get good results? BMW are putting in a lot into it, a lot of development. Fingers crossed something they bolt onto the bike will work through the winter and keep Toprak at the front like we need.”

Watch more incredible WorldSBK action throughout 2023 using the WorldSBK VideoPass!

Source: WorldSBK.com

Teams and manufacturers in the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship all have their identity set in stone, with certain colours becoming synonymous with each manufacturer. Kawasaki run green, Yamaha run blue and Ducati are red when it comes to a normal livery, but special liveries crop up to celebrate milestones or anniversaries in the manufacturer’s history, or even a home round. With Ducati swapping red for yellow at their home round, we take a look at times when teams ran different liveries – with some bringing success and some bringing misfortune.

THE STARS AND STRIPES: Colin Edwards celebrates his home round in style

Two-time Champion Colin Edwards went to Laguna Seca in 2002 with a special livery on his Honda VTR 1000 SP2 as his machine was coloured in the famous stars and stripes from the USA and he was able to celebrate in style. He claimed third in Race 1 before taking victory in Race 2 to win his final race in WorldSBK at Laguna Seca in style, beating Troy Bayliss by just over a second at the Californian circuit.

LAGUNA REVISITED: another new colour scheme in the USA

Edwards was not the only rider to run a special paint scheme at Laguna Seca when WorldSBK travelled to California, with Chaz Davies doing so in 2017 on his Ducati Panigale R machine. Running in red, white and green, Davies scored two podiums when running the livery with victory in Race 1 and third in Race 2. Dubbed the “Final Edition” livery, both Davies and teammate Marco Melandri raced with it at Laguna Seca and it was a strong weekend for Ducati with Melandri taking two fourth-place finishes.

CHAMPIONSHIP-WINNING GOLD: Rea switches out green at San Juan in 2018

After wrapping up the 2018 title at the French Round, Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) opted to run a Championship-winning livery at the following round in Argentina. Swapping Kawasaki green out for gold at the Circuito San Juan Villicum, Rea raced his ZX-10RR to two victories to celebrate his third consecutive title success in style. In Race 1, he beat Melandri by more than nine seconds while he was ahead of Xavi Fores in Race 2 by just over three seconds.

IT WAS ALL YELLOW: unbeatable Bautista at Misano in 2023

As WorldSBK descended on Misano in 2023, Ducati unveiled a special yellow livery for Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) and teammate Michael Ruben Rinaldi as a nod to their past, and it’s a livery they will run in MotoGP™ at Misano later this year. It proved to be successful for Bautista as he wrapped up a hat-trick for Ducati on home soil, while Rinaldi added two podiums in Race 1 and the Tissot Superpole Race; only a crash in Race 2 for the Italian rider from the podium positions denting the yellow copybook for Ducati.

INSPIRED BY HISTORY AND HOLLYWOOD: Rea and Lowes go in different directions in Argentina

Another team that ran a special livery was the Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK at San Juan in 2021, with two separate liveries for riders Jonathan Rea and Alex Lowes. Running the liveries in Race 1, Rea took a podium while Lowes was fourth; Rea would secure three podiums in Argentina, while Lowes did not compete in Race 2 through injury during a difficult campaign for the British rider. Rea opted to run a green, white and blue livery inspired by Scott Russell from the 1990s while Lowes had some Top Gun inspiration; his bike was decked out in red and black in Argentina.

BAD LUCK: sometimes the new colours don’t work out…

While there are plenty of times a special livery has enjoyed success in WorldSBK, there are also times where things have not gone to plan. In Barcelona 2021, Yamaha ran white and red colours for their 60^th anniversary of Yamaha Motor Co.’s participation in Grand Prix racing. However, it ended badly when Garrett Gerloff crashed on the sighting lap and Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) retired with a technical issue. At Estoril in 2022, BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team ran an olive livery but Michael van der Mark crashed before he could even use it, while Scott Redding was 11^th in Race 2. Troy Corser ran a special livery at Donington Park in 2008 but a crash in Superpole towards the end of the session meant he could only take eighth on the grid. He retired from Race 1 too but did take a Race 2 podium with third place.

Watch more incredible WorldSBK action throughout 2023 using the WorldSBK VideoPass!

Source: WorldSBK.com

The MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship is on a hiatus after the fifth round of the season, but this is giving Iker Lecuona (Team HRC) the chance to fully recover after a crash at the Misano World Circuit “Marco Simoncelli”. The Spaniard was injured after an incident involving Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) in the Tissot Superpole Race which ruled him out of Race 2. Now, Lecuona has shared an update and explained his intention to return at the UK Round.

RECOVERY UPDATE: returning to two wheels to prepare for Donington

Petrucci was having his strongest weekend since joining WorldSBK as he claimed third place in the combined Free Practice 1 and Free Practice 2 times and taking fourth place in Saturday’s Tissot Superpole session. However, in Race 1, he crashed out while fighting for the podium and he was also involved in an incident with the GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team duo at the start of the Superpole Race. The two-time MotoGP™ race winner tagged Dominique Aegerter who fell to the ground and this, in turn, caused Remy Gardner to fall. Aegerter finished 21^st and last, while the Australian had to retire.

For this, the FIM Stewards penalised Petrucci with a Long Lap Penalty which he completed when running in sixth place. This dropped him down the order into tenth place, behind Lecuona and his teammate, Xavi Vierge, as they battled it out for a third-row grid start in Race 2. On Lap 7 at Turn 8, Petrucci collided with Lecuona which took both riders out of the race and brought out the red flags as the leaders started Lap 8; the Honda rider was declared unfit with a left hip injury and left ankle contusion.

As part of his rehabilitation and recovery, Lecuona is using a specialised centre in Madrid as he prepares for his return at the UK Round at the start of July; he will need to undergo medical checks at Donington to be declared fit to ride. Talking about the incident and his current status, Lecuona said: “It was an unexpected crash. I was doing the normal corner, like every lap, and Danilo touched me. In half a second, he was on the ground. It wasn’t a big crash, but the problem was that the bike started spinning and crushed my leg.

“At first, it seemed that 50% of my psoas muscle was torn, but later tests confirmed that this was not the case; probably due to the inflammation and bruising. I’m fine, no discomfort, so 100% I’ll be at Donington. I am doing a lot of cycling and working for the abdominal area so as not to overload the hip area. This week I will be back on the bike to prepare for Donington.”

“IT SEEMS THAT WE ARE A BIT LOST”: Lecuona aiming to find a direction

The 23-year-old also spoke about how the Emilia-Romagna Round was going up to the crash, explaining that the improvements that Honda brought to the Aragon, Catalunya and Misano tests may not be working for him as expected: “Up to that point, It was a weekend of ups and downs. Friday didn’t go very well, but we made some changes for Saturday and had a good Superpole. In Race 1, in the beginning, we found ourselves in a traffic jam, but little by little we improved and finished with podium pace.

“Sunday was more complicated as we didn’t have the same feelings. Warm Up and the Superpole Race didn’t go so well. I was going very close to the limit and, in fact, I was going backwards before the crash. On Saturday at Misano, we went back to last year’s setup because we weren’t finding a way to go fast. It seems that we are a bit lost and we don’t know exactly what is the line of progression that we should follow. At the moment, the improvements are all ups and downs. One day they go well and another day they go wrong.”

Watch more WorldSBK action throughout 2023 using the WorldSBK VideoPass!

Source: WorldSBK.com