Friends reunited
Wednesday sees the entire World Superbike field unite for the first and only time this pre-season for the start of a two-day test in Barcelona. The championship won’t kick off until the end of May, while the preseason has been different to say the least. As well as costly quarantines and medical tests, the coronavirus pandemic has meant strict travel restrictions which have forced the rescheduling of tests as well as races, with Aragon becoming the first round only after Assen and Estoril were delayed.
Each rider is now permitted just 10 days of private testing from the end of the 2020 season to the end of the ’21 season, excluding the postrace test in Estoril last year and this week’s gathering at Barcelona which is a ‘Supported Test’. It was decided the 10 private days can be split into half days following the debacle that was January’s Jerez test, when teams chose not to run in poor weather – to not waste days – but had spent money to be there. Teams planning private tests are also now obliged to declare them, giving others a chance to share circuit rental costs.
All teams are likely to bring various versions of components; critically, after this test, they are required to select which parts they will use for the 2021 homologation of their bikes. In the event of teammates favouring different parts, squads will need to settle on a compromise.
Eugene Laverty will test for the first time in 2021. He didn’t run alongside fellow BMW riders Sykes, van der Mark and Folger in Jerez last week as RC Squadra Corse are on a different plan, partly due to the fact it runs Brembo brakes as opposed to Nissin as per the others. Teams will soon continue with private tests. Kawasaki, for instance, has already booked days in Aragon ahead of Round 1.