Constructive test session despite rain for Lecuona and Vierge at Misano
Team HRC and factory riders Iker Lecuona and Xavi Vierge have taken part in a two-day test session at the Misano World Circuit in Italy, striving to make the most of every minute of dry track time the changeable weather conditions afforded.
On track on Thursday 11 and Friday 12 May, the two Spanish riders and their respective technicians got through a long list of tasks as they prepare for the next championship rounds, and with a particular view to the upcoming Emilia Romagna WorldSBK round, set to play out at the same Misano circuit on 2-4 June.
The work schedule was conditioned to a fair extent by the weather, with rainfall interrupting proceedings on both days. Having said that, Thursday morning and early afternoon brought the best conditions, with the track having fully dried following overnight rain. The team therefore made the most of that first session, working to clarify various aspects such as rider position and testing several new items including a new swingarm. The team continued to ride in sunny conditions until about 4.30pm local time, when heavy rain put a premature end to the afternoon session.
The work progressed on Friday when the team made the most of the ever-changing conditions, with Lecuona also taking the opportunity to verify some wet set-ups. Team HRC will continue to put in the work ahead of the fifth Superbike World Championship round, which will see riders back at the Misano World Circuit and ready to race in around three weeks’ time.
Xavi Vierge 97
“On Thursday the weather wasn’t as bad as expected luckily. We found good feeling in the end, but it was a tricky first day. We struggled a little more than expected early on, without really understanding why. But after making some changes to the bike for the afternoon session, things went better and my feeling improved, particularly once we tested a new swingarm. I made many laps with a new set of tyres and was able to regain strong feeling, so I was pleased with that. On day two, we were not as lucky as Thursday with the weather because we were only able to complete a few laps in the dry early on before the rain started. In the afternoon we had a little more dry track time and could compare swingarm's specs. We didn’t have chance to make many laps, but we were able to collect solid data for the engineers to analyse. I feel the work’s been constructive, especially in terms of the items we tested yesterday, so now we have two more weeks to work on the data we’ve collected and then we will see when we come back here to Misano in just over two weeks’ time.”
Iker Lecuona 7
“It has been a challenging test for us, to be honest, and I struggled to set any really fast times. Thursday was not easy, as we also spent quite a lot of time in the garage making changes to the bike. We tested a new swingarm, but I’m not sure yet whether it’s better or not – we need more time to understand this – and on Friday the weather didn’t help, forcing us to stop even earlier than yesterday. But we’ve worked hard, also trying some set-ups in wet conditions, and now have a lot more data to analyse before coming back here for the races.”
Location Information
Misano World Circuit “Marco Simoncelli” Via Daijiro Kato, 10 47843 Misano Adriatico (RN) – Italy Misanocircuit.com
| POLE POSITION | RIGHT |
| LENGTH | 4.226 Km |
| CORNERS | 16 |
| RIGHT CORNERS | 10 |
| LEFT CORNERS | 6 |
Records
| Pole Record | 1'33.017 (163,557 Km/h) A. Bautista (Ducati V4 R, 2023) |
| Race Record (SPRC) | 1'33.174 (163,282 Km/h) T. Razgatlioglu (Yamaha YZF R1, 2023 SPRC) |
| All Time Record | 1'33.017 (163,557 Km/h) A. Bautista (Ducati V4 R, 2023) |
| 2023 Race 1 Winner | A. Bautista (Ducati Panigale V4 R ) |
| 2023 Superpole Race Winner | A. Bautista (Ducati Panigale V4 R ) |
| 2023 Race 2 Winner | A. Bautista (Ducati Panigale V4 R ) |
