Round eight of the 2023 Superbike World Championship is now underway at the Czech track of Most, with day one of action bringing mixed conditions for the Team HRC riders and their SBK colleagues.

Factory riders Iker Lecuona  and Xavi Vierge took to the track at 10.30am local time for the first of the free practice sessions. With rain falling as the session began, the entire SBK field made something of a cautious start but as the practice progressed, the rain stopped, and the track gradually began to dry. This meant that lap times only began to tumble in the final stages of this first phase, with Vierge propelling himself into eighth position after setting a fastest time of 1’36.239 in the last few seconds. Team-mate Lecuona had a little more trouble finding the right feeling with the track during FP1. The Spaniard spent time in the pits making adjustments to the set-up of his CBR1000RR-R, completing only seven laps during the course of the 45-minute session. Iker placed twenty-second at the session’s end, having been unable to make use of the dry conditions in the final stages.

The Team HRC duo benefitted from fully dry conditions for the afternoon’s second practice. This meant that both were immediately able to improve on their best times of the morning, before gradually lowering their references exit after exit. Lecuona took a significant step in the latter stages, setting a 1’33.108 in the final five minutes of the session after three of his previous fast lap attempts were invalidated by a yellow flag. Despite Iker’s time being just over seven tenths from the top, the Spaniard positioned thirteenth in the day’s extremely close combined standings, followed by team-mate Vierge, just three tenths away in sixteenth place, with a time of 1’33.401. With the top seventeen riders all closing within a second of each other, the racing promises to be as close fought as ever this weekend.

Lecuona and Vierge will be back at it tomorrow, competing in the final free practice before focusing on Superpole and the first of the weekend’s three races.

Note to editors: view this email in your browser to see more images in the coming hours

Full Results  *Courtesy of WorldSBK.com

Iker Lecuona 7

P13

“We didn’t make the best start to the weekend this morning to be honest because, as often happens, we struggled a lot in the wet/damp conditions that we saw in FP1. I had no confidence on the bike and although we worked hard to try and sort this out, conditions changed quickly and the track dried, which meant we didn’t have enough time to adjust our wet setup. Going into FP2 the feeling was again not the best at first but, run after run, and by adjusting the bike settings, things improved and I was able to set some good lap times. I took a yellow flag three times but was finally able to complete what is a good lap for us, “just” seven tenths from the top, which is OK considering the morning was pretty critical. I also began to feel comfortable on the bike again and could ride in a more natural way, with my own style. So we take these positives and will see what the weather will bring tomorrow before coming up with a suitable plan.”

Xavi Vierge 97

P16

“Our first day here was a challenging one, though it’s true we were able to improve with almost every run. Not enough though. This morning it was good to have the opportunity to ride in the wet as we hadn’t experienced those conditions for a long while, and the feeling was not so bad actually. The same can be said of the afternoon’s dry session but, with such a competitive field where everyone is so close to each other, we need to find something more to be able to fight up near the front, which is what we are here for.”

WorldSBK 2023
Free Practice Round 08   Czech

Free Practices Combined Results after FP2

Dry
Humidity
52%
Track Temp
36°C
Air Temp
25°C
Pos. Rider Num Nation Team Constructor Time/Gap
1 Razgatlioglu Toprak 54 TUR PATA YAMAHA with BRIXX WorldSBK Yamaha 1'32.367
2 Gardner Remy 87 AUS GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team Yamaha 1'32.379 0.012
3 Petrucci Danilo 9 ITA BARNI Spark Racing Team Ducati 1'32.471 0.104
4 Rinaldi Michael Ruben 21 ITA ARUBA Racing - Ducati Ducati 1'32.560 0.193
5 Bassani Axel 47 ITA Motocorsa Racing Ducati 1'32.611 0.244
6 Bautista Alvaro 1 SPA ARUBA Racing - Ducati Ducati 1'32.654 0.287
7 Locatelli Andrea 55 ITA PATA YAMAHA with BRIXX WorldSBK Yamaha 1'32.884 0.517
8 Aegerter Dominique 77 SWI GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team Yamaha 1'32.886 0.519
9 Redding Scott 45 GBR ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team BMW 1'32.890 0.523
10 Rea Jonathan 65 GBR Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK Kawasaki 1'32.892 0.525
11 Lowes Alex 22 GBR Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK Kawasaki 1'32.971 0.604
12 Gerloff Garrett 31 USA Bonovo Action BMW BMW 1'33.058 0.691
13 Lecuona Iker 7 SPA Team HRC Honda 1'33.108 0.741
14 Baz Loris 76 FRA Bonovo Action BMW BMW 1'33.335 0.968
15 Öttl Philipp 5 GER Team GOELEVEN Ducati 1'33.343 0.976
16 Vierge Xavi 97 SPA Team HRC Honda 1'33.401 1.034
17 Baldassarri Lorenzo 34 ITA GMT94 Yamaha Yamaha 1'33.445 1.078
18 Konig Oliver 52 CZE ORELAC Racing VERDNATURA Kawasaki 1'34.520 2.153
19 Rabat Tito 53 SPA Kawasaki Puccetti Racing Kawasaki 1'34.634 2.267
20 Vinales Isaac 32 SPA TPR by Vinales Racing Kawasaki 1'34.667 2.300
21 Soomer Hannes 38 EST PETRONAS MIE Racing HONDA Team Honda 1'34.978 2.611
22 Tamburini Roberto 20 ITA Yamaha MotoxRacing WorldSBK Team Yamaha 1'36.055 3.688
23 Granado Eric 51 BRA PETRONAS MIE Racing HONDA Team Honda 1'36.076 3.709
24 van der Mark Michael 60 NDL ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team BMW 1'44.215 11.848
Location Information

Autodrom Most,  Czech Republic Autodrom Most is a new track in WorldSBK calendar for 2021. Thanks to its attractive event line-up, it is popular destination for many motor enthusiasts and their families from whole Europe.  The track was completed in 1983 as a part of restoration of coal mine lands… read more.

Pole Position Left
Lenght 4.212 Km
Corners 21
Right 14
Left 7

Records

Pole Record 1'30.064 (168,360 Km/h) Km/h T.Razgatlioglu, (BMW M 1000 RR, 2024)
Race Record 1'31.180 166,300 Km/h T.Razgatlioglu, SPR (Yamaha YZF-R1, 2022)
All Time Record 1'30.064 (168,360 Km/h) Km/h T.Razgatlioglu, (BMW M 1000 RR, 2024)
2024 Race 1 Winner T.Razgatlioglu, (BMW M 1000 R)
2024 Superpole Race Winner T.Razgatlioglu, (BMW M 1000 R)
2024 Race 2 Winner T.Razgatlioglu, (BMW M 1000 R)