Vierge and Lecuona ready to race on home turf
Team HRC is now at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Spain for round four of the 2023 Superbike World Championship.
Factory riders Iker Lecuona and Xavi Vierge are both eager to take on what is their home round and put in a strong performance in front of their supporters. At last year’s event, Lecuona scored Pole Position and a best result of sixth in race 1, with Vierge achieving the same result in race 2. After a rather challenging Dutch round, both riders now look to take a step forward on Spanish soil. Confidence levels are high also thanks to a recent test session at the Catalunya track that brought positive results on both sides of the Team HRC garage.
It’s been a busy fortnight for Lecuona particularly, who comes to Barcelona from Jerez, where he stood in for recovering Marc Marquez in the latest MotoGP round. He will therefore be looking to rebuild confidence with his CBR1000RR-R during Friday’s practice sessions in order to be in a strong position come Saturday, battling at the sharp end together with team-mate Vierge.
The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya was inaugurated in 1991 and often plays hosts to the F1 and MotoGP championships but has only staged WorldSBK events since 2020. Resurfaced in 2018, the track currently measures 4.657 kilometres and comprises fourteen corners, eight of which right-handers and six left. The Montmeló facility enjoys a privileged position, located just a few kilometres from Barcelona city centre.
Weekend schedule (CEST):
Friday
10.30 – 11.15 – SBK Free Practice 1
15.00 – 15.45 – SBK Free Practice 2
Saturday
9.00 – 9.30 – SBK Free Practice 3
11.10 – 11.25 – Superpole
14.00 – SBK Race 1
Sunday
9.00 – 9.15 – SBK Warm-up
11.00 – Superpole race
14.00 – SBK Race 2
Xavi Vierge 97
“Now we have Barcelona, my home race, which is always very special. We completed a really good two-day test there not long ago and then have also understood a few things at Assen that should be able to help us going into the next races. I think we have everything clear in our minds as we head into the weekend, so I’m looking forward to getting out on track and back to work! Hopefully we can do well in front of my home crowd.”
Iker Lecuona 7
“I’ve had some pretty busy days and now feel good and ready to jump on my bike for the next WorldSBK weekend in Barcelona. Coming from a GP weekend, for which I once again wish to thank everyone at HRC and everybody on the MotoGP squad, I think I will need the first few laps in FP1 in Montmeló to regain the feeling with the Fireblade and Pirelli tyres and everything, but I’m very excited to race in Catalunya, also because we completed some very good tests there recently. So we will see if we can repeat that performance over the race weekend, particularly during the second half of the race, an area where we struggled a lot last year and on which we worked a lot in testing, with promising results.”
Location Information
Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya Carrer Mas Moreneta, 08160 Montmeló, Barcelona, Spain Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya
| POLE POSITION | Right |
| LENGHT | 4.627 Km |
| CORNERS | 14 |
| RIGHT CORNERS | 8 |
| LEFT CORNERS | 6 |
Records
| Pole Record | 1'39.489 (168,513 Km/h) T.Razgatlioglu (BMW M 1000 RR, 2024) |
| Race Record | 1'40.955 (166,066 Km/h) N. Bulega (Ducati V4 R, 2024, SPRC) |
| All Time Record | 1'39.489 (168,513 Km/h) T.Razgatlioglu (BMW M 1000 RR, 2024) |
| 2024 Race 1 Winner | T.Razgatlioglu (BMW M 1000 RR) |
| 2024 Superpole Winner | T.Razgatlioglu (BMW M 1000 RR) |
| 2024 Race 2 Winner | A. Bautista (Ducati V4 R) |
