Team HRC on the up and up at Estoril
The 2022 Superbike World Championship continues this weekend on Portuguese soil, with round three now underway at the Estoril Circuit. Team HRC riders Xavi Vierge and Iker Lecuona have made a solid start to proceedings, rounding out Friday’s free practice sessions in seventh and ninth position overall.
The weekend’s opening session, which ran in warm and sunny conditions (air 25°C, track 34°C) at 10.30 am local time, saw both Vierge and Lecuona start learning what is a totally new track for them both. The pair made good progress aboard their CBR1000RR-R FIREBLADES throughout the session, with Xavi rounding out the 45-minute phase in eighth place, having set a best of 1’37.901, and Iker in fifteenth position with a 1’38.444.
Later in the day, and in slightly hotter conditions, the Team HRC duo were back out for FP2. Lecuona soon improved on his earlier time, with Vierge following suit mid-session. The final phase of the session saw Xavi continue to shave off valuable tenths to round out day one with a best of 1’37.281, while Iker finished just a tenth of a second behind with a fastest time of 1’37.375. These results saw the Team HRC riders place seventh and ninth respectively in the combined standings at the end of day one, both less than two tenths of a second off a top-five placement.
Xavi Vierge 97
“I’m pleased with our first day here, starting with the fact that I’m able to ride without pain. I could focus on learning the track, improving my riding style and increasing my feeling the bike, trying to understand how to improve the setting. During the first two rounds, it was more a matter of trying to avoid feeling too much pain. I’m happy to discover a new track too and it’s one I’m really enjoying. It’s tight with some hard braking points but I really like it. From FP1 to FP2 the team was able to improve the set-up in all areas really, mainly focusing on finding better turning and on the bike’s stability in the braking areas, which is good in view of the races because it’s very easy to make mistakes at this track. Let’s see if tomorrow we are able to improve further, with one eye on the weather forecast”.
Iker Lecuona 7
“I like this track well enough, it’s fun but really narrow for a Superbike. All in all, I can say I’m happy with today’s performance after starting the day struggling with the track’s braking areas. We were able to solve this issue though, which meant in the afternoon I could start working on myself and on the bike’s setup, both of us needing to adapt to this track. In general, I’m still not feeling totally comfortable on the bike; I need to think too much about what I’m doing while riding but we were able to make progress during the day and step by step we are also improving our lap times. P9 on day one, just a few tenths shy of the top five is not a bad start. We need to keep going like this".
Free Practices Combined Results afer FP2
| Pos. | Rider | Num | Nation | Team | Constructor | Time/Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Razgatlioglu Toprak | 1 | TUR | PATA YAMAHA with BRIXX WorldSBK | Yamaha | 1'36.290 |
| 2 | Bautista Alvaro | 19 | SPA | ARUBA Racing - Ducati | Ducati | 1'36.463 0.173 |
| 3 | Gerloff Garrett | 31 | USA | GRT Yamaha WorldSBK | Yamaha | 1'36.572 0.282 |
| 4 | Rea Jonathan | 65 | GBR | Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK | Kawasaki | 1'36.595 0.305 |
| 5 | Rinaldi Michael Ruben | 21 | ITA | ARUBA Racing - Ducati | Ducati | 1'37.189 0.899 |
| 6 | Locatelli Andrea | 55 | ITA | PATA YAMAHA with BRIXX WorldSBK | Yamaha | 1'37.201 0.911 |
| 7 | Vierge Xavi | 97 | SPA | Team HRC | Honda | 1'37.281 0.991 |
| 8 | Baz Loris | 76 | FRA | Bonovo Action BMW | BMW | 1'37.346 1.056 |
| 9 | Lecuona Iker | 7 | SPA | Team HRC | Honda | 1'37.375 1.085 |
| 10 | Mahias Lucas | 44 | FRA | Kawasaki Puccetti Racing | Kawasaki | 1'37.467 1.177 |
| 11 | Lowes Alex | 22 | GBR | Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK | Kawasaki | 1'37.483 1.193 |
| 12 | Redding Scott | 45 | GBR | BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team | BMW | 1'37.487 1.197 |
| 13 | Bassani Alex | 47 | ITA | Motocorsa Racing | Ducati | 1'37.601 1.311 |
| 14 | Laverty Eugene | 50 | IRE | Bonovo Action BMW | BMW | 1'37.710 1.420 |
| 15 | Öttl Philipp | 5 | GER | Team GOELEVEN | Ducati | 1'37.713 1.423 |
| 16 | Nozane Kohta | 3 | JPN | GRT Yamaha WorldSBK | Yamaha | 1'37.765 1.475 |
| 17 | Marvin Fritz | 17 | GER | Yamaha MotoxRacing WorldSBK Team | Yamaha | 1'38.286 1.996 |
| 18 | Ponsson Christophe | 23 | FRA | Team Gil Motor Sport | Yamaha | 1'38.301 2.011 |
| 19 | Mercado Leandro | 36 | ARG | MIE Racing HONDA Team | Honda | 1'38.528 2.238 |
| 20 | Syahrin Hafizh | 35 | MAL | MIE Racing HONDA Team | Honda | 1'38.776 2.486 |
| 21 | Vinales Isaac | 32 | SPA | Yamaha MotoxRacing WorldSBK Team | Yamaha | 1'38.933 2.643 |
| 22 | Vinales Isaac | 32 | SPA | Yamaha MotoxRacing WorldSBK Team | Yamaha | 1'39.023 2.733 |
| 23 | Konig Oliver | 52 | CZE | ORELAC Racing VERDNATURA | Kawasaki | 1'40.292 4.002 |
| 24 | van der Mark Michael | 60 | NDL | BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team | BMW | 1'43.916 7.626 |
Location Information
Circuito Estoril – Av. Alfredo César Torres 2646 – 901 Alcabideche – Portugal www.circuito-estoril.pt The Circuito Estoril, situated just 30km from the Portuguese capital city of Lisbon, will host the WorldSBK class, along with the FIM Supersport World Championship and the FIM Supersport 300 World Championship from the 16th –… read more.
| POLE POSITION | Left |
| LENGHT | 4.182 Km |
| CORNERS | 13 |
| RIGHT CORNERS | 9 |
| LEFT CORNERS | 4 |
Records
| Pole Record | 1'35.346 (157,901 Km/h) J. Rea (Kawasaki ZX-10RR - 2022) |
| Race Record | 1'36.178 (156,535 Km/h) N. Bulega - SPRC (Ducati Panigale V4R- 2024) |
| All Time Record | 1'35.346 (157,901 Km/h) J. Rea (Kawasaki ZX-10RR - 2022) |
| 2024 Race 1 Winner | T. Razgatlioglu (BMW M 1000 RR) |
| 2024 Superpole Race Winner | N. Bulega (Ducati Panigale V4R) |
| 2024 Race 2 Winner | T. Razgatlioglu (BMW M 1000 RR) |
