Team HRC concludes the eighth round of the 2023 Superbike World Championship with mixed results at the Most Circuit in the Czech Republic, Lecuona placing tenth in the Superpole race and Vierge closing ninth in the afternoon’s second Superbike race.

After a wet warm-up session, the SBK field headed out on a dry track for the morning’s ten-lap Superpole race. Lining up once more on rows three and four of the grid respectively, Vierge and Lecuona got off the line fast, particularly Xavi who was straight up into fourth. Unfortunately, his race came to an end just a few corners later when he crashed after another rider hit him at turn 15, although fortunately the Spaniard was unhurt. Tenth through lap one, team-mate Lecuona oscillated between tenth and eleventh for the duration of this short ten-lap sprint and ultimately rounded out the top ten on the results sheet.

The second and final 22-lap Superbike race ran according to schedule at 2pm local time and again in dry conditions. Vierge and Lecuona started from eleventh and thirteenth respectively, the former moving into tenth place, the latter dropping to fifteenth through lap one having been caught up in the chaos that ensued just after the lights went out. Iker soon made up the lost ground, setting a pace that allowed him to climb to twelfth by lap five, tucking in behind team-mate Xavi. The Team HRC duo held eleventh and twelfth until race leader Razgatlioglu crashed, meaning they each gained a position as a result. Vierge was able to pass Baz on the very last lap to cross the line ninth, with Lecuona just half a second behind but in twelfth place.

As the WorldSBK championship goes on its six-week summer break, Xavi Vierge now places tenth with 105 points, while Iker Lecuona lies thirteenth with 87 points.

Iker Lecuona and Xavi Vierge will compete, respectively, in the British MotoGP round and the Suzuka 8 Hours, with both events taking place over the weekend of 4-6 August. Team HRC will be back in action in six weeks’ time, on 8-10 September, for the ninth Superbike World Championship round at the Magny-Cours circuit in France.

Full results *Courtesy of Worldsbk.com

Xavi Vierge 97

Race 2 P9 - SPRC DNF

“So, overall, I think we had a challenging weekend with some struggles at the beginning and some missed opportunities before we were able to find our way with the setup. In fact, after struggling in FP3, the team did really well to give me a bike I felt really comfortable with, and we enjoyed our best qualifying session of the season so far. Then we know how it went in Race 1 with the tyre choice, and so today we were looking for more. I made a very good start in the Superpole race and was able to fight very close to the frontrunners, but unfortunately Rinaldi hit me with the wing of his bike through turn 15 and I couldn’t save the crash. So it was important in race 2 to finish the race and we did that, placing top 9. Not what we are aiming for but it’s not too bad a result either, so, again we will take the positives, learn from the experience and look forward to the next test we have in Aragon at the end of the month to keep working, improving and pushing hard to achieve our goals.”

Iker Lecuona 7

Race2 P12 - SPRC P10

“It has been something of a complicated weekend but with some good moments too. After a strong race yesterday, albeit in strange conditions, the feeling wasn’t bad in this morning’s sprint race either. I was one of few riders to go for a hard rear tyre and I could maintain decent speed to finish tenth, nothing special but OK anyway. This afternoon I made a less than ideal start, which happens sometimes unfortunately. As a result, I got caught up in the group and in the chaos of the first turn another rider ran wide, which caused me to lose ground and positions. After that I was able to recover to some extent; my target was the group just up front that included my teammate. Step by step I closed the gap, passed one rider and arrived right behind Xavi. I tried to pass him as well, but I realized it was too risky as the strong points of our bikes are the same, so I could not find a way to overtake in a “safe” way so I stayed there in case he left the door open or made a mistake. He didn’t, and when he passed Baz I tried to do the same but instead lost one position. Having said all that, we collected some points this weekend, had some fun yesterday and will now keep working to prepare for the next races.”

WorldSBK 2023
Race Round 08   Czech

Results Tissot Superpole Race

Dry
Humidity
83%
Track Temp
25°C
Air Temp
20°C
Pos. Rider Num Nation Points Team Constructor Time/Gap
1 Razgatlioglu Toprak 54 TUR 12 PATA YAMAHA with BRIXX WorldSBK Yamaha Time of Race 15'22.383
2 Rea Jonathan 65 GBR 9 Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK Kawasaki 1.203
3 Bautista Alvaro 1 SPA 7 ARUBA Racing - Ducati Ducati 2.968
4 Bassani Axel 47 ITA 6 Motocorsa Racing Ducati 3.180
5 Rinaldi Michael Ruben 21 ITA 5 ARUBA Racing - Ducati Ducati 5.310
6 Gardner Remy 87 AUS 4 GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team Yamaha 8.205
7 Lowes Alex 22 GBR 3 Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK Kawasaki 8.375
8 Petrucci Danilo 9 ITA 2 BARNI Spark Racing Team Ducati 9.021
9 Gerloff Garrett 31 USA 1 Bonovo Action BMW BMW 10.165
10 Lecuona Iker 7 SPA 0 Team HRC Honda 13.017
11 Aegerter Dominique 77 SWI 0 GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team Yamaha 14.448
12 Baz Loris 76 FRA 0 Bonovo Action BMW BMW 14.749
13 Redding Scott 45 GBR 0 ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team BMW 17.880
14 van der Mark Michael 60 NDL 0 ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team BMW 20.022
15 Rabat Tito 53 SPA 0 Kawasaki Puccetti Racing Kawasaki 27.182
16 Vinales Isaac 32 SPA 0 TPR by Vinales Racing Kawasaki 28.010
17 Granado Eric 51 BRA 0 PETRONAS MIE Racing HONDA Team Honda 28.264
18 Tamburini Roberto 20 ITA 0 Yamaha MotoxRacing WorldSBK Team Yamaha 31.741
19 Soomer Hannes 38 EST 0 PETRONAS MIE Racing HONDA Team Honda 38.884
20 Konig Oliver 52 CZE 0 ORELAC Racing VERDNATURA Kawasaki 55.685
21 Öttl Philipp 5 GER 0 Team GOELEVEN Ducati 2 Laps
WorldSBK 2023
Race Round 08   Czech

Results Race 2

Dry
Humidity
62%
Track Temp
31°C
Air Temp
24°C
Pos. Rider Num Nation Points Team Constructor Time/Gap
1 Bautista Alvaro 1 SPA 25 ARUBA Racing - Ducati Ducati Time of Race 33'58.248
2 Petrucci Danilo 9 ITA 20 BARNI Spark Racing Team Ducati 4.652
3 Rea Jonathan 65 GBR 16 Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK Kawasaki 4.725
4 Bassani Axel 47 ITA 13 Motocorsa Racing Ducati 4.786
5 Rinaldi Michael Ruben 21 ITA 11 ARUBA Racing - Ducati Ducati 7.538
6 Gardner Remy 87 AUS 10 GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team Yamaha 10.717
7 Locatelli Andrea 55 ITA 9 PATA YAMAHA with BRIXX WorldSBK Yamaha 12.455
8 Redding Scott 45 GBR 8 ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team BMW 13.273
9 Vierge Xavi 97 SPA 7 Team HRC Honda 17.925
10 Baz Loris 76 FRA 6 Bonovo Action BMW BMW 18.091
11 Aegerter Dominique 77 SWI 5 GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team Yamaha 18.501
12 Lecuona Iker 7 SPA 4 Team HRC Honda 18.586
13 Öttl Philipp 5 GER 3 Team GOELEVEN Ducati 23.138
14 Lowes Alex 22 GBR 2 Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK Kawasaki 25.547
15 van der Mark Michael 60 NDL 1 ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team BMW 41.166
16 Tamburini Roberto 20 ITA 0 Yamaha MotoxRacing WorldSBK Team Yamaha 50.118
17 Vinales Isaac 32 SPA 0 TPR by Vinales Racing Kawasaki 53.767
18 Rabat Tito 53 SPA 0 Kawasaki Puccetti Racing Kawasaki 54.616
19 Soomer Hannes 38 EST 0 PETRONAS MIE Racing HONDA Team Honda 1'05.163
20 Gerloff Garrett 31 USA 0 Bonovo Action BMW BMW 2 Laps
21 Razgatlioglu Toprak 54 TUR 0 PATA YAMAHA with BRIXX WorldSBK Yamaha 6 Laps
22 Konig Oliver 52 CZE 0 ORELAC Racing VERDNATURA Kawasaki 15 Laps
23 Bassani Axel 47 ITA 0 Motocorsa Racing Ducati 19 Laps
24 Granado Eric 51 BRA 0 PETRONAS MIE Racing HONDA Team Honda 21 Laps
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 1'30.801 166,994 Km/h T.Razgatlioglu, (Yamaha YZF-R1, 2023)
Race Record 1'31.180 166,300 Km/h T.Razgatlioglu, SPR (Yamaha YZF-R1, 2022)
All Time Record 1'30.801 166,994 Km/h T.Razgatlioglu, (Yamaha YZF-R1, 2023)
2023 Race 1 Winner J.Rea (Kawasaki ZX-10RR)
2023 Superpole Race Winner T.Razgatlioglu (Yamaha YZF R1)
2023 Race 2 Winner A.Bautista (Ducati V4R)