The first of the WorldSBK races at Donington Park put Team HRC to the test, with Xavi Vierge crossing the line eleventh and team-mate Iker Lecuona crashing out in the final stages.

Lecuona and Vierge made the most of the dry conditions during the morning’s final brief free practice. The track was still a little damp in parts but gradually dried throughout the phase with lap times coming down in the final minutes, the Team HRC duo continuing their preparations ahead of the subsequent Superpole.

Lap times continued to tumble during the all-important Superpole qualifying session which fortunately ran in the dry, despite some ominous looking clouds. In what turned out to be a hard-fought session, Iker put in a 1’27.190 in the opening stages, a time that remained his best and saw him place thirteenth. Xavi’s best lap came mid-way through the session, a 1’27.579 putting him seventeenth on the grid for the afternoon’s Race 1.

Race 1 got underway at 2pm local time and ran over a distance of 23 laps in dry conditions. Lecuona got away fast and was up into tenth through the first turns. Vierge also made up a couple of positions and was lying fourteenth a few laps into the race. Getting into a rhythm through the initial stages, Xavi gradually moved up to within half a second of team-mate Iker towards the middle of the race, by which point both were lapping with similar lap times. Thirteenth and fourteenth heading into the final stages, Lecuona and Vierge held those positions until the penultimate lap, when Iker crashed out at turn 4, leaving Xavi to cross the line in eleventh place. Lecuona went to the circuit medical centre to be checked over but has fortunately sustained no injuries, although he was experiencing some pain in his left wrist.

Both riders and Team HRC are nevertheless ready to take the positives from today and harness what they have learned in tomorrow’s races.

Xavi Vierge 97

P11

“Another race where we had to fight hard to recover after starting further back on the grid. The conditions surely didn’t help us as they were less than ideal in this morning’s FP3, which meant we basically went straight into qualifying. I struggled as always with the soft tyre and was not able to go fast, so had to start from seventeenth on the grid. This made for an uphill race. And it’s a real shame as my feeling on the bike during the race was good, better with the hard tyre than with the soft, and in fact I almost matched my Superpole flying lap time. So I’m happy with that, but losing so much ground off the line affected our race. We scored a few points and that’s another positive, but we need to find a solution to be able to exploit the soft tyre, that’s crucial. Having said that, a big thank you to everyone on the team because they work incredibly hard and support me so much.”

Iker Lecuona 7

DNF

“At the moment I’m experiencing some pain in my left wrist but fortunately nothing is broken. It was not an easy race. In qualifying the feeling was not so bad to be honest, but I made a few mistakes on my second flying lap. Without that, I could have qualified a few positions further forward, so I was feeling confident going into the race. Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be, and my start was probably the best part of my race! For once I got off well, and felt good into the first corner, overtaking on the brakes. But despite feeling good and strong with the front, I was immediately struggling with the rear and had zero grip. When Remy overtook me, I tried to respond but I was pushing a lot on the front and then crashed at corner four, unable to save it. I’m sorry for the team but we need to keep working and find a way for tomorrow. I have the feeling I can do well but for some reason I cannot go fast so now we will check the data to try to understand and make a decision.”

WorldSBK 2023
Race Round 06   United Kingdom

Results Tissot Superpole

Dry
Humidity
67%
Track Temp
19°C
Air Temp
17°C
Pos. Rider Num Nation Team Constructor Time/Gap
1 Rea Jonathan 65 GBR Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK Kawasaki 1'26.041
2 Bautista Alvaro 1 SPA ARUBA Racing - Ducati Ducati 1'26.109 0.068
3 Petrucci Danilo 9 ITA BARNI Spark Racing Team Ducati 1'26.205 0.164
4 Razgatlioglu Toprak 54 TUR PATA YAMAHA with BRIXX WorldSBK Yamaha 1'26.410 0.369
5 Lowes Alex 22 GBR Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK Kawasaki 1'26.422 0.381
6 Aegerter Dominique 77 SWI GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team Yamaha 1'26.502 0.461
7 Locatelli Andrea 55 ITA PATA YAMAHA with BRIXX WorldSBK Yamaha 1'26.510 0.469
8 Sykes Tom 66 GBR ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team BMW 1'26.524 0.483
9 Rinaldi Michael Ruben 21 ITA ARUBA Racing - Ducati Ducati 1'26.564 0.523
10 Gerloff Garrett 31 USA Bonovo Action BMW BMW 1'26.648 0.607
11 Öttl Philipp 5 GER Team GOELEVEN Ducati 1'26.729 0.688
12 Redding Scott 45 GBR ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team BMW 1'26.742 0.701
13 Lecuona Iker 7 SPA Team HRC Honda 1'27.190 1.149
14 Bassani Axel 47 ITA Motocorsa Racing Ducati 1'27.258 1.217
15 Baz Loris 76 FRA Bonovo Action BMW BMW 1'27.305 1.264
16 Ray Bradley 28 GBR Yamaha MotoxRacing WorldSBK Team Yamaha 1'27.500 1.459
17 Vierge Xavi 97 SPA Team HRC Honda 1'27.579 1.538
18 Gardner Remy 87 AUS GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team Yamaha 1'27.608 1.567
19 Rabat Tito 53 SPA Kawasaki Puccetti Racing Kawasaki 1'28.096 2.055
20 Syahrin Hafizh 35 MAL PETRONAS MIE Racing HONDA Team Honda 1'28.444 2.403
21 Vinales Isaac 32 SPA TPR by Vinales Racing Kawasaki 1'28.763 2.722
22 Baldassarri Lorenzo 34 ITA GMT94 Yamaha Yamaha 1'28.791 2.750
23 Granado Eric 51 BRA PETRONAS MIE Racing HONDA Team Honda 1'29.859 3.818
24 Konig Oliver 52 CZE ORELAC Racing VERDNATURA Kawasaki
WorldSBK 2023
Race Round 06   United Kingdom

Results Race 1

Dry
Humidity
55%
Track Temp
27°C
Air Temp
21°C
Pos. Rider Num Nation Points Team Constructor Time/Gap
1 Bautista Alvaro 1 SPA 25 ARUBA Racing - Ducati Ducati Time of Race 33'28.763
2 Razgatlioglu Toprak 54 TUR 20 PATA YAMAHA with BRIXX WorldSBK Yamaha 3.718
3 Rea Jonathan 65 GBR 16 Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK Kawasaki 6.115
4 Petrucci Danilo 9 ITA 13 BARNI Spark Racing Team Ducati 7.855
5 Locatelli Andrea 55 ITA 11 PATA YAMAHA with BRIXX WorldSBK Yamaha 10.738
6 Lowes Alex 22 GBR 10 Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK Kawasaki 11.143
7 Bassani Axel 47 ITA 9 Motocorsa Racing Ducati 12.025
8 Redding Scott 45 GBR 8 ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team BMW 12.638
9 Sykes Tom 66 GBR 7 ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team BMW 12.754
10 Gardner Remy 87 AUS 6 GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team Yamaha 25.944
11 Vierge Xavi 97 SPA 5 Team HRC Honda 26.050
12 Aegerter Dominique 77 SWI 4 GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team Yamaha 30.859
13 Rinaldi Michael Ruben 21 ITA 3 ARUBA Racing - Ducati Ducati 31.558
14 Baldassarri Lorenzo 34 ITA 2 GMT94 Yamaha Yamaha 52.605
15 Vinales Isaac 32 SPA 1 TPR by Vinales Racing Kawasaki 56.037
16 Rabat Tito 53 SPA 0 Kawasaki Puccetti Racing Kawasaki 57.082
17 Syahrin Hafizh 35 MAL 0 PETRONAS MIE Racing HONDA Team Honda 57.216
18 Konig Oliver 52 CZE 0 ORELAC Racing VERDNATURA Kawasaki 1'00.969
19 Granado Eric 51 BRA 0 PETRONAS MIE Racing HONDA Team Honda 1'16.479
20 Öttl Philipp 5 GER 0 Team GOELEVEN Ducati 1 Lap
21 Lecuona Iker 7 SPA 0 Team HRC Honda 2 Laps
22 Gerloff Garrett 31 USA 0 Bonovo Action BMW BMW 10 Laps
23 Baz Loris 76 FRA 0 Bonovo Action BMW BMW 17 Laps
24 Ray Bradley 28 GBR DNF Yamaha MotoxRacing WorldSBK Team Yamaha
Location Information

Donington Park Circuit Castle Donington, Derby, DE74 2RP, United Kingdom Donington Park

POLE POSITION LEFT
LENGHT 4.023 Km
CORNERS 12
RIGHT CORNERS 7
LEFT CORNERS 5

Records

Pole Record 1'24.629 (171,133 Km/h) T. Razgatlioglu (BMW M 1000 RR, 2024)
Race Record 1'25.597 (169,198 Km/h) T. Razgatlioglu (BMW M 1000 RR, RC2, 2024)
All Time Record 1'24.629 (171,133 Km/h) T. Razgatlioglu (BMW M 1000 RR, 2024)
2024 Race 1 Winner T. Razgatlioglu (BMW M 1000 RR)
2024 Superpole Race Winner T. Razgatlioglu (BMW M 1000 RR)
2024 Race 2 Winner T. Razgatlioglu (BMW M 1000 RR)