Team HRC is in action at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, competing in round five of the 2023 Superbike World Championship with riders Iker Lecuona and Xavi Vierge.

The factory riders made the most of the day’s free practice sessions, both of which ran in warm and sunny conditions. In FP1, both Lecuona and Vierge got off to a good start, working methodically with their technicians to make adjustments to their CBR1000RR-R machines. The first 45-minute session complete, Vierge had set a best of 1’34.919, with team-mate Lecuona closing just a fraction of a second behind, with a fastest time of 1’34.970, the pair looking consistent and well-placed heading into session two.

Later in the day and in hotter conditions, Team HRC was back on track for FP2. With respect to the morning’s session, and despite the hotter asphalt, Iker was quickly able to improve on his earlier reference, albeit by only a fraction of a second (1’34.932). Xavi also took a step forward in terms of flying lap time towards the end of the session, setting a best of a 1’34.833. The conditions prevented further big progress, but both riders nevertheless continued to prepare for tomorrow’s Superpole and first race. Iker suffered an innocuous crash at turn 14 a few minutes before the session’s end while pushing to improving on his lap time. With the first fourteen riders closing within a second of each other, Vierge placed twelfth in the combined standings at the end of day one and Lecuona fifteenth.

Xavi Vierge 97

P12

“We expected the track temperature to be much hotter than it was when we tested here two weeks ago and this was in fact the case, but despite this the feeling with the bike has been good. We’ve focused mainly on our race pace and so our position today does not really reflect all the work we’ve done. So I can say that we’re quite happy. We need to make some more adjustments to our setup tomorrow, to try and make some more steps forward, but I think we are heading in a good direction. Tomorrow it will be very important to complete a strong FP3 to be prepared for qualifying.”

Iker Lecuona 7

P15

“It was a demanding and very busy day in general, but I knew, after the test two weeks ago, that I needed to understand many things about my bike’s base setup here in Misano. This morning I was struggling, feeling as if up against a “wall”, so we changed the setup quite a bit for the second free practice session, going more in the direction of last year when I felt more comfortable and was able to push more. And I started to feel better in the first two exits of the afternoon. During my last exit, I actually also started to enjoy myself and feel comfortable with the bike. It’s true that I also had a very small crash, but I didn’t even break the fairing and it was ‘good’ in a way in order to be able to understand the limit. So I’d say I’m quite happy, not for the results of course but for the work done and the fact we’ve found a way for me to feel good on my bike again. We must continue in this way tomorrow.”

WorldSBK 2023
Free Practice Round 05   Rimini

Free Practices Combined Results after FP2

Sunny
Humidity
53%
Track Temp
47°C
Air Temp
26°C
Pos. Rider Num Nation Team Constructor Time/Gap
1 Bautista Alvaro 1 SPA ARUBA Racing - Ducati Ducati 1'33.825
2 Razgatlioglu Toprak 54 TUR PATA YAMAHA with BRIXX WorldSBK Yamaha 1'34.154 0.329
3 Petrucci Danilo 9 ITA BARNI Spark Racing Team Ducati 1'34.276 0.451
4 Rinaldi Michael Ruben 21 ITA ARUBA Racing - Ducati Ducati 1'34.283 0.458
5 Lowes Alex 22 GBR Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK Kawasaki 1'34.477 0.652
6 Gerloff Garrett 31 USA Bonovo Action BMW BMW 1'34.610 0.785
7 Bassani Axel 47 ITA Motocorsa Racing Ducati 1'34.699 0.874
8 Aegerter Dominique 77 SWI GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team Yamaha 1'34.706 0.881
9 Rea Jonathan 65 GBR Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK Kawasaki 1'34.713 0.888
10 Locatelli Andrea 55 ITA PATA YAMAHA with BRIXX WorldSBK Yamaha 1'34.730 0.905
11 Redding Scott 45 GBR ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team BMW 1'34.826 1.001
12 Vierge Xavi 97 SPA Team HRC Honda 1'34.833 1.008
13 Sykes Tom 66 GBR ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team BMW 1'34.867 1.042
14 Öttl Philipp 5 GER Team GOELEVEN Ducati 1'34.922 1.097
15 Lecuona Iker 7 SPA Team HRC Honda 1'34.932 1.107
16 Baz Loris 76 FRA Bonovo Action BMW BMW 1'35.134 1.309
17 Gardner Remy 87 AUS GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team Yamaha 1'35.232 1.407
18 Ray Bradley 28 GBR Yamaha MotoxRacing WorldSBK Team Yamaha 1'35.523 1.698
19 Ruiu Gabriele 16 ITA B-Max Racing Team BMW 1'35.547 1.722
20 Baldassarri Lorenzo 34 ITA GMT94 Yamaha Yamaha 1'36.035 2.210
21 Rabat Tito 53 SPA Kawasaki Puccetti Racing Kawasaki 1'36.485 2.660
22 Syahrin Hafizh 35 MAL PETRONAS MIE Racing HONDA Team Honda 1'36.584 2.759
23 Vitali Luca 70 ITA ORELAC Racing VERDNATURA Kawasaki 1'36.767 2.942
24 Vinales Isaac 32 SPA TPR by Vinales Racing Kawasaki 1'37.504 3.679
25 Mizuno Ryo 88 JPN PETRONAS MIE Racing HONDA Team Honda 1'37.513 3.688
Location Information

Misano World Circuit “Marco Simoncelli” Via Daijiro Kato, 10 47843 Misano Adriatico (RN) – Italy Misanocircuit.com

POLE POSITION RIGHT
LENGTH 4.226 Km
CORNERS 16
RIGHT CORNERS 10
LEFT CORNERS 6

Records

Pole Record 1'33.017 (163,557 Km/h) A. Bautista (Ducati V4 R, 2023)
Race Record (SPRC) 1'33.174 (163,282 Km/h) T. Razgatlioglu (Yamaha YZF R1, 2023 SPRC)
All Time Record 1'33.017 (163,557 Km/h) A. Bautista (Ducati V4 R, 2023)
2023 Race 1 Winner A. Bautista (Ducati Panigale V4 R )
2023 Superpole Race Winner A. Bautista (Ducati Panigale V4 R )
2023 Race 2 Winner A. Bautista (Ducati Panigale V4 R )