IN-SEASON TESTING: dates for your diary throughout WorldSBK’s 2023 season
With racing action underway, teams and riders are still investing plenty of track time away from the rounds, as they test new solutions to better their packages – here’s when and where
The 2023 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship is underway and it’s been a stunning start for some, and intriguing start for others and a disastrous start for a few. Whatever category riders and teams fall into, one thing is guaranteed: the continued desire to improve their packages. This will rumble on through the season, so we’ve put together a list of dates that are confirmed already.
The first in-season test came from MotorLand Aragon with the factory Kawasaki and Honda teams, as well as Bradley Ray (Yamaha Motoxracing WorldSBK Team), with Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) coming out on top ahead of Xavi Vierge (Team HRC). Aragon is a regular on the testing calendar, although the round this year has a new slot in September. A week after the test, on the 30th and 31st of March, the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya hosted the vast majority of WorldSBK teams ahead of the Catalunya Round at the start of May, making this a vital test for relative and reliable track data. Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) led the way in Catalunya with Iker Lecuona (Team HRC) just behind as they closed in on lap record pace.
The Misano World Circuit “Marco Simoncelli” held a two-day test which was impacted by poor weather on the Adriatic coast, but it was Bautista who came out on top while plenty of tech innovations were on display across the manufacturers. The Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK squad opted not to send Jonathan Rea and Alex Lowes to that test, instead going with test rider Florian Marino, while Rea and Lowes went to Jerez on the 18th May for a one-day test. Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) missed the Misano test after receiving a MotoGP™ call-up as a replacement rider, and he will get two days of testing at Mugello in his native Italy on the 23rd and 24th May.
IN-SEASON TESTING DATES:
22nd – 23rd March: Aragon, Spain
30th – 31st March: Barcelona-Catalunya, Spain
11th – 12th May: Misano, Italy
18th May: Jerez, Spain
23rd-24th May: Mugello, Italy
As always, you can keep up with all the test action with WorldSBK.com and our social media channels, whilst enjoying 2023’s season with the WorldSBK VideoPass!
