Team HRC in Emilia-Romagna for round five
Misano World Circuit “Marco Simoncelli”Just over three weeks since round four, the 2023 Superbike World Championship teams and riders prepare to take on round five at the Misano World Circuit in Italy.
Following on from the fourth event of the season in Barcelona, Team HRC and its riders Iker Lecuona and Xavi Vierge visited Misano for a Dorna-supported two-day test session. The squad worked hard to make the most of this important preparation time, despite some wet weather over the course of the two days. The two factory riders will be looking to build on their latest results in Catalunya, particularly considering their strong showing at last year’s Italian round, where Vierge scored a best of fourth in the Superpole race, while Lecuona finished fifth in both the Superpole race and Race 2.
Inaugurated in 1972 and originally known as the Circuito Internazionale Santamonica, what is now the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli first featured on the WorldSBK calendar back in 1991. Dedicated to the memory of the Italian rider who died in 2011, the Misano racetrack is located on the Rimini Riviera and is a regular fixture on the calendar for the production-derived machines, the event often taking place during the summer tourist season. The track measures 4226 metres in length and incorporates 10 right-hand turns and 6 left-handers.
Team HRC takes the opportunity to extend its sympathy to all those in the Emilia-Romagna region who have been affected by the serious flooding of recent weeks.
Misano is a track and a place that I love, and I was deeply sorry to hear of the disastrous floods that the Emilia-Romagna region and its people have suffered. Last year’s Misano round was one of the best for me, aside from the race 2 contact with Bassani and subsequent crash that caused me to injure my right hand, but the feeling was there. We completed tests at Misano recently and, despite the mixed conditions that obviously affected our work schedule, I was happy with my feeling with the bike and think we did a good job understanding the direction to take in terms of the setup. It’s likely that we will need to adjust everything a little bit to adapt the settings to different weather conditions, but I think we have the potential to complete a very good weekend.
We return to Misano following a two-day testing session that was characterised by mixed weather and mixed feelings, because we tried many items and felt better with some and less so with others, so we will have to see if we can join the dots over the upcoming weekend. Hopefully we’ll have stable conditions throughout the weekend in order to define the best setup and improve our speed and race pace for the races. And in wishing for good weather, our thoughts of course turn to all the people affected by the recent devastating floods and still battling in such harsh conditions.