Recorded from grandstand G at the WorldSBK premiere in Barcelona – in the first Corona year, it was a ghost race without spectators, but with many surprises, both negative and positive.

The return of WorldSBK to Catalonia

In addition to Brno, it is a racetrack that we have been to the most often in the last decade and a half. But in contrast to the Masaryk Ring, this was only for Grand Prix races until 2019. In the first year of the corona pandemic, the time had come and the Superbike World Championship also hosted the Circuito de Cataluña for the first time. For both the Kawasaki Racing Team and HRC Honda, it is their home race because the two works teams are based in the immediate vicinity. This time, this is the start of a series of three events within two weeks, followed by the event in Jerez de la Frontera and then Portimão. The special thing about it is of course the fact that the pilots have to take special care this time not to injure themselves. Failure to do so could have fatal consequences in the fight for positions in the interim rankings. See the example of Razgatlioglu last year, when he fell violently in the warm-up on Sunday morning and then had to take a break after being injured.

Not a good memory for Toprak Razgatlioglu of his penultimate appearance in Barcelona – here in his fall in 2020 in the warm-up and in the spring of this year he was missing after the sixth-best time on the first day due to a positive Covid test and had to be quarantined.

The planning chaos between FIM and Dorna and its consequences

Because the two institutions responsible for MotoGP and WorldSBK couldn’t plan properly before the start of this season, the calendar and planning chaos of FIM and Dorna goes into the next round. Because the next round of MotoGP is taking place in Misano on the same weekend, there is another collision, which is particularly damaging to the near-series World Cup, as well as its teams, sponsors and drivers. Dominique Aegerter therefore even has to forego expanding his World Championship lead in the WorldSSP 600. The Swiss competes for Liqui Moly Intact GP in MotoE and thus loses important points in the fight for the first world title of his career. Below is the modified schedule for the weekend in Montmelo.

Stand in the WorldSBK

Stand in the WorldSSP 600

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