Tom Sykes (BMW M-1000RR) at the Barcelona Test – the brand new BMW has passed its baptism of fire so far, and the man from Huddersfield and Jonas Folger were right at the front.

All manufacturers represented at the front – Rea, as expected, the strongest

It was no surprise that in the end Jonathan Rea would be the fastest driver on the Circuito de Catalunya on the new 2021 Kawasaki ZX-10RR. However, the conclusion of the two-day WorldSBK test on the track outside the gates of the Catalan metropolis of Barcelona showed many positive facets. Even if tests, as we have learned from previous experience, are of limited significance in terms of their informative value, some trends can usually be derived from them. From a Turkish point of view, it is important not to bury your head in the sand when it comes to Toprak Razgatlioglu’s P15 on the Pata Yamaha in order to do justice to some riders in the back positions. When it comes to him, you shouldn’t forget that, firstly, he was at the forefront in Misano and, secondly, he had the worst crash of the season in Barcelona a year ago. But on the second day the Turk got a completely different problem in Barcelona, which terminated his test prematurely.

Jonathan Rea (left) and Alex Lowes at the Kawasaki Racing Team presentation, to which we had provided an interesting link 2 days ago, see the report “First SBK test of strength” on this page.

Toprak eliminated early with a positive Corid-19 test!
After Tatsuki Suzuki in Moto3 before the MotoGP Losail test, WorldSBK also has its first pandemic rider victim. As Yamaha announced, he was isolated shortly after the beginning of the second day because the Turkish person had a positive PCR test. Of course, his entire team was immediately tested and the start of the season for Pata Yamaha was at least half as bad as for Eugene Laverty, whose team had not even appeared on site. But the pandemic was certainly not to blame there. In any case, Razgatlioglu is now in isolation in Catalonia and has to wait until he can show a negative test again. According to Yamaha, he had two tests in a row that were positive.

“Stoppie-King” Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha) – at first sight one of the losers in the test in Barcelona. But only he and his team know what they initially focused on and will definitely not reveal it. The fast Turk will be ready when the first race weekend in Motorland Aragon is expected to take place in just over a month and a half.

The other supposed flops
Alvaro Bautista, as he told us before the test, came with the consequences of a fall during motocross training. However, the fast Spaniard was also supposedly weak in tests and Superpole in Australia last year. But when the red lights went out for the first time, he raced through the field and finished sixth in the 1st race Down Under. With Michael van der Mark, with his 14th place at first sight, you don’t need to worry any more than with Alvaro. The fast man from Gouda drove the brand new M-1000RR only for the second time on a racetrack and after many years he has to get used to the completely different BMW from the Yamaha. Mister Longrun, as the Catalans could also be called, was never particularly fast either. But Tito Rabat as Moto2 world champion is extremely experienced and is considered to be one of the most diligent drivers in training.

Tito Rabat (Barni Racing Ducati) – during the test, the Catalan had driven most of the kilometers on his doorstep, primarily on the Konstanz, and covered a total of 111 laps. As Alvaro Bautista (HRC Honda) and Alex Lowes (Kawasaki) had proven before the season opener last year, it was really not a bad strategy.

The real losers were those who were absent – not the drivers in the back seats

Loris Cresson and Lucas Mahias (both Kawasaki) are just as unlikely to be far ahead as Eugene Laverty, if he will be there at all. His RC Squadra Corse Team seems to be developing like a castle in the air, which definitely no one in the paddock would wish for the notorious unlucky WorldSBK. The Northern Irish and the two Kawasaki French are among the big losers because their teams have not tested before the season opener in Aragon (provided there are no more postponements). Speculating about the reasons is actually pointless because they are obvious. As a result of the pandemic, almost all teams lost support contributions and often even entire sponsors, which previously held the rod. If you have a tight budget, you often don’t get the material together in time to be able to start on time. In racing, most suppliers only deliver their goods against prepayment, unless they are about renowned teams such as KRT or Aruba.it Ducati. This is the reason why some drivers stayed away from the most important test before the start of the season.

Eugene Laverty Photographed by us at the autograph session in BuriRam (Thailand) in 2018 – the day after, the notorious unlucky person of the WSBK fell at high speed due to a brake failure and seriously injured himself, causing him to be out for a long time. Bad luck seems to be sticking to his heels again in 2021.

Joy for the BMW and Folger fans – the premiere of the M-1000RR was a success

For Folger and Sykes, being among the best is a position they wanted before they went out on the track with the competition for the first time. Nevertheless, it is still too early to fall into euphoria. In the past 2 years, the blue-whites often lacked reliability. Too many times their drivers stopped with technical problems or, like Sykes in Magny-Cours 2020, had to head for the pits shortly after the start. It is now important for BMW to ensure the necessary stability and to spare the drivers such embarrassments in the 2nd Corona year as they had been experienced with the S-1000RR. The good times in the tests also do not automatically mean that you have to easily make it into the top five. The proof of this was seen a little over a year ago in Australia, when Tom Sykes set sensational times, but was continuously passed on in the race. Michael Van der Mark has suffered two crashes in the last few hours and still has a lot of work to do. The basis is definitely right, but points are only awarded for a good race pace. Let’s hope for the blue-whites that in 2021 they will finally be as strong on this point as their fans have hoped.

Jonas Folger on the BMW M-1000RR – the German missed the third-best time just before the end of the test by a hair’s breadth, but was still even faster than his brand colleague Tom Sykes, also known as Mister Superpole and actually champion over a fast lap.

We can expect an exciting season with close races

Some drivers were always looking for the limit. So also from Garrett Gerloff, who had to put up with a crash in Turn 1 just like Jonas Folger the day before. The Texan thus missed the last attack to defend his second place, which with his attack at the last minute therefore captured Ducati ace Scott Redding. What was extremely pleasing at the test in Barcelona and hopefully will continue to be the case is the diversity of manufacturers in the foremost positions. The fastest four were on four different bikes on Thursday and yesterday Leon Haslam was second fastest with the fifth make. His time was the sixth fastest of the two days in Barcelona. An exciting season with close races can therefore be expected, in which it may not just amount to a duel for the title. However, you should exercise caution when comparing the following lap times. For example, as Pere Riba assured us, Rea and Lowes were not on the qualifier tire, but the so-called SCX. Bonovo Action BMW, on the other hand, made no secret of the fact that Folger drove his best lap with it.

Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha) – after a crash in Turn 1, he was unable to hunt for the fastest time in the last half hour on Thursday.

Day 2 – Ranking at the end of the Barcelona Test:
1. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki), 1’40.264
2. Scott Redding (Ducati),  +0.179
3. Garrett Gerloff (Yamaha), +0.233
4. Jonas Folger (BMW), +0.435
5. Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Ducati), +0.492
6. Leon Haslam (Honda), +0.636
7. Tom Sykes (BMW), +0.650
8. Alex Lowes (Kawasaki), +0.931
9. Andrea Locatelli (Yamaha), +0.994
10. Chaz Davies (Ducati), +1.053
11. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Yamaha), +1.070 (Covid withdrawn day 2)
12. Kohta Nozane (Yamaha), +1.364
13. Axel Bassani (Ducati), +1.492
14. Tito Rabat (Ducati), +1.678
15. Michael van der Mark (Yamaha),  +1.681
16. Alvaro Bautista (Honda), +1.686 (day 2: test finished after 6 laps)
17. Isaac Viñales (Kawasaki), +2.106
18. Christophe Ponsson (Yamaha), +2.159
19. Leandro Mercado (Honda), +3.550
20. Samuele Cavalieri (Kawasaki), +4.886
Missing Riders: (the missing drivers, who missed an important part of the preparation)
No. 44 Lucas Mahias (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing)
No. 50 Eugene Laverty (RC Squadra Corse BMW)
No. 84 Loris Cresson (Pedercini Kawasaki Racing)

Leon Haslam (HRC Honda) – second fastest on the first day and still sixth with this time in the end. On the second day, due to Bautista’s withdrawal, he was no longer chasing the best time. The Spaniard had given up prematurely due to a motocross training injury with excessive pain(© HRC Honda).

>>Some of the opinions of the drivers after the Barcelona test will follow on our website..

Unless otherwise stated, this applies to all images (© WorldSBK).