Chaz Davies ended his busy week of testing at the Circuito de Navarra after spending two days in MotorLand Aragon on Monday and Tuesday. Immediately afterwards it went on to Navarra, where it was a matter of getting to know the track and finding a basic setup for his Ducati Panigale V4 R.

To the Navarra test of Ducati and three WSSP 600 riders

After the track had not yet been released shortly after the Barcelona Test, the first teams and drivers of the near-series World Championship met in Navarra at the beginning of May, while most of the others did their final laps in Aragon. With a two-day test on Wednesday and Thursday, the Ducati riders and three WorldSSP riders set off on the course on which the 5th round of the provisional calendar will be held. It will be a first for WSBK and the drivers wanted to evaluate a suitable setup for the various challenges on the racetrack.

Private participation by Öttl with a return to the Circuito de Navarra

As one of the few riders on the 2021 grid from all three classes who have already raced in Navarra, Philipp Oettl had already made the acquaintance of the track. That was 9 years ago when the young man from Bad Reichenhall near the Austrian border took part in the Spanish championship in 2012. The German completed a purely private training day without his team and on his own bike. First and foremost, it was for the son of Moto3 team boss Peter with the aim of memorizing the route again after such a long time. Oettl had a fall in turn 13 in the morning, but was okay after the incident and was able to get back on the track afterwards. Together with the Kawasaki hope, returning Randy Krummenacher and MV Agusta newcomer Niki Tuuli were also on the route.

Philipp Öttl 2020 in the Kawasaki Puccetti Box – the Bavarian had an absolutely convincing season and came third behind World Champion Locatelli and team-mate Mahias, making him one of the favorites for this season.

The Ducati Armada and its first outing in Navarre

Scott Redding (Aruba.It Racing Ducati), his teammate Michael Ruben Rinaldi, Tito Rabat (Barni Racing Team), Chaz Davies (Team GoEleven) and Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) formed the Ducati quintet during the test. The reigning vice world champion and Rinaldi, like the others, had to learn the route first. The two tried a few setup variants and gearbox adjustments to find the best configuration for the course in the famous Rioja area. Redding was able to record an unofficial lap time in the range of 1’37. Like his teammate, Rinaldi also tried different settings on his machine for both Pirelli’s SC0 and SCX tires. For Bassani, as the youngest driver in WorldSBK, it was also about exploring the track and completing many laps including a racing simulation. But first it starts in 2 weeks in Aragon and the task against the competition may be even more difficult than last year.

The route map of Navarre, where the first WorldSBK race is to start on August 22nd, 2021.

How it goes on

We have put together a preliminary report with some important information about the season opener. See the separate article on this page. Below is the provisional calendar in its current edition, whereby the overseas races in italics are still considered very questionable.

May 22nd – MotorLand Aragón, Spain
May 29 – Circuito do Estoril, Portugal
June 12th – Misano World Circuit, Italy
July 3rd – Donington Park, England
July 24th – TT Circuit Assen, Netherlands
August 7th – Autodrom Most, Czech Republic
August 21 – Circuito de Navarra, Spain
September 4th – Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours, France
September 18th – Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Spain
September 25th – Circuito de Jerez-Ángel Nieto, Spain
October 2nd – Autodromo Internacional do Algarve, Portugal
October 16 – Circuito San Juan Villicum, Argentina
November 13 – Mandalika International Street Circuit, Indonesia

Michael van der Mark on the BMW M-1000RR in Motorland Aragon – the newcomer to the blue-whites from the Netherlands. After Portimão, the fast man from Gouda was also significantly better here last year than his team-mate Razgatlioglu, but will he be that quick on the BMW too?

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