Aerial view of the Autodromo do Estoril – Jonathan Rea also has mixed memories of the last race last year. Shortly after Scott Redding, he slipped into the gravel trap in Superpole in October 2020 and then had to start as far back as he hadn’t for a long time. That he even slipped again in the second race at Turn 3 on Sunday has seldom been seen with the record world champion.

Continuation of the calendar chaos with a new date for the 1st Portugal race

In the WorldSBK, it still looks very confusing with regard to the further dates despite an additional round in Navarra. Nevertheless, we took the trouble and inevitably took over the calendar, which is still questionable, even if other portals as well as us doubt it. Currently, at least the overseas races in San Juan in Argentina and Mandalika Resort are still very much in question due to the pandemic. The MotoGP website of Dorna presented a video of the latter on their website as of April, but the content was more sobering than encouraging. This is especially against the background that the construction progress has been as good as zero since a video from around 3 to 4 months ago.

The two Aruba.it Ducati team-mates Scott Redding and Chaz Davies in the last race of the man with the number 7 for the works team of the Reds, which he also won to top it off. For the coming season, the Welshman has swapped places at GoEleven Ducati with Michael Ruben Rinaldi and can still count on first-class material (© WorldSBK).

The logical second stop after easing in Portugal

Although the westernmost country in Europe was particularly badly affected by the Brazilian mutation of the coronavirus just a few months ago, the previous lockdown was recently relaxed in Portugal. In order to at least bring tourists into the country, the authorities took a similar route to Spain. Citizens there were usually not allowed to travel around within the country, at least without a special permit. On the other hand, vacationers from France and Germany were allowed in because they stimulate tourism. Everyone should think about it as they want, it’s a very controversial area, and we don’t feel like discussing this topic on our sports and history portal. After Aragon on the weekend before last, Estoril is of course a logical next stop. The journey takes a good 10 hours, about the same time as to the Circuito de Jerez. However, this was not, as some originally suspected, selected for the WorldSBK in the spring. In reality, the near-series World Cup will be in Andalusia in September, just a week after Barcelona.

Scott Redding (Aruba.it Ducati) has mixed memories of the Portuguese racetrack between Sintra and Estoril, as this picture from the Superpole shows. This highsider robbed the Englishman of his chance to get a theoretical chance for the title in the first race at the season finale (© WorldSBK).

The new provisional calendar – still with reservations

As mentioned at the beginning, the overseas events in particular are wobbly and of course Australia is also a wobbly candidate. Whether the events in Misano, Donington, Assen and Nevers will even take place without spectators is also still doubted in many places. After all, with the second lap after Aragon shortly thereafter, another race is apparently as good as guaranteed. Except for the races in Spain and Portugal, which are currently on the calendar, the rest of the calendar should definitely undergo further modifications. When the last modification was announced, it was not yet clear whether the Yamaha BluCru 300 Cup would take place. For this reason, this series is marked with a question mark on our calendar.