Chaz Davies (GoEleven Ducati) in Motorland Aragon – with the Parador in the background, the landmark of the small town of Alcaniz, in which all drivers and teams are accommodated. For example, in 2019 we rented an apartment that had the wrong house number on the booking platform. Or at least this number wasn’t written on the house and after a lot of confusion it worked in the end. Fortunately, the author of this article speaks fair Spanish, the landlords didn’t understand a word of English or German.

Latest news 1 month before the first race weekend

We already reported yesterday that Toprak Razgatlioglu could not take part in Yamaha’s Aragon tests. In addition, about the horrible temperatures on April 12th, which is why even drivers like Garrett Gerloff had to do without the morning. The 10 available test days can also be counted as half units. Therefore, the Texan saved half a day with it. Kawasaki’s plan was to switch on two more test days on April 21st to April 22nd. If the current weather forecast arrives, this date should be postponed, because according to the current forecast, rain and around 10 degrees Celsius are announced for those days. Therefore, a shift backwards can be assumed, which could possibly be an advantage for Kawasaki Puccetti Racing. So far, their WorldSBK rookie Lucas Mahias drove the previous year’s model of the ZX-10RR. The WSSP 600 vice world champion of 2020 has already received some advance praise from Phillip Öttl, see on this page (“Interviews+TV”).

Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Ducati) in Motorland Aragon – the Italian celebrated his breakthrough in WorldSBK on this route last year. Exactly for this reason he was appointed to the works team and Chaz Davies lost his place after many years, which caused some bitter undertones in relevant portals.

New sponsor for the BMW Motorrad WorldSBK team
We have just received information from BMW about a new sponsor. With Bonamici Racing as the official partner for the WorldSBK season 2021. The Italian-based company produces high-quality accessories for motorcycles such as triple clamps, rear subframes, rear trims and many other products, not only for motorsport teams but also for BMW customers. Jonas Folger already had his team presentation in Germany and Sandro Cortese is said to have acted as spokesman. The fans probably don’t need to worry about Folger, it is quite different with Eugene Laverty. The Northern Irishman has not yet driven a meter on the new M-1000RR, although he traveled to Barcelona for a test at the end of March. However, his team was missing, and it is not yet clear if and when they will be ready at all.

Chaz Davies photographed by us in April 2019 before the start in Motorland Aragon. Back then it was bitterly cold in Assen on the weekend after that and the first run was postponed from Saturday to Sunday and the Superpole Race was therefore canceled. Two years later, here in Aragon, the weather reminds us of when we saw drivers and spectators freeze.

The Aragon tests by Yamaha and Ducati

Even if these do not take place under optimal conditions, such tests are extremely important for all drivers and teams. Even if the times reported are to be enjoyed with caution, they primarily provide information about which of the new components are working and which of the new parts do not yet fit. Without any information about the tires used and, for example, whether you were driving with a full or empty tank, you should be very careful with hasty interpretations. We mention it in this context because after the Barcelona Tests it may have already been concluded that BMW is already “over the mountain”. But we won’t know the truth about it until the first race is over. At least one can assume that the M-1000RR has a significantly higher potential than the “basic model” and that Jonas Folger should therefore have the chance of top ten places.

Kohta Nozane (GRT Yamaha) – Garrett Gerloff’s new team-mate, after Federico Caricasulo, like his predecessors Cortese and Melandri, could not recommend himself for another season and returned to the WorldSSP 600. After all, the Japanese is the reigning Superbike champion in his country and, like the US boy last year, has to relearn all the routes.

To the lap times and other best values
Sometimes even top speed measurements can lead to a wrong understanding. After a careful study of the measured top speeds, for example, in Barcelona, many drivers with the best driven times were promptly to be found far behind. Conversely, the example of BMW Michael van der Mark had the best results on the straight, but in the end it was still clearly behind Jonas Folger in terms of lap time. For Aragon, at least on their long straights, this value is of great importance. Nevertheless, the example of MotoGP recently in Losail and, with Jonathan Rea, a year and a half before WorldSBK, showed that the winners had taken their lead on the winding part of the track.

Tito Rabat (Barni Ducati Racing) – the perfectionist and marathon man of WorldSBK who is expected to have a lot in his rookie season. He usually does the most laps of all the drivers and doesn’t care about chasing the best times. As Alvaro Bautista proved before the start of the 2020 season, not necessarily the wrong way. He and his team are currently struggling with a few minor problems, but in a month or so he should be at the forefront when it comes to points.

The times from the second day of the Aragon hull test

Below are the times from the second day to the lunch break, with a slight increase compared to the fastest laps from the previous day. Currently, the best values are in the area of the fastest lap of Jonathan Rea 2020 on the “old” ZX-10RR and his best value of the 10-lap sprint race. His best time from the Superpole last year was almost a second lower with 1’48.767. Since the exact configuration has not been officially announced, at least the times of Rinaldi and Davies should have been driven with qualifiers or the so-called SCX tires for the Superpole Race. Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha with BRIXX WorldSBK) suffered a fall. The Italian lost the front of his bike in left turn 15, but luckily he was uninjured.

1. Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.It Racing – Ducati) 1’49.563s, 40 laps
2. Chaz Davies (Team GoEleven) 1’49.610s, 25 laps
3. Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) 1’50.277s, 27 laps
4. Tito Rabat (Barni Racing Team) 1’50.518s, 46 laps
5. Scott Redding (Aruba.It Racing – Ducati) 1’50.659s, 37 laps
6. Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha with BRIXX WorldSBK) 1’51.209s, 20 laps
7. Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) 1’51.367s, 36 laps
8. Kohta Nozane (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) 1’51.775s, 21 laps
9. Christophe Ponsson (Alstare Yamaha) 1’52.269s, 37 laps

Our photo from the roof of the pit facility with turn 2 in the foreground, the first right turn after a very long journey. In this case, there is a risk that the right tire flank will cool down too much and that the front wheel will fall over often enough.
Scott Redding (Aruba.it Ducati) in Motorland Aragon – the Englishman made the most fatal mistake of the season here in 2020 when he slipped into the gravel trap at Turn 5 on the first race on the second weekend after almost a quarter of an hour. With that he finally lost touch with World Cup leader Rea and in the end had to be satisfied with the runner-up world title.

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