Alex Lowes in the Kawasaki Racing Team Box – The worry lines of the Englishman from Lincoln and his team people are likely to have increased since the announcement of the scandalous FIM decision just two days before the start of the season.

Some rider voices before the start

We had already published the opinions of the two riders of the Kawasaki factory team in the report “Aragon foretaste”. Shortly afterwards came the scandalous publication of the maximum speed set by the FIM for the start of the season. Since then, it has been clear that Kawasaki will again be deliberately slowed down from the start by the self-importance of the highest motor sports authority despite the new model of the ZX-10RR Ninja. Nobody expected this, we were completely surprised and still perplexed. At least this underhanded act made it clear why the announcement of this scandalous decision came so late. While BMW can happily rub their hands, Kawasaki barely reacted in time. The two days before the first WorldSBK weekend are definitely not enough for a protest.

The hair-raising injustice immediately catches the eye, even without the yellow colour. The Ducati Panigale V4R is allowed to turn a full 1500 rpm higher than the new Kawasaki ZX-10RR, it is like a bad joke what the FIM has just allowed itself to do with it.

Leandro Mercado – the number 36 from MIE Honda: “It’s race week at last, I couldn’t wait any longer. After a very long winter, I’m really looking forward to starting a new championship to be part of this project with the MIE Racing Honda team. We only signed our agreement a few weeks ago, so we didn’t really have time to work on it and do tests and kilometres on the Honda. Still, I hope we have a good start to the season. We will do our best for the project to grow. “

An unpleasant memory of the Superpole Race on the first Aragon weekend of 2020 for Leandro Mercado (front right in the picture) – the Argentine was brutally rammed after turn 9 by Tom Sykes, who returned to the track after a ride and fell badly. It wasn’t until three laps later that Mercado was able to return and, in doing so, immediately finished in the top ten twice in succession at Magny-Cours.

Leon Haslam -No. 91, HRC Honda: “I’m really looking forward to the weekend races. We think we’ve made some good improvements to the bike during testing. For example our consistency during our last sessions here in Aragon and now we can finally race. Of course, we still have a few areas in which we have to work. But we know we have already taken a good step since last season, despite bad weather interrupting some of our winter testing plans. I had a lot of fun in the last few months and during this time I mainly stayed in Spain with our team manager Leon Camier and my crew boss. I was able to make optimal use of the weather, train hard and even take part in a 200 km bike race last weekend. Now I feel perfectly prepared, and the team is ready to get started. It’s race mode from now, and we’ll see how we go.“

Leon Haslam (HRC Honda) on October 3rd, 2020 in the first race on the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours in a very uncomfortable situation – in the afternoon after his heavy highsider, “Pocket Rocket” scored points again in France.

Alvaro Bautista – No. 19, HRC Honda: “I’m looking forward to the races after a very long winter. We didn’t test a lot because the test days are limited by the regulations, and we have had bad luck with the weather several times. Physically I’m better, maybe not 100% yet. After all, I don’t think I’ll have any problems completing a full race weekend. As for the development of the bike, I think we made progress and my feeling with the bike has definitely improved. We have refined our work in the garage and improved some areas. Of course, we are still in the development phase, but I am happy with the work HRC has been doing lately. The Japanese engineers are back in Aragon. In the winter they were unable to take part in the tests due to problems caused by the pandemic, so of course they followed us from afar. It’s good to start on a track where we made the podium last year. Motorland is not an easy route because there is a bit of everything. Slow and fast corners, changes in altitude and direction and hard braking points. At the same time, the circuit is nice and pleasant, and I like the route. We are all very motivated and hope for a good start to the championship. “

Aragon triple winner Alvaro Bautista (left) with Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki) and the then Ducati team-mate Chaz Davies photographed by us in April 2019. As you can see, the fast Spaniard had a lot of fun at the Aragon weekend two years ago.

Toprak Razgatlıoğlu – No. 54, Pata Yamaha with Brixx: „This track has never been easy for me and last year I didn’t get good results compared to the other races on the calendar. But this year I think I’m in a stronger position because I feel very good physically and the last test in Aragon was an excellent improvement in performance. So I think we are absolutely ready. My goal this season is always to fight for a good position and a podium, but I want to fight for more victories this year too. In Aragon, I hope it is possible and if not we will do everything we can to get the best results and then go to the next race. We’ll see, I feel very strong now and am ready and very excited about the start of the first race and for the rest of the 2021 season.“

Toprak Razgatlıoğlu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx) – according to his own statements, the young Turk has already recovered well from his Covid-19 infection 2 months ago, but is not one of the top favourites for a podium with the Yamaha. All the more so in Estoril a week later, because he won the first two races there last year and was on the podium once.

Andrea Locatelli – No. 55, Pata Yamaha with Brixx: „Aragon is definitely not an easy track, but I like it a lot. Every day I drive in Motorland I have a lot of fun because the track layout is so interesting. My goal is to improve myself on the R1 from the first to the second race and then to the next throughout the season. This week will be my first race in WorldSBK and I have to learn that this is the most realistic point for us to start. But I’m sure we can do well because the whole package from Yamaha is definitely good and my feeling on the bike after the last test was positive. I’m sure we can work towards good results and I want to enjoy my first race in WSBK. With my crew chief Andrew Pitt, we have a plan to tackle the weekend and see what is possible. I hope to be strong, so we can try to get a good result on the first lap.“

Andrea Locatelli (Bardahl Evan Bros Yamaha R6) as leader in the WorldSSP 600 race at Turn 4 (Honda Corner) of Phillip Island, photographed by us in Australia on March 1st, 2020. As dominated as the northern Italian has never had a driver in the middle Supersport category.

>Aragon preview: see separate report on this page.

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