Jerez ready to host first track action of 2021
Preparations for 2021 continue with a two-day test at Jerez as riders and teams get acquainted with their machinery.
As the new year rolls around, track action returns in the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship as teams and riders prepare for a two-day test at the Circuito de Jerez – Angel Nieto. 11 riders from WorldSBK plus one from WorldSSP will return to track action as preparations for the 2021 season step up another gear. The test takes place on Wednesday and Thursday from 10am Local Time (GMT+1) until 6pm.
Reigning champion Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) will be on track alongside teammate Alex Lowes as KRT continue to learn more about their brand new ZX-10RR ahead of the 2021 season. With Lowes looking to build on a strong debut season with KRT after claiming one victory and four podiums and Rea searching for his seventh consecutive title, the duo will be looking to keep understanding the new machine ahead of the new season.
2020 runner-up Scott Redding (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati) will be back on track as he looks to go one better in 2021. Redding will be joined by new teammate Michael Ruben Rinaldi with the Italian rider joining the factory Ducati team for the 2021 season. It will be the first time the pair have been on track together as teammates since a one-day test at Estoril that took place the day after the 2020 season ended.
Team HRC will also be present at the test as three of the five factory outfits take to the track as Alvaro Bautista and Leon Haslam enter their second year in the Honda project. Bautista secured the team’s only podium finish in 2020 but progress was there for all to see with both Bautista and Haslam fighting for consistent top five-finishes towards the end of the season; the pair finishing 2020 level on points.
WorldSBK stalwart Chaz Davies (Team GOELEVEN) will be at the test for the first time with his new team following his departure from Ducati. Having signed up with Team GOELEVEN, a team that claimed one victory in 2020 with Rinaldi, Davies will be looking to take GOELEVEN back to the top of the podium throughout 2021; that process starts with the Jerez test as he gets to work on track with his new team for the first time.
Three WorldSBK rookies will also be on track at Jerez as Loris Cresson (OUTDO Kawasaki TPR), Isaac Viñales (ORELAC Racing VerdNatura) and Tito Rabat (Barni Racing Team) all take to the track. While Cresson has competed in three WorldSBK races as well as numerous tests and Viñales tested at Jerez in November, Rabat will be taking to WorldSBK machinery for the first time on his Barni-run Ducati Panigale V4 R.
ORELAC Racing will have two bikes on track with Leonardo Taccini taking to the track onboard a Kawasaki ZX-6R as he prepares for his upcoming WorldSSP Challenge Cup season with the team. Taccini is stepping up to WorldSSP in 2021, for European races, after winning national championships as well as competing in the FIM Moto3™ Junior World Championship.
There will also be three MotoGP™ representatives on track at Jerez with Stefan Bradl, Maverick Viñales and Johann Zarco all testing across the two days at the Spanish circuit; meaning both Viñales cousins, Isaac and Maverick, will be on track at the same time.
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