News

With two days of testing for the majority of the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship now completed at the Misano World Circuit “Marco Simoncelli”, there’s a chance to review the action for some teams and riders, including Team HRC duo Iker Lecuona and Xavi Vierge. The pair were testing different swingarms on their bikes as they look to take a step forward and Team Manager Leon Camier reviewed the test as well as explaining what the Japanese manufacturer wanted to bring with their two swingarms.

REVIEWING MISANO: lots learnt, lots to understand

Honda were represented at the test by regular riders Vierge and Lecuona as they looked to continue their forward progress this season. Vierge was the fastest of the two, setting his best time of the test on Day 2 when he posted a 1’34.034s which was just over a second slower than pacesetter Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati). Lecuona’s best time also came on Day 2 when he set a 1’34.602s while the pair racked up a combined 226 laps on their CBR1000RR-R machines across both days, despite rain interrupting running throughout Day 2.

Reflecting on the test, Camier said: “Overall, I think it’s been a productive test. On Xavi’s side, we understood some things and some new parts have helped him quite a lot. I think we need to also understand this at other circuits. In the past, we’ve tested here and it’s very easy to understand something here, but this track has very high grip levels and this can confuse at other circuits which have low grip. In general, our feeling is that we’ve made a step, we’ve understood where we can improve. On Iker’s side, it’s not been such an easy test. I think it’s a combination of a few reasons why but, in general, we need to go away and understand deeply why we’ve understood what we’ve understood. I think, for the next race weekend, we’ll probably start with some different parts and we’ll see how the path goes from there.”

NEW COMPONENTS: Vierge and Lecuona test swingarms with mixed results

One of the key talking points from the test was Honda bringing two new swingarms for Vierge and Lecuona to try. Lecuona tried both on Day 1 while Vierge was able to try one on Day 1 and one on Day 2 despite poor weather conditions. The pair gave their thoughts on the new swingarms on Thursday after track action while Leon Camier, speaking on Friday, gave an overview from Team HRC’s perspective as well as where they are trying to benefit from the new swingarms.

He said: “For Xavi, one was very positive, and we also saw in the lap times it went very well for him. It’s fixed some of the problems he’s been having which is positive. This circuit can lead you in wrong directions, so we need to understand deeply that it works at other circuits. On Iker’s side, it wasn’t so clear. The feeling was a little bit better, but the lap time wasn’t really different. We need to analyse this careful before we understand which direction to go. We have to improve the bike in all areas. This is clear. One of the main things for Xavi has been grip, also entry grip and turning. This is what we understand from one of these swingarms that we’ve been able to improve a little bit.”

Watch more WorldSBK action throughout 2023 using the WorldSBK VideoPass!