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With a two-day test at MotorLand Aragon resuming MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship action after a well-deserved break, team managers at the four factory teams heading to Spain have revealed what they will be testing at the Spanish circuit. From preparing for the upcoming Aragon Round to looking at the future, there’s plenty to keep an eye on during the test which takes place on Tuesday and Wednesday this week.

“WE NEED TO WORK ON THE SETUP OF THE BIKE” – Ducati looking to refine their package

Ducati, particularly with Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati), have been the team and manufacturer to beat in 2023. The reigning Champion has 18 wins to his name already and will be looking to add to that as he goes in search of a second consecutive title, while teammate Michael Ruben Rinaldi will be looking to finish the campaign on a high. The outing gives Ducati a chance to refine their package after having two 250-rpm reductions on the Panigale V4 R this season.

Explaining Ducati’s plan, Team Manager Serafino Foti said: “We reserved the track because it’s our track. Some other teams are coming. We need to work on the setup of the bike, because after the rpm was reduced, we need to adjust some things. We’ll work on this. As I said, we will be stronger than at the beginning of the season.”

“TRYING TO MAKE STEPS FOR THE FUTURE” – one eye on the present, one on the future for Kawasaki

Kawasaki have one win to their name in 2023 and will be looking to end the campaign on a high to give them a springboard into 2024. Their test programme is split across four riders, with Florian Marino and Adrian Huertas on track on Tuesday and Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) and Alex Lowes riding on Wednesday. For the Japanese manufacturer, the test is a chance to focus on the end of 2023 while also looking ahead to 2024.

Discussing the team’s plan, Team Manager Guim Roda said: “It’s a middle of the year test, so it’s important as we’ll need to test many things during the year to confirm the direction of the past, whether we were right or not. At the same time, trying to make steps for the future to understand how we improve the package. It’s important and we’ll try to extract the maximum.”

“WE’LL HAVE SOME PARTS TO TEST AT ARAGON” – Honda aiming for improvements

Xavi Vierge (Team HRC) scored Honda’s sole podium of 2023 and that came in the second round of the season. This campaign has proven challenging for both Vierge and teammate Iker Lecuona, and Aragon will give the duo a chance to reset, try new items and, potentially, take a step forward. There will be new items for Honda to try on the CBR1000RR-R machine during the two days which, like Kawasaki, will be conducted with an eye to the future.

Team Manager Leon Camier explained: "We’ll have some parts to test at Aragon that will hopefully be used at the end of the year. So, let’s see what happens; when Japan brings the parts, hopefully we make progress, and we’ll go from there. It’s important that we make a step from there until the end of the year. Also, we know that these tracks that we’ve been at haven’t been ideal for us, they’re weak tracks for us at the minute. We have to take this into consideration, but we need to be fast at every track, it’s as simple as that.

“The parts that we bring now will determine what we bring for 2024. Each thing we bring, it changes again what we need from other parts of the bike. Each area of the bike, we need to improve, we’re working on this, and we understand this but it’s one step at a time; you can’t just put three things on a bike and expect it to work.”

“WE HOPE TO COME OUT OF THE BREAK WITH NEW GOODIES” – where will BMW be looking for gains?

BMW introduced a new M1000RR model for 2023 but results, so far, have been hard to come by. Their best result is fourth thanks to Scott Redding (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) on two occasions, while it’s been another injury-hit campaign for teammate Michael van der Mark. The M1000RR has become a regular contender in the top ten and the German manufacturer will be hoping the Aragon test provides a platform to secure podiums this season as well as into the future.

Expanding on their Aragon programme, BMW Motorrad Motorsport Director Marc Bongers said: “You can’t leave one stone unturned. You have to develop in every single area, so chassis, engine, electronics, aerodynamics… parts are very limited due to the regulations. We have gained super concessions so we hope to come out of the summer break with new goodies in terms of chassis, which will hopefully make the next step.”

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