Catalunya WorldSBK 2022 pre-season test results
Gordon Ritchie | March 28, 2022
An almost “total” private test session took place in Barcelona on March 25 and 26, with the Catalan site finally set to host the eighth round of the WorldSBK Championship at the end of September.
2021 Champion and new WorldSBK superstar Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team) led the combined times with a 1:40.571, set in the first half of day two. The afternoon rains effectively ended track action for the more than 20 WorldSBK riders who joined a handful of Ducati WorldSSP riders.
Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati), back on a V4 R with which he won 16 races in a single Ducati season in 2019, was the second fastest overall, thanks to a time of 1: 40,824 achieved on Friday.
Iker Lecuona (HRC Honda) was the fastest of the two new HRC signings in 2022, finishing third on a heavily modified Honda Fireblade tech set in WorldSBK trim.
Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) finished fourth in a test originally organized by his KRT team. Like HRC, KRT has its WorldSBK racing base in Barcelona.
Texan Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha) finished fifth overall and even led a session in Catalonia. Like all Yamaha riders, he had updated electronics and new components on his R1. Catalonia was the scene of its first WorldSBK podium, in 2020.
Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) placed the second factory Ducati in the top six, but in seventh place overall was new BMW rider Scott Redding (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team). His new teammate Michael van der Mark missed the test after breaking his right leg in a cycling training accident.
Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team) completed the top eight, having recovered well from all his 2021 injuries, and like many drivers missed one last chance for a fast lap when the rains came just after. noon on the last day.
Independent rider Lucas Mahias (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) finished ninth overall and second HRC Honda official Xavi Vierge (HRC Honda) completed the top 10. The new Honda rider then suffered a heavy crash, fracturing a rib.
Privateer rookie Philipp Öttl (Team GoEleven Ducati) finished 11th, Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team) 12th, Eugene Laverty (Bonovo Action BMW) 13th and Kohta Nozane (GRT Yamaha) 14th. MotoAmerica rider of the 2021 season Loris Baz (Bonovo Action BMW) finished 15th, one place ahead of Ilya Mikhalchik, who replaced the injured van der Mark in this test.
Former MotoGP rider Hafizh Syahrin Bin Abdullah (MIE Racing Honda Team) got his first taste of the WorldSBK machines when he finished 20th.NC
Catalunya WorldSBK pre-season test results
- Toprak Razgatlioglu (yam)
- Alvaro Bautista (Duke)
- Iker Lecuona (honored)
- Jonathan Rea (Kaw)
- Garrett Gerloff (yam)