A strong first showing for Team HRC in the opening WorldSBK race of 2022

2022-04-10 14:35
Team HRC has competed in today’s opening race of the 2022 Superbike World Championship at the Motorland Aragón circuit in Spain, with factory riders Iker Lecuona and Xavi Vierge, both rookies in the production-derived series, crossing the line a strong sixth and seventh in their debut WorldSBK race.

Having made a few final adjustments during the morning’s final practice session, the two Team HRC riders then got their first taste of the Superbike qualifying phase, the all-important Superpole. With just 15 minutes in which to secure the best possible grid position, Lecuona and Vierge did their best to exploit the limited track time and, by the end of the brief phase, had set a best of 1’49.329 and 1’49.655 respectively. This meant that they qualified on the third and fifth row of the grid respectively, in seventh and thirteenth position.

The lights went out on the first race of the 2022 season at 2pm CET. Lecuona made a very strong start and was straight up to fifth through the first turns. Vierge made a similarly rapid start, making up five places through the first corners to place eighth at the end of lap one. Losing just a little ground in the opening stages, Lecuona maintained a strong pace and sixth place throughout the central part of the race, just ahead of his team-mate Vierge, who dealt with the pain and fatigue caused by recent injury to defend an impressive seventh place. The Team HRC pairing ran a consistent race from there on in, holding sixth and seventh all the way to the line to score solid points in their first official WorldSBK outing with the CBR1000RR-R FIREBLADES.

The Team HRC riders will now prepare for tomorrow’s action, with the Tissot Superpole race taking place at 11am CET followed by the second and final Superbike race at 2pm CET.





Iker Lecuona 7
P6

“I’m really very happy, as we’ve made a very good start in Superbike today. The first target was to complete a consistent race and then, of course, to score as strong a result as possible. I didn’t know what to expect in this morning’s qualifying, as it was totally new for me with these tyres, but it went very well, honestly. I lapped alone and finished seventh, not a bad position at all. Then in the race I didn’t expect P6 to be honest, but I made a very good start and was able to overtake a couple of guys in the first corner, so I immediately realised I had good pace. At a certain point, I lost the leading group but throughout the race my team-mate and I were able to gain a few seconds on those chasing us. We must continue to work and improve of course, but the bike has strong potential. It’s also great to be racing at home and have the fans back here supporting us. Feeling this support is fantastic. Tomorrow we have another great opportunity, so we’ll analyse today’s data and see what we can do in the next two races.”

Iker Lecuona




Xavi Vierge 97
P7

“I’m really happy because we started this weekend having no idea whether we could finish the race. I broke a rib in testing at Barcelona only a couple of weeks ago and so to finish this first race, and with a good result too, represents a great start for us. I struggled a lot this morning to be honest and then in the race, I just focused on staying calm and trying to ride smoothly in order to reach the line. So this is important, because I’ve understood how to go fast without overdoing things physically speaking. Now we’ll check the data and see if we can take another small step tomorrow. Everything is new for me with the Honda of course, but we’ve improved with each exit and, step by step, I’m learning how to exploit the bike’s potential, so I’m very pleased. I want to thank my physiotherapist for helping me get here today and my team for supporting me in every way.”

Xavi Vierge




Superpole
Pos. Rider Num Nation Team Time/Gap
1 Razgatlioglu Toprak 1 TUR PATA YAMAHA with BRIXX WorldSBK 1'48.267
2 Bautista Alvaro 19 SPA ARUBA Racing - Ducati 1'48.273 / 0.006
3 Rea Jonathan 65 GBR Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK 1'48.476 / 0.209
4 Rinaldi Michael Ruben 21 ITA ARUBA Racing - Ducati 1'48.755 / 0.488
5 Lowes Alex 22 GBR Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK 1'48.986 / 0.719
6 Locatelli Andrea 55 ITA PATA YAMAHA with BRIXX WorldSBK 1'48.998 / 0.731

Source: HRC

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