2023 Author: Nicholas Abramson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-21 14:58
The break since the first Superbike race at Phillip Island has seemed endless, because almost a month has passed since the Superbike season began and we have only been able to see two races, but two races, one with a photo finish and victory by León Haslam and the other with a reborn Carlos Checa on the Ducati of Team Althea. With that business card we planted ourselves at the Portimao circuit, in Portugal, where we all hope that Carlos Checa confirms his rebirth, that the young promises continue to do well and that finally in Aprilia and especially in BMW they will find that set-up. that allows them to be fighting in the leading group.
In what seems to be a Superbike World Championship with resounding rebirths, we first find the Alstare Suzuki team, which with a Suzuki GSX-R 1000 renewed has found in the British rider León Haslam the trigger that they lacked in recent seasons. Jonathan Rea, has also come to revolutionize the Honda Ten Kate to see if they are able to go back to the times of pre-season training in Portimao itself.
At Yamaha this year the factory riders Cal Crutchlow and James Toseland have failed to tame the Yamaha r1 champion of last year in the hands of Ben Spies, while for the members of the Kawasaki team it looks even worse as Chirs Vermeulen arrives touched after the knee injury that occurred in Phillip Island.
At BMW they are still looking for the horses lost in the preseason as well as trying to forget the disastrous weekend that Rubén Xaus experienced with his falls at Phillip Island. Rubén has been training on his own at the Circuit de Catalunya I imagine to regain the confidence that he might have lost in Australia. Above he still has the sword of many interested parties who ask for his head, although I am sure that in Portimao we will see a Rubén Xaus competitive like the most.
In Aprilia it also seems that they are going through a small performance bump, although Max Biaggi long ago showed that he was capable of the best (and the worst) with just a click of his head. At his side, rookie León Camier will continue to learn about the Aprilia RSV4.
But the ones who are really expected to give their heart is from the different Ducati riders. On one side are Michel Fabrizio and Noriyuki Haga, whom we all hope will lead the championship again like last season. Like Carlos Checa, who with his latest statements seems that this season is going for it all:
If we manage to see the races live on some “normal” television coverage, we will be able to find ourselves with a song in the teeth, although in Moto22 we will be very attentive to be able to offer you summaries and comments on the highlights of the Superbike races of this weekend of week. The races are scheduled at 12 noon and 3.30 pm (local time) and can be followed live via Eurosport, or not, who knows.
The Ten Kate team truck photo has been taken Javy murphy in a stop they made to refuel near Salamanca (what a turn to go to Portugal) That in our country not a fly is overlooked if it has stickers of a competition team. Thanks to Javy for sharing it with us.