The long Superbike break is over and this weekend we return to action for the first of the European rounds. Having left Australia a month ago now, the production-derived paddock begins its tour of the old continent and leaves again from Barcelona, where the second round of the season will be held.
At Montmelo, two days of testing have already taken place last week, dominated by Nicolò Bulega, who at the Barcelona round presents himself as the man to beat, having won on his debut and shown great competitiveness aboard the Aruba team's Ducati . However, the championship leader is Alex Lowes, who performed well at Phillip Island and hopes to be able to continue along this line in order to confirm the good sensations aboard the Kawasaki, which in recent years has shown itself to be in more difficulty.
Instead, he will be forced to chase Alvaro Bautista: the reigning world champion has had a complicated start to the season, characterized by a winter struggling with his recovery from the November test injury and a technical regulation that penalizes him due to ballast . Everything has been rescheduled, therefore, to be able to defend the title and aim for the third consecutive title. It won't be easy, because even the tests in Barcelona went below expectations, however the Spaniard is ready to put Ducati back in front of everyone in his home round.
Alex Lowes, Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK, Alvaro Bautista, Aruba.It Racing – Ducati
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Bautista will have to contend with tough opponents, including Toprak Razgatlioglu. Having appeared in form with the BMW, the Turk put the Barcelona tests behind him with a positive result and now goes into the second round of the season with what it takes to “annoy” Bulega, who last week seemed unbeatable. The BMW standard bearer really seems to be the only one capable of worrying the Ducati rookie, but beware of outsiders.
Jonathan Rea is slowly gaining confidence with the Yamaha and will aim to improve in Barcelona after the disappointment at Phillip Island. His teammate Andrea Locatelli, however, seemed in better shape, also thanks to his greater experience on the R1, and will aim to confirm himself. We will also need to keep an eye on Andrea Iannone, who has done well in his start to his career in Superbike and will try to replicate the good results on Catalan soil too.
The Barcelona round of the Superbike World Championship will be broadcast entirely on Sky Sport. However, due to the coincidence with the MotoGP in Portugal, the series derivatives will be able to be seen on Sky Sport Arena (channel 204) on Fridays and on Sky Sport Max (channel 205) on Saturdays and Sundays.
Sky Sport TV times (Arena and Max)
Friday 22 March (Sky Sport Arena)
10.20am-11.05am – WorldSBK FP1
11.20am-12.00pm – WorldSSP FP
3.00pm-3.45pm – WorldSBK FP2
16:00-16:40 – WorldSSP Superpole
Saturday 23 March (Sky Sport Max)
11:00-11:15 – WorldSBK Superpole
2.00pm WorldSBK Race 1
3.15pm – WorldSSP Race 2
Sunday 24 March (Sky Sport Max)
11:00 – WorldSBK Superpole Race
2.00pm – WorldSBK Race 2
3.15pm – WorldSBK Race 2
TV8 TV times
Saturday 23 March
5.45pm – WorldSBK Race 1 (delayed)
Sunday 24 March
11:00 – Superpole Race (live)
4.15pm – WorldSBK Race 2 (delayed)
#SBK #Sky #TV8 #times #Barcelona
