WorldSBK 2021    Round 02

From Aragón, it’s straight to Estoril for Team HRC

Team HRC and factory riders Alvaro Bautista and Leon Haslam are ready for round two of the 2021 Superbike World Championship, which sees the squad travel directly on from Spain to Portugal, and the Estoril Circuit.

The opening championship round, which played out just a few days ago at Motorland Aragón, saw Bautista and Haslam score a best of seventh and eighth place respectively during the weekend’s races, results they think not reflecting their true pace and that they are keen to build upon during this second Portuguese event.

Last year saw Circuit Estoril play host to the final WorldSBK round, an event which marked the track’s first appearance on the production-derived calendar since 1993. Bautista and Haslam put in strong performances at the 2020 edition, both scoring a best of fifth in the weekend’s races. Considered a technical track, Estoril is 4182 metres in length and features a very long straight as well as four left-hand turns and nine right-handers. The circuit is located very close to the coastal town of Estoril and roughly 30 km from Lisbon.

As per the usual European race schedule, Team HRC will head out on track on Friday at 10.30 am for the weekend’s first free practice session. The weekend’s three races will run over Saturday and Sunday.

“We have good feeling after the Aragón round, and I don’t think our actual race results last weekend really reflect our current situation. We feel we’ve taken a step forward and have a good base on which to work and continue to improve this coming weekend. I’m feeling confident, also because we scored a top five result here at Estoril last year. So I think we can be competitive, at what is a different kind of track, more stop-and-go in layout compared to Aragón. Our aim is to work hard, just as we did last weekend, and bring home some strong results“

Alvaro Bautista #19