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.
Weekend schedule Local Time (CEST -1):
Friday
10.30 – 11.15 – SBK Timed Practice 1
15.00 – 15.45 – SBK Timed Practice 2
Saturday
9.00 – 9.30 – SBK Free Practice
11.10 – 11.25 – Superpole
14.00 – SBK Race 1
Sunday
9.00 – 9.15 – SBK Warm-up
11.00 – SBK Superpole race
14.00 – SBK Race 2