        The first day of Superbike action at Barcelona saw Jonathan Rea among the frontrunners, the Northern Irish rider topping the timesheets in FP1 and finishing fourth in the afternoons&rsquo; FP2 aboard the Provec team&rsquo;s factory Kawasaki, albeit with a few more difficulties than he expected. &ldquo;Today there was less grip than we had during testing&rdquo;, notes the current world champion. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know why, but also during the second session, with rubber on the track, the bike was still sliding. I completed a long-run anyway to check the tyre wear and already have clear ideas about what to use for the race, seeing that the front feeling, usually the toughest aspect to sort at this track, is good&rdquo;. Rea: &ldquo;After Magny-Cours I received threats on social media&rdquo;  Rea spoke again about what happened at the last Magny-Cours round, where he obtained the win in the Superpole race after Razgatlioglu was penalised for putting his wheels on the green during the last lap: &ldquo;I read some strong comments from certain fans on social media which I didn&rsquo;t like, even some threats. I had to explain to my kids that sometimes you will disagree with certain people, despite being in the right&rdquo;. &ldquo;Both Toprak and I are professional riders and we know that, regardless of any advantage gained, if you run onto the green on the last lap you lose your position, so we did the right thing to report what happened. If we were competing in the Irish flat track championship, among friends, I might understand talk of a lack of sportsmanship, but we&rsquo;re fighting for a world championship here and I know I&rsquo;ve done nothing wrong&rdquo;, continues the number 1. &ldquo;People think that Toprak and I are enemies now, but that&rsquo;s not the case. We&rsquo;re just rivals and have an excellent relationship with each other, I respect him as both a rider and a person. It&rsquo;s not nice that people forget how, once the helmet comes off, we&rsquo;re human beings like anyone else&rdquo;, concludes Jonathan. Translated by Heather Watson WorldSSP300: season over for Vicente P&eacute;rez Selfa       

The Kawasaki rider speaks once more about the episode at the French round and the consequences it had: "The regulation is clear, but Toprak and I are fine

Catalan WorldSBK, Rea: “I didn’t do anything wrong at Magny-Cours”

        The Aruba Racing Ducati team is in good shape as it prepares for the SBK triple-header. Michael Ruben Rinaldi has been confirmed by the factory team, while Scott Redding will be leaving the ranks but wants to give it his all until the end, which means that the Brit still believes he&rsquo;s in with a shot at the title. And he&rsquo;s right, because Razgatlioglu and Rea might have a decent lead but they can still be caught. However, number 45 admits that he first has to get over the Montmel&oacute; &lsquo;hurdle&rsquo;: "If I have to be honest, Barcelona is not at the top of the list of my favorite circuits&rdquo;. He also thinks one factor will be key: &ldquo;I think the weather conditions could be a factor, especially if the temperature is extremely high, as we will have to deal with some long corners where we could struggle a bit. The goal, however, is to finish on the podium in any race. It won't be easy but I'll give it my best shot". Rino is strong at the Catalunya Circuit  While Scott doesn&rsquo;t particularly enjoy Montmel&oacute;, Michael Ruben quite likes it: "I can't wait to get on the bike on Friday morning on a track where I have been at ease in the past. I'm very determined: there's&nbsp;a strong will to be competitive again and&nbsp;to find&nbsp;the best feeling. I will do my best to fight for the podium in every race and to give satisfaction to the team". Translated by Heather Watson WorldSBK, Razgatlioglu: &ldquo;Barcelona tough in 2020, but now I'm strong everywhere&rdquo;       

Scott ahead of Montmel&oacute;: "Temperatures might be high, so we&rsquo;ll suffer through the long turns. But I want to give it my all&rdquo;. Rinaldi: "I&rsquo;ve always been at ease at the track"

WorldSBK, Redding: “Barcelona’s not one of my favourites, but I want the podium”

Johnny Rea says that it will be key to avoid any kind of mistake during the SBK triple-header and he has good reason, seeing as Toprak Razgatlioglu currently leads the way in the standings and wants to keep it that way until the very end. The Turk will only let up once he&rsquo;s secured the title trophy. Or maybe not even then.  In the meantime, the Pata Yamaha with Brixx ace needs to tackle the Barcelona &#39;test&#39;, a track at which number 54 struggled quite a bit in 2020, an injury ruling him out of the fight on the Sunday: &quot;Barcelona was not easy last year, but for me, everything is different this year. My team, the bike and everything works together very well, and even from the test at the start of this year, I feel stronger at every track&rdquo;.  Kenan Sofuoglu&rsquo;s pupil once again has clear ideas: &quot;I always say, I am not looking at the championship but I know every race I need good points. I only focus on the next session, the next race and try for the win. We will work and prepare with my team the best we can on Friday, to make a race simulation and find the set-up, then we will see&rdquo;.  Locatelli aims to do a good job   Andrea is solid and already mature. The Italian rookie has competed at the Catalunya Circuit on many occasions, in Moto3, Moto2 and with the 600: &quot;I have really good memories in Barcelona, because it was where we won the FIM Supersport World Championship last year! I know the track so well and we had a good test there at the start of the season, so I know already where the reference is for the superbike.&quot;  Loka knows it&rsquo;ll be a real battle, once again: &quot;It won&rsquo;t be easy because the top riders are very fast, but I think we will arrive in Barcelona a little bit more ready than before, and maybe we can stay closer to the front. We will see, and of course we will try for the maximum&quot;.  Translated by Heather Watson  WoldSBK, Razgatlioglu heads to Barcelona to conquer the Kawasaki fort 

Toprak leads the way, but heads to Montmel&oacute; without thinking about the championship: &ldquo;My team, the bike and me work well together. I&rsquo;m going for the win and as many points as possible&quot;. Locatelli: &quot;I&rsquo;ll be closer to the leaders, the test has helped&quot;

3 risultati per 'Catalan WorldSBK'

Catalan WorldSBK, Rea: “I didn’t do anything wrong at Magny-Cours”

WorldSBK, Redding: “Barcelona’s not one of my favourites, but I want the podium”

WorldSBK, Razgatlioglu: “Barcelona tough in 2020, but now I’m strong everywhere”