The cover image shows Toprak Razgatlioglu and Jonathan Rea coming into pit lane together, aboard their respective Yamaha and Kawasaki. The Turk is perhaps ten or fifteen centimetres ahead of the Northern Irishman.  And The image is in fact representative of the current 2021 SBK standings, as number 54 leads the way with 183 points, the world champion chasing with 181. Just two points separate them, for an inertia that is currently with the Pata with Brixx rider, boosted after having beaten his Provec KRT rival on home turf at Donington.  On the contrary, it is Kawasaki that leads the way in the manufacturers&rsquo; standings. Akashi holds 191 points, Iwata 187. A close battle. Ducati is less productive than it has been in the past, third with 174 points. After the UK round, BMW has gained ground, while Honda is still further back. But how have these five manufacturers achieved their respective results?  The solidity of Akashi     The Kawasaki work method is tried and tested, with maximum focus on the factory team, one eye on the independent teams, and similar but not identical material for (almost) all the ZX-10RR bikes present on the grid.  The Ninjas of Rea, who crashed at Donington, and team-mate Alex Lowes are ultra-factory, we know this. We also know how many engineers the manufacturer has working on development. A significant number. Puccetti, Orelac and Pedercini work just fine, but they all have limited budgets.  Despite this, the teams headed up by Manuel, Calero and Lucio defend themselves well in the races. If you think they should be able to do more, it&rsquo;s true, but only in a different situation or condition. Or rather, if they were able to carry out more testing, consult the data collected by the factory teams, and/or spend more money. Impossible if not complicated.  The blue Yamaha wave     The strategy of the European Yamaha branch dictates that every R1 entered should benefit from dedicated Iwata treatment and specifications. But also in this case, the official bikes are&hellip; official, in the sense that they boast the latest evolutions approved by the test riders.  Pata with Brixx, GRT, Alstare. The riders are: Toprak Razgatlioglu, Andrea Locatelli, Garrett Gerloff, Kohta Nozane and Christophe Ponsson. A great line-up, complete and varied. On paper, perhaps better than that of rival Kawasaki. On paper.  While the &quot;weak&quot; link for the green manufacturer is Pedercini, for Yamaha it is Alstare that struggles to shine. The team has scored few points, for one reason or another. Despite this, improvements may come. At Donington we saw two Iwata men in the Alstare garage, which proves that the manufacturer also cares about its independent riders.  Ducati in difficulty (with respect to its usual standards)     And yet, its potential could be, or rather, is huge. Scott Redding and Michael Ruben Rinaldi race for the Aruba factory team, a squad on which every SBK rider would like a seat. A regular race winner in the past, Chaz Davies is with Go Eleven, holder of the independent title.  The young (at least in SBK terms) Motocorsa team fields an equally young Axel Bassani, who is often battling with and beating the factory guys. Excellent. While former Moto2 title winner Tito Rabat is with team Barni. Not great, if we consider the results.  Viewed as a whole and considering the previous achievements of teams and riders, the Ducati line-up should be leading the way, at least in terms of the constructor and team classifications. And yet that&rsquo;s not the case, Aruba third behind KRT and Pata, just as the reds lie third in the constructors&rsquo; standings.  BMW bounces back. In part     SMR Racing did very well at Donington and the critics said: &quot;About time!&quot; In effect, we do appear to be seeing a reawakening, but will it be definitive? Will the factory team continue to fight for the podium with Tom Sykes and Michael Van Der Mark?  Or will they find themselves sleep walking again? The Brit and the Dutchman lie seventh and eighth in the standings, while BMW is fourth. The common goal is to bounce back and perhaps get ahead of Ducati. But to do so, it needs the help of the other M1000 RR bikes.  Number 50 rider Eugene Laverty has done well so far with RC Corse. With limited testing and resources, the results are already coming, while we can&rsquo;t say the same of Bonovo Action, where Jonas Folger is struggling.  Honda, limited in numbers     The CBR RR-R Fireblade, or rather, the only bike that is still to score a podium in 2021. And it only achieved one such result in 2020, a sole third place finish with Alvaro Bautista at Arag&oacute;n. Very little, considering the weight of the HRC brand.  It&#39;s safe to say that the red, white and blue team is in the weeds. Leon Haslam&rsquo;s results at home track Donington are not enough. He needs to do more if he wants to continue racing. And there&rsquo;s another factor that has a negative bearing on the Japanese manufacturer&rsquo;s current position in the standings (Honda is in last place)...  MIE Moriwaki has competed in just one round so far. Tati Mercado will be back at Assen, OK, but it would be difficult if not impossible to do more. There are just two, or sometimes three, Tokyo four-cylinders on the grid. How can they compete against six Kawasakis, five Ducatis, five Yamahas and four BMWs?  Translated by Heather Watson  Razgatlioglu throws down the gauntlet at Donington, is he the anti-Rea? 

After four rounds, the green team has 14 points more than the &lsquo;blue coats&rsquo;. Ducati is third, BMW bounces back, Honda brings up the rear

SBK, battle of the manufacturers: the Kawasaki-Yamaha arm wrestle

We&rsquo;re only four rounds into the 2021 Superbike championship but we already have some clues as to how the season might continue. And if we ignore the standouts, which included title contender Toprak Razgatlioglu of course, those who are struggling right now clearly include Scott Redding, who faces what is the toughest moment of his Superbike career to date.  And the numbers speak for themselves. After the first four rounds of 2020, Redding&rsquo;s debut SBK season, Scott already had 179 points in the bag, the result of three wins and a total of nine podiums, which would still place him third in the championship right now, but just four points from the leader. Instead, during this 2021 season, he currently has 66 points to make up, having scored 62 less than this time last season thanks to two wins and just three podiums.  Wrong decisions and pressure   The hard facts come with their reasons of course. Scott started the season with the aim of stopping Jonathan Rea in what should have been the year of his consecration, following a rookie 2020 season in which he got to grips with the category. But these expectations have perhaps worked against the number 45 rider, who has already committed more mistakes than he did last year.  In addition to understandable mistakes on track (see Rea), like the Race 2 crash at Estoril while chasing the champion, or the Race 1 crash at a damp Donington, there have also been some errors in strategy, Scott&rsquo;s race twice having come to an end before it even began. We&rsquo;re talking about the Aragon and Donington Superpole Races, where an incorrect tyre choice saw him score just two points out of a possible 24.  Added to all this is a speed that doesn&rsquo;t seem to have podium potential, at least during the last two rounds. At Misano, Scott was left watching as Razgatlioglu, Rea and particularly Rinaldi broke away, while a fourth place finish in race 2 at his home track was not enough to turn a disappointing weekend around.  If we consider the causes, pressure may well be one, but there are at least two more. The first is technical, and has to do with the difficulties Scott is experiencing aboard the bike. The Englishman complains that his machine is worse than the 2020 version, or at least less easy and less inclined to forgive any mistakes, in contract to the improvement seen with his rivals&#39; bikes. The second factor has to do with morale, and can only have to do with Rinaldi. The Italian&rsquo;s presence and recent wins in Italy have taken some of the attention away from Redding, his role as captain perhaps in the balance.  And now?   At this point, just four rounds into a thirteen-round championship, the rider still has time to turn things around but there is a risk he is missing something else entirely. In recent races, Scott has looked to be slightly out of focus, perhaps due to the aforementioned pressure, with the subsequent errors that, for now, rule him out of the title fight almost entirely.  Needless to say that he needs to step it up a gear, mentally and also in terms of his results. This two-week break could help him to reset the mind and focus all his energies on his right wrist, with the aim of remaining a serious title contender. And then he needs to look to the future, but that&rsquo;s another story.  Translated by Heather Watson  Razgatlioglu throws down the gauntlet at Donington, is he the anti-Rea? 

Last weekend saw Scott score only a fourth-place finish, his podium drought continuing. Mistakes, both strategic and on track, are hurting him, but there&rsquo;s still time to turn things around

WorldSBK, air of crisis in Redding&rsquo;s garage: is a reset required?

        The Donington Park circuit will host the fourth SBK round, at a track at which the production-derived bikes, 500/MotoGP prototypes and Formula 1 cars have all written history. Might the 2021 chapter &ndash; in which Johnny Rea is again leading the way - take a turn in the UK? The British round can essentially be classed as the Northern Irishman&rsquo;s home event, the East Midlands circuit having proved happy hunting ground for him in 2019, when the number 1 rider scored a triple victory. Rea is the undisputed favourite then, Toprak Razgatlioglu his main rival. But two years ago there was no Redding, who was competing in BSB at the time. Expectations are high as far as Scott is concerned, for various reasons. The Aruba Ducati rider need to boost both his morale and his points tally, following a rather lacklustre outing at Misano Adriatico. While team-mate Michael Ruben Rinaldi won and reached the podium, the Englishman came under attack from his rivals. So while Rinaldi now faces a sort of acid test, Scott is essentially sitting his retakes. Scott&rsquo;s last shot at the title? We&rsquo;re not exaggerating. But...  Psychology is (almost) everything for a rider. With a quiet and determined mindset, a rider is keen to push even further. With this in mind, and considering the need to make up points with respect to his two main rivals - Rea on the Ninja, Razgatlioglu on the R1 - Redding must focus on the goal, which consists of winning at least (yes, at least) one of the three races. Preferably one worth 25 points. A Superpole Race win wouldn&rsquo;t be bad but it doesn&rsquo;t have the same significance, either symbolically or points-wise. And then he needs to see what his rivals will do. While Rino showed his stuff at Misano, the 2019 BSB champion now needs to do the same at Donington. Will number 45&rsquo;s season be decided in Derby? We don&rsquo;t want to exaggerate, but this is our impression. It&rsquo;s an important one no doubt, as the 28-year old fights for his present and his future with Ducati, well aware that talented youngsters are always keen to swoop in. Lowes, Davies and (why not) Sykes: the fans expect encouraging signs  Alex Lowes started 2021 with three podiums. Fantastic. But then the results dwindled, for one reason or another. And so Donington offers Lowes an opportunity to bounce back. After all, the track holds no secrets for him, the 2013 winner with Honda. We're sorry to say that Chaz Davies has disappointed so far. And we say this well aware of the Welshman&rsquo;s strength, speed and experience. If we factor in the solidity of team Go Eleven, it&rsquo;s fair to say that the team has scored too few points over the first three rounds. Donington is a first opportunity to buck this trend. And let&rsquo;s not forget Tom Sykes, the winner of many UK races. The 35-year old lives close to the track, one at which he scored his first win as a wildcard back in 2008, aboard a Suzuki. He went on to score four double wins with Kawasaki, while he&rsquo;s still missing that extra something with the BMW. Will he find it this weekend perhaps? Translated by Heather Watson WorldSBK, Rea: &ldquo;The Donington track is good for the Kawasaki&rdquo;       

At his home track, the Englishman "must" win at least one race in order to close the gap to Rea and Razgatlioglu. Acid test for Rinaldi, the results of Lowes, Davies and Sykes up for scrutiny &nbsp;

WorldSBK, Donington "last chance” for Scott Redding?

&ldquo;It&rsquo;s only Friday and it&rsquo;s only practice&rdquo;, comments Michael Ruben Rinaldi after topping the timesheets in FP2 and finishing first in the combined standings. The Ducati rider is pleased with his work today, during a round that could represent a turning point for him.  &quot;I&rsquo;m pleased, the season started badly. The problem is we were too confident going into round one and when things go badly, I run a horrible race&rdquo;, explains the rider. &ldquo;I headed into Estoril with a different strategy, working step by step and I came out pretty fast. Here I&rsquo;m adopting the same strategy, focusing on my work alone.&rdquo;  The Italian adds: &ldquo;This morning I was second but not happy because I couldn&rsquo;t ride as I wanted and was having to force it too much. If we don&rsquo;t change something, the race will be difficult because after six laps I was already struggling. The team did a great job coming up with a different option and I was very quick on used tyres. I set my fastest time on used tyres and it was an impressive lap, then I tested my race pace and was quite quick there too&rdquo;.  &ldquo;Scott, Toprak, Johnny and Lowes will be quick tomorrow&rdquo;   Rinaldi gives his predictions ahead of Superpole and race 1. &ldquo;If we look at the practice results, I&rsquo;m one of the fastest and can contend the win but they&rsquo;ll be many other fast guys tomorrow. Scott missed a session today but he&rsquo;ll be there, and the same goes for Toprak, Johnny and Lowes. We need to work because practice is one thing, but the races are a very different story&rdquo;.  &ldquo;Tests help you understand certain things&rdquo;   The Ducati rider talks about having Ducati Corse General Manager Gigi Dall&rsquo;Igna in the garage. &ldquo;Gigi doesn&rsquo;t come to our races often but he works hard back at the factory. He listens a lot, the move that changed things for me today was something he decided with my crew chief but he didn&rsquo;t say &lsquo;you need to do this&rsquo;, even if he&rsquo;s smart and has so much experience. I&rsquo;d like him here again tomorrow.&rdquo;  Talking about the work he&rsquo;s done during testing: &ldquo;We did a different kind of work, looking for a good set-up but that solution didn&rsquo;t work today. We also tried this at Aragon but once we got to the race the set-up wasn&rsquo;t the same as what we&#39;d used during testing. Today we arrived with a similar set-up to Aragon but conditions are different. Testing definitely helps you understand certain things.&rdquo;  &ldquo;If I&rsquo;m not in the mix for the title at the end of the year, I&rsquo;ll help Scott&rdquo;   Lastly, Rinaldi touches on the possibility of helping team-mate Redding. &ldquo;This is only round 3 and the championship is long. If I&rsquo;m not fighting for the title at the end of the year, I&rsquo;ll respect team orders. It&rsquo;s too soon to say whether I&rsquo;m out of the running, I&rsquo;m focusing on my own path&rdquo;.  Translated by Heather Watson  WorldSBK, Benvenuti at Misano: Imola prepares its 2022 return 

&ldquo;The season started badly&rdquo; says the Ducati rider after finishing FP2 in first place

WorldSBK Misano, Rinaldi: &ldquo;I used the same strategy as Estoril&rdquo;

        Danilo Petrucci is fourteenth in the 2021 MotoGP standings, level with Alex Rins on 23 points. But unlike the Spaniard, who&rsquo;s made too many mistakes while fighting at the front, the Italian hasn&rsquo;t been able to seriously contend the podium positions, something he was often able to do with Ducati. His move from the factory Desmosedici to the KTM managed by team Tech3 is proving rather tricky and the Italian is struggling to find the right set-up for his RC16, which means he&rsquo;s forced to play catch-up in the races. His performance doesn&rsquo;t reflect his potential, considering his experience and his wrist. The French team has also elected not to exercise the option to renew his contract, meaning that Petrux&rsquo;s future is still to be written. The SBK would welcome him (back) with open arms  Which MotoGP seats might be free for him in 2022? Without being harsh (in fact we think Danilo deserves the right chance, after his performance in Borgo Panigale colours), none. Offers from factory teams are not plausible, as they&rsquo;re all full up. There might be something on a satellite team, but would Petrucci accept such a ride? Or rather, might Aprilia still be open to talk? We hope so but, realistically, all doors currently look to be closed. But our sources tell us that number 9 is &lsquo;talking&rsquo; to, or is at least in the sights of, certain teams in the SBK paddock. And how good would it be to see Danilo Petrucci back in the paddock where it all began. He would clearly suit the environment, one he already knows from his Stock days. Davies and HRC, Haslam in Alstare and Petrux&hellip; has 3 options on the table  Let&rsquo;s start by saying that Leon Haslam wants a change. Confirmed by HRC in 2020, the Englishman would like to compete for Alstare, currently on track with the Yamaha and Frenchman Christophe Ponsson. Both parties are equally interested, for a return to the good old days, alla 2010 with Suzuki. Chaz Davies, strong at Estoril, less so at Arag&oacute;n, is talking to HRC. The Welshman believes he deserves a factory ride and the sliding door is moving for him. If this were true, Go Eleven would need to take action. Tito Rabat doesn&rsquo;t appear completely happy with Barni right now. Some sources put Petrucci in Ducati, in one of the aforementioned independent teams. Other sources see Danilo in Honda factory colours. Two different scenarios then. A rider like him could be very strong on the &lsquo;boorish&rsquo; V4 R, and if it&rsquo;s true that the Panigale is similar to the Desmosedici, even better. With the Fireblade, a bike everyone is struggling with right now, greater sensitivity is required. But the Japanese also have the funds with which to negotiate. Translated by Heather Watson SSP300: Isis Carre&ntilde;o to make history with wildcard entry at Misano       

Currently riding for Tech3 and KTM in MotoGP, the Italian is in the sights of both Ducati and HRC. Chaz Davies flirts with Honda, Leon Haslam talks to Alstare

SBK, paddock rumours: Danilo Petrucci is expected in 2022

        Even if Tito Rabat has not yet got a taste of the team Barni Panigale V4 R, we&rsquo;ve noticed a few interesting technical solutions on the red bike that the Spaniard will ride during the 2021 season. In the cover image you can see an all-Italian carbon creation. The company TK Dischi Freno has its base in Cislago, a small town in the province of Varese. The Mariani family is known for its talent and innovative spirit. Pietro describes the efficiency of the cover in question: "This is a solution adopted by many Moto2 teams - he explains - and it&rsquo;s proved very effective. As well as guaranteeing better aerodynamic flow and less vibration, the cover allows the water radiator to &ldquo;breathe&rdquo; better. It also protects the flywheel and relative sensors, so there are benefits in terms of data acquisition too&rdquo;.  The number 35 rider and his technical team have also worked on his riding position. The former Moto2 rider likes the seat, appreciates all the on-board instrumentation and has one specific request: &ldquo;I want a red bike, totally red. None of the Desmosedicis I raced were red. A Ducati should be red and I want that". Translated by Heather Watson WorldSBK, Redding&rsquo;s soft side: &ldquo;Jacey, you warm me up&rdquo;       

The firm TK Dischi Freno has created a carbon cover, that "fills" the front discs of the Barni V4 R, improving both air flow and radiator cooling

SBK, Rabat’s Ducati features aerodynamic brakes from... Moto2

It&rsquo;s the evening prior to the Superbike test and riders are ready to head out and start their preparation ahead of the 2021 season. But not everyone has bikes on their mind, and one man in particular is thinking of his girlfriend.  We see a different side to Scott Redding as he drops his hard man image and literally &lsquo;melts&rsquo; with romantic words to mark the birthday of his girlfriend, Jacey Hayden.  &ldquo;You warm the coldest days&rdquo;      &nbsp;   &nbsp;  &nbsp;    &nbsp;     Visualizza questo post su Instagram   &nbsp;    &nbsp;  &nbsp;  &nbsp;    &nbsp;  &nbsp;    &nbsp;  &nbsp;  &nbsp;     &nbsp;  &nbsp;   Un post condiviso da Reddingpower (@reddingpower)     The British rider has dedicated a post to Jacey, his girlfriend of more than a year: &ldquo;Happy birthday to the finest lady that walks this earth. When my days are hard you make them easy, when the days are cold you make them warm. When the days are dull you make them bright. Honestly your just amazing and your all moine&rdquo;, writes a romantic Scott.&nbsp;  Scott, it&rsquo;s time to go testing!   The Aruba Ducati rider returned from Los Angeles yesterday and has travelled to Jerez de la Frontera in time for testing, which will take place on Wednesday and Thursday. Perhaps, considering that he&rsquo;s far from his girlfriend on her special day, Scott wanted to reveal his softer side.  But the important thing is that, from tomorrow, he is fully focused on his other &lsquo;girl&rsquo;, or rather the red bike that awaits him in the Ducati garage.     &nbsp;   &nbsp;  &nbsp;    &nbsp;     Visualizza questo post su Instagram   &nbsp;    &nbsp;  &nbsp;  &nbsp;    &nbsp;  &nbsp;    &nbsp;  &nbsp;  &nbsp;     &nbsp;  &nbsp;   Un post condiviso da Aruba.it Racing - Ducati (@aruba.it_racing)     Translated by Heather Watson  Australian borders closed: MotoGP and SBK at risk 

Redding publishes a romantic post to mark his girlfriend&rsquo;s birthday. The Brit has travelled from Los Angeles to Spain for tomorrow&rsquo;s test

7 risultati per 'Ducati WorldSBK'

SBK, battle of the manufacturers: the Kawasaki-Yamaha arm wrestle

WorldSBK, air of crisis in Redding’s garage: is a reset required?

WorldSBK, Donington "last chance” for Scott Redding?

WorldSBK Misano, Rinaldi: “I used the same strategy as Estoril”

SBK, paddock rumours: Danilo Petrucci is expected in 2022

SBK, Rabat’s Ducati features aerodynamic brakes from... Moto2

WorldSBK, Redding’s soft side: “Jacey, you warm me up”