It’s on to Barcelona for the MIE Racing Honda Team
The MIE Racing Honda Team and rider Leandro ‘Tati’ Mercado have arrived in Spain, where the Circuit de Barcelona- Catalunya will host round nine of the 2021 Superbike World Championship this coming weekend.
Both team and rider are looking to improve on their recent results and performance, the last round at Magny-Cours having proved challenging for the squad. Mercado is at a bit of disadvantage heading into this particular round, considering his fate at the 2020 edition, which proved very unlucky for the Argentinian rider. It was the Superbikes first visit to this Spanish track, but Tati unfortunately never really got started, crashing in the first practice session and sustaining an injury to his right wrist that would rule him out of the rest of the event. The Argentinian rider is nevertheless optimistic ahead of this weekend’s event.
The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya has served as the stage for many F1 and MotoGP events since its conception in 1991. Resurfaced in 2018, the fast and flowing track measures 4627 metres in length and features fourteen turns, eight of which are right-handers and six left.
Track information:
Country: Spain
Name: Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya
Length: 4.627 km
Corners: 6 left-hand, 8 right-hand
SBK RECORDS: Best lap – Bautista (Honda) 1’41.828 (2020). Superpole – Rea (Kawasaki) 1’41.619 (2020).
2020 SBK RESULTS:
Race 1 – 1. Rea (Kawasaki); 2. Redding (Ducati); 3. Davies (Ducati).
Superpole Race – 1. Van der Mark (Yamaha); 2. Rea (Kawasaki); 3. Baz (Yamaha).
Race 2 – 1. Davies (Ducati); 2. Van der Mark (Yamaha); 3. Gerloff (Yamaha).
Private: Leandro Mercado 36
"I am very happy and eager to race at Barcelona, a track that I like but where unfortunately I was unable to race last year after getting hurt on the Friday. So I’m really looking forward to it, also because it marks the first stage of an important phase of the championship, with three back-to-back rounds. Barcelona, Jerez and Portimão are all tracks that I really like, and obviously the aim will be to continue to improve across all three events. Considering that we were not able to make the step we were looking for during the last French round, we want to start strong at Barcelona, completing solid practice sessions and preparing well for the races, in which we want to continue to try and close the gap to the front group.”
