The MIE Racing Honda Team and its rider Leandro Mercado now prepares for round seven of the 2021 Superbike World Championship, which is set to play out at what is another new track for the series, the Circuito de Navarra in Northern Spain.

Having been forced to sit out round six after testing positive for Covid-19, the Argentinian, who has now tested negative to all the requested examinations, is raring to get back to work and continue along the positive growth path seen at the fifth Assen round. During the latest event at the Most Circuit, another track that SBK teams hadn’t visited before, Alessandro Delbianco stood in for Mercado but, after making a solid start to the weekend, it appeared luck was not on the young Italian’s side, the rider unfortunately unable to complete any of the weekend’s three races. With its permanent rider Leandro now back on board, the team is highly motivated to keep working in the right direction and improve both its race pace and overall performance.

The Spanish circuit of Navarra was opened in 2010 and has staged various car and cycling events over the years. Located in the northern Navarre region of Spain, the track measures 3.933 km in length which makes it the shortest of the circuits currently on the WorldSBK calendar.

Track information:

Country: Spain

Name: Circuito de Navarra

Length: 3.993 km

Pole position: left

Corners: 9 right-hand, 6 left-hand

SBK RECORDS: new circuit

2020 SBK RESULTS: new circuit

Private: Leandro Mercado 36

"It's been a hectic and tough few days, but here we are finally, everything is in place, all the tests I’ve done have come back negative and I will be in the paddock at Navarra tomorrow. I can't wait to get back on my bike and I'm very happy. It's going to be a challenging weekend because I don't know the track, I've never ridden there, and I've had a bit of a tough time in the last few days. But I'm really looking forward to seeing everybody again, working with my team and having fun with my Honda. We're going to give it our all and hopefully have a good weekend on the upswing."