MIE Racing Honda doubles up for final Portuguese WorldSBK round, Eric Granado joining Takumi Takahashi
The MIE Racing Honda team redoubles its efforts for the eighth and final round of the 2020 WorldSBK championship season, fielding Brazilian rider Eric Granado alongside Japanese rider Takumi Takahashi at the upcoming Estoril round.
Born in São Paulo, Brazil twenty-four years ago, Granado completed his second MotoE World Cup season last Sunday at Le Mans, France, scoring seventh place overall as well as a win in the opening race at Jerez de la Frontera. Despite his young age, the Brazilian has built up remarkable experience in the racing arena including World Championship seasons in Moto2 (2012) Moto3 (2013, 2014) and the FIM CEV Repsol, where he won the Moto2 European Championship title in 2017.
While Granado does have some experience of the Estoril Circuit, having raced and even won there during his CEV years, Takahashi has no prior experience of the Portuguese track but is nevertheless confident that he will be able to learn the layout swiftly. The pair are ready to work hard to achieve the best possible results aboard their CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP machines over the course of the weekend.
Located close to the coastal town of Estoril and about 30 km from capital Lisbon, the Circuit Estoril hasn’t featured on the WorldSBK calendar for many years, the championship having made just two visits, in 1988 and 1993. The track features four left-hand turns and nine right-handers as well as one of the longest straights, almost 1 km in length.
Track information:
Country: Portugal
Name: Circuito Estoril
Length: 4.182 km
Pole position: left
Corners: 4 left-hand, 9 right-hand
SBK RECORDS: n/a
1993 SBK RESULTS:
Race 1 – 1. Pirovano F., 2. Bontempi P., 3. Slight A.
Race 2 – 1. Fogarty C., 2. Russell S. 3. Pirovano F.
Private: Takumi Takahashi 13
“We will close the championship at what is another new track for me, but at least this time it will be the same for almost everyone else too. It looks a bit like an “old-style” track, definitely different from Catalunya or Le Mans which I had to learn from scratch as well. Hopefully, the weather will be a little more stable because I really want to try my best to finish the season with positive feeling and results.”
Private: WorldSBK – Eric Granado 51
“I want to thank Honda Brazil for giving me a chance to be one of few riders in the country to race in the Superbike World Championship. It will also be my first contact with the new CBR 1000RR-R Fireblade SP and I am very happy about this. I've already raced at Estoril, which is a good thing, and have actually won two European Moto2 rounds at the track. I know this is a high-level competition though, and I have no expectations when it comes to results. I will be a new rider who needs to adapt, racing a new bike, so it’s another big challenge in terms of my career. I hope this is going to be a weekend in which I can learn a lot and carry this experience forward.”
