The MIE Racing Honda Team gears up for Estoril

The MIE Racing Honda Team prepares for round three of the 2022 Superbike World Championship, which will see its riders Leandro ‘Tati’ Mercado and Hafizh Syahrin compete at the Circuito do Estoril in Portugal.

The team has continued to work hard back at base since round two came to a close almost one month ago, while Mercado and Syahrin have focused on their physical training so as to be in top shape for this third championship event. While both riders made good inroads at the Aragón season opener, the second Assen round saw Argentinian rider Leandro score his first championship point of the season. He and team-mate Hafizh are now keen to build on this progress as they strive to consistently finish inside the points zone.

The Estoril Circuit is 4.182 km long and features four left-hand turns and nine right-handers, as well as a very long straight. Located very close to the coastal town of Estoril, the track is not far from capital city Lisbon.

Leandro Mercado

“I’ve only been to Estoril once, in 2020, so we don’t have any references for the set-up of the bike and I don’t have much experience of the track, but we are coming off a weekend where we made some progress with the bike, so we’ll try to study the data gathered in Assen to continue on this path in Portugal. The track is a bit old-fashioned, it has some very fast sectors but also a very slow part so, as always in these cases, we need a compromise and a very balanced set-up.”

Hafizh Syahrin 

“Estoril will be a completely new track for me as a rider and of course a first time with this bike so I need to stay focused and work harder than ever. For now, we are far from the top and even from the middle, which is current target. We know this but remain highly motivated and keen to improve. We should have some updates for Portugal, some new things to try, so let’s see if we will be able to make a step up and challenge for better results.”

Track information:

Country: Portugal
Name: Circuito Estoril
Length: 4.182 km
Pole position: left

Corners: 4 left-hand, 9 right-hand

SBK RECORDS: Best lap – Razgatlioglu (Yamaha) 1’36.594 (2020). Superpole – Rea (Kawasaki) 1’35.876 (2021).

2021 SBK RESULTS:

Race 1 – 1. Redding (Ducati); 2. Razgatlioglu (Yamaha); 2. Rea (Kawasaki)

Superpole race – 1. Rea (Kawasaki); 2. Razgatlioglu (Yamaha); 3. Redding (Ducati)

Race 2 – 1. Rea (Kawasaki); 2. Davies (Ducati); 3. Razgatlioglu (Yamaha)