World Superbike

Red Bull Honda WSBK head to the Lausitzring for two-day test

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Photo: Red Bull Honda WSBK

The Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team are heading to the Lausitzring in Germany to take part in a private two-day test.

With their only rider Stefan Bradl away in Japan for the prestigious Suzuka 8 HourMichele Magnoni will ride in his place and will be joined by former WSBK factory Ducati rider Davide Guigliano, who moved to the British Superbike Championship for the 2017 season with the Tyco BMW squad, only to part ways with them to “focus on injury recovery.

The team will use their test time to evaluate new parts for the struggling CBR1000RR Fireblade SP2 ahead of the ninth round of the World Superbike Championship, which returns after a brief break at the Lausitzring.

It is no secret that the new Fireblade has not performed as expected. Teams using the machinery – the Red Bull WSBK team and Honda Racing (British Superbike and Roads) have struggled to be as competitive as they were on old machinery. The British Superbike team of Dan Linfoot and Jason O’Halloran have only recently managed to tame the beast, with a handful of podiums between them.

But Red Bull WSBK’s team manager Ronald Ten Kate is hopeful that the upgrades they will be making during the two day test will help them move forward with the development of the bike. Speaking ahead of the test, he said:

“With the long break between Laguna Seca and the Lausitzring, we are working non-stop to keep improving the Fireblade and to be ready for the second half of the season. This test at the German track will give us the chance to try new upgrades for the package we already have and move forward with the development of the bike.”

He then added: “I want to thank both Michele Magnoni and our special test rider for this outing Davide Giugliano for their availability to join us. We are sure their contribution will be extremely beneficial for the team and for Stefan, who is now in Japan to race at the 8 Hour.”

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