News

For Dominique Aegerter, the first of two days of testing at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya was all about making up for lost testing recently.

The test on Thursday and Friday at the beautiful race track just outside Barcelona came in very handy for all participants in the FIM Superbike World Championship. Firstly, to shorten the almost one month-long break between the season opener in Australia and the first race weekend in Europe in a week's time, and secondly, this test is the ideal preparation for the second stop of the series this year.

Dominique Aegerter has continued to work on his fitness over the last few weeks after being hit by a viral infection at the end of January. At the start of testing in Barcelona, he first had to check his physical condition and then, above all, work through an intense schedule that he and his crew were unable to complete during winter testing in Jerez de la Frontera and Portimao at the end of January due to illness. The 33-year-old Yamaha rider finished a busy Thursday in 17th place on the timesheets.

The test will continue Friday when the track is open again from 10:00 to 18:00. Link to Live Timing.

#77 Dominique AEGERTER (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team, Yamaha YZF R1)

"I am glad that I was able to get back on my race bike today because I need more kilometres to be more ready for the next rounds. We had a few weeks break after the season opener, during which I got my physical condition back up to scratch. The test here in Barcelona started with a stressful first day as we had a lot of things to test. There were some electronic parts, tyres and set-up work on the agenda, as well as some new parts Yamaha has brought. Towards the end of the day the temperatures were not so warm, so it was a bit difficult to push for a lap time though, in our first runs we were not too far off from the fastest riders. But in the afternoon, we lost a bit with regard to the gap. But tomorrow is a new day and hopefully we can improve. However, the most important thing is to find a good base set-up for all conditions for the race weekend here in a week's time."

Thursday Practice Times at WorldSBK Test Barcelona:
1 Nicolo BULEGA / ITA / Aruba.it Racing - Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4R / 1´40.304
2 Toprak RAZGATLIOGLU / TUR / ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team / BMW M 1000 RR / 1´40.768 +0.464
3 Alvaro BAUTISTA / SPA / Aruba.it Racing - Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4R / 1´41.029 +0.725
17 #77 Dominique AEGERTER / SWI / GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team / Yamaha YZF R1 / 1´42.272 +1.968