Team HRC and factory riders Alvaro Bautista and Leon Haslam are set for the final round of the 2020 Superbike World Championship, taking place at the Estoril circuit in Portugal this weekend. Owing to the Covid-19 pandemic, the calendar has featured just eight events in total, making for a unique yet very intense championship season.

Bautista and Haslam are keen to round out the season with positive results aboard their CBR1000RR-R FIREBLADE SP machines. Both have experience of the Estoril track, though not for a long time and not with the Superbike of course, the championship not having visited the circuit for many years.

The Circuit Estoril has featured on the WorldSBK calendar before, albeit many years ago, in both 1988 and 1993. A technical track, it presents four left-hand turns and nine right-handers, and also incorporates a very long straight almost 1 km in length. The circuit is located close to the coastal town of Estoril and not far from Lisbon.

The final free practice session of the 2020 season will get underway on Friday at 10.30am local time, while the two Superbike races and the Tissot Superpole race will play out over Saturday and Sunday.

Weekend schedule (CET -1):

Friday
10.30 – 11.20 – SBK Timed Practice 1
15.00 – 15.50 – SBK Timed Practice 2

Saturday
9.00 – 9.20 – SBK Free Practice
11.00 – 11.25 – Superpole
14.00 – SBK Race 1

Sunday
9.00 – 9.15 – SBK Warm-up
11.00 – SBK Superpole race
14.00 – SBK Race 2


Alvaro Bautista  19

“I haven’t been to Estoril for many years, but I definitely have good memories of the track as I won a few times there in my 125cc (2006) and 250cc days (2007, 2008). It’s a bit of a narrow track with some really hard braking points, so a stop-and-go layout, which is not easy. The weather is often windy and cold too. It will be interesting to see how the Superbikes go there and I’m looking forward to racing. Having said that, it’s a pity the championship is almost over because we are keen to keep working on the bike and developing it to further close the gap. We’ll do our best to further improve our performance at Estoril anyway.”

Leon Haslam  91

“I have very good memories of Estoril as I did a lot of testing there back in 2000 and 2001 and think I scored my first ever 250 result there eighteen years ago (seventh, 8 September 2002). A lot of time has passed so it’s basically like another new circuit for us, as well as another opportunity to try something with the bike. It will be a new track for many riders and so I’m looking forward to the challenge and returning to Portugal.”