The Honda WorldSBK Team has arrived at Jerez de la Frontera, where this weekend the Spanish Round of the FIM Superbike World Championship takes place. Nicky Hayden and Michael van der Mark are eager to get back up to speed on board their Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP machines in what will be the penultimate round of the season, the last one to be held on European soil

Despite an early debut back in the series in 1990, the ‘Circuito de Jerez’ did not return to WorldSBK until 2013, but since then it has been a permanent fixture on the series calendar. Measuring 4.423km, the track is a great mix between fast-flowing interconnected corners and slow, hard-braking hairpins: therefore, riding precision and good set-up are crucial to set competitive lap-times on this track.

Two years ago, Michael van der Mark sealed a well deserved World Supersport title at Jerez at the end of one of the most hectic races in the history of the series. Last year, the 23-year-old Dutch rider took third place in race one at the Andalusian venue. Nicky Hayden has so far climbed twice on the Jerez podium: he was third in 2006 and in 2011, when he scored the last rostrum finish of his MotoGP career.


Nicky Hayden 69  

Jerez is really a great track, I like it a lot and I hope we can be really competitive there. There are some fast and flowing corners that should suit our bike well. We definitely have to work to maximise the electronics and gearing in some of the slow corners, but overall it should be a different experience to Magny-Cours. I definitely won’t have to learn the track during the first session and I’m also getting back on the same bike I used in the last race. Hopefully, all this will allow me to get up to speed and to do a better job than I did in France. I can’t wait to get started!

Michael van der Mark 60

I am looking forward to Jerez. We left Magny-Cours with another podium and a good number of points, which helped us consolidate fourth place in the championship. It’s not over yet, so we need to continue this way. Last year we got on the podium and two years ago I won the Championship here, so this track has always been very kind to me. We tested at Jerez during the winter so we know what to expect; hopefully we can improve the bike a bit more in order to be closer to the front and fight for the top 3.

Pieter Breddels  - Technical Manager

Michael was very competitive last year in Jerez and he did well both at Lausitzring and Magny-Cours, so things are definitely looking good for him and we hope he can continue to battle for the podium. Nicky knows this track very well and we have been testing during the winter, so I see no reason why he cannot be up there battling for honours. We feel we are ready for the new challenge on a track that suits our bike very well. Then, on Monday we will have a one-day official test that will be useful to try a couple of things with an eye to the future.