Round nine of the World SBK Championship takes place at the German circuit of Lausitzring, meaning it will hold great significance for Stefan Bradl (Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team), who returns to his home circuit for the first time with WorldSBK.
Continuing to search for a strong set-up on his new Honda Fireblade SP2, the German rider is motivated into the second half of the season and what better way that in front of his home crowd. Excited to ride around the circuit and to see how his pace is with his Superbike, the 27 year old hopes to get a good amount of track time in, as he notes many rivals have a head start following a summer test in Germany.
“I’m looking forward to my home race of the season and to return to action after the summer break,” begins Bradl. “It’s going to be important for me to do well in front of the German crowd – the home round always gives local riders extra motivation – and it will be interesting to see how we will perform here at Lausitzring.”
“I can’t say I know the track too well: I have raced there two or three times but it was long time ago, so I’m curious to see how this track will be with a big bike. I hope I can adapt quite quickly because the other top riders have tested here recently, so they will have a head start. There will be a lot of work to do but I hope we’ll have a good race weekend.”
Joining Bradl will be Davide Giugliano (Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team), who makes his return to the WorldSBK paddock for 2017. Following a test around the 4.225km back in July, the Italian will already have a basic set-up in mind for this round, with an understanding of the challenging track.
Giugliano notes how he will take on this weekend: “This is my first World Superbike race of the season so of course there are some things I need to adjust back to. The most important thing for the round is to work well with the team and have a step-by-step approach with the bike, in order to keep improving in each and every session.”
“The track is a unique one and hopefully the weather will be on our side, but in any case I’m really looking forward to getting started!”