The World Superbike (WSBK) and World Supersport championships move to Spain’s Motorland Aragon circuit this Sunday for round two of the season, and local interest focuses on Sheridan Morais and Mathew Scholtz in the latter class.
Former South African Superbike champion Morais is riding for the front-running PTR Honda team in 2013 after switching from Kawasaki last year, and will be hoping for a better outing this weekend after failing to finish the opening round at Phillip Island in Australia in February.
Scholtz fared better at Phillip Island and scored two points by taking 14th place on a Suriano Suzuki.
For this Sunday’s first round of the Superstock 1000 class, a supporting category that runs with selected rounds of the WSBK championship, reigning South African Superbike champion Greg Gildenhuys will be riding a GoldBet BMW while his compatriot David McFadden is aboard a Honda fielded by the Ten Kate Junior Team.
In the premier WSBK class, the Aprilia team goes into this weekend’s Spanish round on a high after dominating the Phillip Island season-opener on February 24.
Aprilia team mates Sylvain Guintoli and Eugene Laverty took first and second in both races – just with the order reversed – and now lie joint first in the championship with 45 points apiece.
Michel Fabrizio on a third Aprilia scored third and fourth places in Australia and it was only Marco Melandri, who took third place in race two on his BMW, who prevented a podium clean sweep for the Italian motorcycle manufacturer.
Kawasaki’s Tom Sykes, who narrowly lost the 2012 championship to Max Biaggi (who has now retired), will be looking to get his title challenge properly underway after scoring two fifth places at the Phillip Island season-opener.