There's great anticipation for the two test days scheduled in Jerez on Wednesday, January 22nd and Thursday, January 23rd, which will represent the first encounter of 2025 for the World Superbike teams and riders. However, as we all know, the reigning Champion, Toprak Razgatlioglu, won't be there because he had fractured the index finger of his right hand during training.
But the BMW rider won't be the only one forced to give up this first collective test session of the new year. Iker Lecuona will also be absent. In fact, Honda announced today that Xavi Vierge will be the only one of its official riders to take to the track in Andalusia, since Lecuona is still recovering from his injury from two weeks ago during training.
Even if the Spanish rider's injury isn't serious (a cracked rib and minor bruises), the HRC team has decided to let him rest as a precautionary measure, hoping that he can return for the start of the next test session, which will be held on Tuesday, January 28th and Wednesday, January 29th in Portimão.
Vierge's will, in any case, not be the only CBR1000RR-R lined up by Honda for the test sessions in Spain and Portugal, where test rider Tetsuta Nagashima will also be present.