A year later than originally planned,World Superbike returns to Hungary for the first time since 1990, competing for the very first time ever at the eagerly awaited Balaton Park circuit (HERE are the times to follow the Round on TV).
A milestone for the World Championship dedicated to production-derived machinery, which will celebrate race number 1000 in its history at the Superpole Race. But also a real leap in the dark for teams and riders, who arrive at the Hungarian track without any reference marks, having behind them only a test with road bikes in which the entire grid lineup did not even take part.
So many unknown factors and doubts to be resolved on the eve of this eighth round of the championship. Where reigning champion Toprak Razgatlioglu arrives on the back of eight victories in the last nine races, six of them consecutive, and as the new leader of the championship standings. With a four-point advantage over his direct opponent Nicolò Bulega and with a big desire to stretch his lead before the summer break.
On paper, the Stop & Go layout of the Balaton track, characterized by aggressive braking and lots of restarts, could in fact enhance precisely the qualities of the BMW rider. But the truth is that no one knows what to really expect from this Round, which represents a totally new challenge for everyone. In which, of course, there is also no shortage of critical issues. Such as some not very wide run-off areas and an asphalt still to be evaluated, after the degradation problems found by the riders during the tests and the resurfacing in some places.
Watch out for possible surprises
In Hungary anything could happen. Therefore, one should not underestimate possible outsiders such as Danilo Petrucci and Alvaro Bautista, in the middle of the fight for third place in the championship, with only 15 points between them. Just back from the podium conquered in front of his home crowd, Sam Lowes can only aspire to get into the fight at the top, as well as his twin brother Alex, ready to try to bring the Bimota back to the top positions, should he be declared fit to take part in the weekend after the ankle sprain suffered in the first race at Donington.
All eyes are also on the Yamahas of Andrea Locatelli and Jonathan Rea, and on the Kawasaki of Garrett Gerloff, the big surprise along with rookie Ryan Vickers from the last round in England. It will be a complicated weekend for the Hondas of Iker Lecuona and Xavi Vierge, who will instead be searching for a minimum of redemption as will Michael van der Mark, Axel Bassani and Andrea Iannone, who is aiming to turn this complicated season around decisively and return to fighting for the top positions as soon as possible.
In contrast, Scott Redding, who has migrated to BSB to finish the season defending the colors of the Hager PBM Ducati team, will no longer be part of the championship. Stepping onto the MGM team's Panigale will therefore be Tarran Mackenzie, making his return to WorldSBK after parting ways with the MIE team.