Although there are still two months to go before the championship really gets underway, the British Superbikes are ready to head out on track during the Test Tour, or rather pre-season testing that will take place at four different tracks between 28 April and 8 June.

The first leg of the Tour, on 28 and 29 April, will be at Silverstone, around its National layout, which is shorter than the GP track and features a hairpin after Maggotts that leads directly onto Wellington Straight, for a lap time of less than a minute.

Brookes the man to beat

Those to watch include current champion Josh Brookes aboard the Ducati Panigale V4-R of team VisionTrack PBM Racing, as well as his team-mate Christian Iddon and McAms Yamaha riders O'Halloran and Mackenzie, always quick around Silverstone, but there are many other reasons to follow these initial tests, particularly in light of the many team changes and new arrivals.

From a technical standpoint, the new BMW M1000RR and Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10RR are bound to attract attention, while in terms of riders, Xavi Forés returns to BSB from the world championship, riding the BMW for the FHO Racing team, while 2020 Supersport champion Rory Skinner will debut with the new Akashi supersport bike, and 2015 Moto3 champion Danny Kent will line up with Buildbase Suzuki.

Honda ready to shine

One of the manufacturers that is bound to be under the spotlight is Honda which, having stood out during its debut year and just missing out on the title with Glenn Irwin, will field four riders this season. While Irwin and Dan Linfoot are well-known BSB faces (riding for the Tag Racing team which was presented today), the same cannot be said for the other Honda Racing UK riders, or rather Japanese duo Ryo Mizuno and Takumi Takahashi.

Arriving from All Japan Superbike and WorldSBK respectively, the two Japanese riders will finally have a chance to get to grips with the British tracks and, particularly, with the bike in its BSB configuration, so without electronic aids.

After the two-day Silverstone test, the Test Tour will take in Snetterton, Oulton Park and Donington National, which will also be open to the public.

Translated by Heather Watson

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