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On Monday and Tuesday this week, Dominique Aegerter and his Ten Kate Racing team got to know the Circuito de Navarra in the northwest of Spain.

The circuit about 45 kilometres in the south of Pamplona has been a new entry to the calendar of FIM Supersport World Championship at short notice. Built in 2010, the complex has hosted the FIM CEV series, at that time still the Spanish Championship, several times in the years after then. More recently, Navarra was mostly a venue for car and truck races.

As part of the FIM Superbike Word Championship, WorldSSP will hold its inaugural race at the Circuito de Navarra on the weekend of August 22nd. For this reason, some WorldSBK teams and Dominique Aegerter's Ten Kate Racing Team made a detour there over the past two days, primarily to get to know the circuit. Aegerter and his ambitious crew from the Dutch outfit were not content with that, however. They also worked assiduously on improvements to the overall package.

#77 Dominique AEGERTER (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha, Yamaha YZF R6):

"First of all, a big thank you to the team for taking the long journey for this test. Navarra was completely new territory for urs until then. So, it was important to have been at this track before the race in mid-August. We have worked incredibly hard over the past two days. We did about 190 laps in total. But it were unbelievably valuable laps and kilometres, as we were able to gather a lot of useful data. The weather was a bit changeable. It was raining once for a short while and sometimes it was a bit windy. But mostly the conditions were good. So, the past two days at the Circuito de Navarra have been very productive."

"The track itself is a bit peculiar. I have never used first gear anywhere as often as to do so at Navarra. I do not think that is normal for a circuit that hosts a world championship race. In addition, the surface is very bumpy. That requires full concentration and good track knowledges to know the most critical places. This applies above all to the sections when braking for corners. The layout is quite different from other tracks I am used to. Navarra is very demanding for both the body and the bike. The bumpy asphalt certainly demands a lot of physical efforts. Apart from that, we were able to make some good progress with the bike again over these two days. We worked a lot with the suspension and the gear ratio and dealt with different tyre options. Beyond that, I also worked on my riding position."

"All in all, it was an incredibly positive test that helped us in many ways. But the most important thing was to collect data with a view to the race there and we did that successfully. During the summer break, two more tests are planned at the circuits of Most and Magny-Cours, which are still unknown to us yet. Before that, though, I will be preparing for my MotoE event this weekend at Assen."

Vorläufiger Supersport WM-Kalender 2021:
 23. Mai - MotorLand Aragón, Spanien
30. Mai - Circuito do Estoril, Portugal
 13. Juni - Misano World Circuit, Italien
 25. Juli - TT Circuit Assen, Niederlande
8. August - Autodrom Most, Tschechien
 22. August - Circuito de Navarra, Spanien
 05. September - Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours, Frankreich
 19. September - Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Spanien
 26. September - Circuito de Jerez-Ángel Nieto, Spanien
 3. Oktober - Autodromo Internacional do Algarve, Portugal
 17. Oktober - Circuito San Juan Villicum, Argentinien
 14. November - Mandalika International Street Circuit, Indonesien
 Ohne Datum - Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit, Australien