Next year, BMW and Honda will once again have additional testing days with their official riders in the Superbike World Championship. Each manufacturer will have six more days compared to the ten stipulated in the general regulations.
According to SPEEDWEEK.com, both manufacturers will enjoy 16 testing days throughout the upcoming year, utilizing the super concessions. The special limit was introduced because these concessions couldn’t be fully utilized within the maximum number of tests previously stipulated.
Despite having their regular riders, BMW will also rely on two experienced test riders, Bradley Smith and Sylvain Guintoli. Meanwhile, Honda will utilize Tetsuta Nagashima in these roles.
Scott Redding, set to compete for Bonovo Action BMW, explained to the aforementioned site: ‘Normally, the test riders don’t take the bike to where it’s close to the final step. […]. The final step is only made by regular riders; we have to try out the components during our testing days and figure them out. Let me give you an example: if there are five new wings, then we should only have two to choose from. The test rider has to make the selection. This is precisely what happens when a top team brings a new swingarm’.