Xavi Vierge switched from the Moto2 World Championship to the World Superbike Championship in 2022, doing so right away with the Honda factory team. The journey hasn’t been easy, as the manufacturer is also trying to regroup to reach the desired performance as it has been happening in MotoGP.
In an interview with the website Motosan.es, the Spaniard explained that it was a significant change on several levels, from the team to the bike, highlighting the help the team gave him in that adaptation process:
– Ultimately it was a very big change, especially moving to a factory like Honda. The working method is very different, it’s amazing, a lot of people. Of course, the electronics were completely new to me, but the truth is that thanks to the team’s work, the adaptation was very quick, very good.
Despite having more experience now, the bike is below the competition, and Vierge admitted this drop in results: ‘It wasn’t an easy bike, but the truth is that in the first year the results were quite good and now it seems that we are not able to move forward. We are even doing worse in the third year than in our debut year‘.
The #97 also spoke about changes in routine to compete in WSBK: ‘In the gym I was able to start working with a bit more weight, since with these powerful bikes it’s not as important to weigh less. Then, it’s true that the championship is different, there are fewer races, so between each race we have more time and you can also approach training differently. I can do many more bike workouts during the season than before. […]. But, overall, I kept a very similar routine‘.
