The Circuito San Juan Villicum will host its inaugural round of the World Superbike Championship, Round 12 of the 2018 season. As a new venue for the entire grid, the circuit presents a level playing field with no previous setup data for teams to work from.
Both Leon Camier and Jake Gagne are looking to build off their pace in France, where they improved on their CBR1000RR Fireblade SP2 machines each session.
Camier is expecting a busy weekend of setup work without any previous reference for riding at the track. The opening sessions will be crucial for understanding the direction for the remainder of the weekend. For Gagne, the Circuito San Juan Villicum offers a chance to learn with the rest of the field, rather than trying to catch up to years of previous experience.
Riders will get their first taste of the circuit on Thursday during the track walk, but Villicum looks set to present a sizeable challenge with its 19 corners and 1 kilometre long straight. The eight right hand corners and 11 lefts present a mix of fast and flowing corners, such as Turn 5, and tight technical sections as from Turn 13 to 16.
The twelfth round of the WorldSBK championship commences with Free Practice 1 at 0945 local time (GMT -3) on Friday. Race 1, the first ever race at Villicum, will begin at 1600 local time on Saturday, while Race 2 on Sunday starts at 1600.