Source: Supplied.

The Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team has confirmed Davide Giugliano and Takumi Takahashi will return to contest this weekend’s penultimate round of the Motul FIM World Superbike Championship (WorldSBK) in Spain, as team regular Stefan Bradl continues to recover from a wrist injury.

Giugliano is eager to return to action after his positive weekend at Magny-Cours a fortnight ago, where the 27-year-old Italian rider performed well in front of the French crowd, while improving his feeling with the bike.

The fast and flowing nature of the Jerez circuit suits Giugliano’s riding style like no other track on the calendar, so the former STK1000 champion is looking forward to getting started.

“We get to Jerez after the positive weekend at Magny-Cours, where we worked hard and well to improve the package,” said Giugliano. “I think we are heading in the right direction, so now I’m looking forward to Jerez, which is among my favourite tracks and one where I’ve always been competitive. I hope I will be able to put my speed to good use in order to keep improving the bike and have fun out there.”

Takahashi will be back on board the WorldSBK-spec version of the Fireblade after his debut at Portimao last month where he scored his first world championship points.

Unlike the Portuguese event, however, the Japanese rider will approach this event not only with some experience of the bike and Pirelli tyres but also with previous knowledge of the track, which will be a massive help for the three-time Suzuka 8-Hour winner.

“I have tested with MotoGP at Jerez before so I already know the track,” Takahashi explained. “Which is without a doubt a massive help heading into my second-ever WorldSBK round. Last time out at Portimao I got to know this version of the Fireblade and started to understand the behaviour of Pirelli tyres, so now I’m looking forward to getting back on track. The team works really hard and their support is great, so I’ll be giving my very best and hopefully we will get a good result together.”