Isaac Vinales and Motoxracing were a surprise addition to the 2022 WorldSBK grid, after the teaꦇm had n🥂ever competed in the premier class before. 

And while a new♚ team joining the top flight of world championship racing is nothing new, Motoxracing and Vinales have not been present at any of the five pre-season tests so far. 

Again, that’s not a total shock as most tests that have already taken place were privately-run events by full 🔯factory teams, meaning those whꦅo are considered towards the bottom end of the financial spectrum have been missing. 

However, a big worry for Vinales and Motoxracing is the fact he’s missing from today’s openingဣ day of WorldSBK testing at Barcelona, one of two crucial pre-season tests before the 202𒅌2 season gets underway at MotorLand Aragon on April 8-10. 

In fact, Hafizh Syahrin and Leandro Mercado (MIE Honda Racing), Loris Cresson (Pedercini Kawasaki) and Oliver Konig (Orelac Verdnatura) are all making their first pre-season appearances, again highlighting the importan🐻ce of the two-day Barcelona test. 

It instead turns out that Vinales is 🥃seeking options elsewhere. 

What those ‘options’ look like is still unclear, howeverဣ, if Vinales and Motoxracing do not take part in the 2022 season - considered very unlikely due to financial reasons - then the cousin of MotoGP rider Maverick Vinales will not be competing in WorldSBK, that much is known. 

In terms of on-track action at the t⛦wo-day Barcelona WorldSBK test, GRT Yamaha rider Garrett Gerloff has looked in tremendous fo๊rm yet again. 

The American topped the morning session by just over a tenth from current w꧂orld champion Toprak Razgatlioglu, while Aruba.it Ducati rider Alvaro Bautista was third quickest. A full report will follow at the end of today’s running.