Honda's Alvaro Bautista and Leon Haslam go into this weekend's Donington WorldSBK round completely in the dark in terms of setup as neither has ridden the current bike at the track.

There was no British race last year due to the pandemic and England isn't at the top of anyone's list as a pre-season test venue, so the pair will have to use a ballpark on Friday - but it isn't like they don't know where to go after pitlane exit.

'Donington is a very nice track, one of my favourites when we went there with the 125cc and 250cc championships in fact. When I returned two years ago with the Superbike I found it more challenging due to the type of bike, but still very enjoyable," said Bautista.

"I especially like the mixed section of the track. I am also very happy to be back knowing that there will be fans in the grandstands because there is so much love and support for the sport and for Superbike here in the UK. As far as the set-up is concerned, we don't have any reference points for this track, so we'll start from a basic set-up and try to improve from there.

"In testing at Navarra we tried some electronic things that will probably help us in this race and let's hope the weather is good and we can work well all weekend, never a given in England. As a team, we are really keen to take steps forward and move closer to the front, so we look forward to Donington with optimism and a determination to do well.”

Haslam lives a gnat's from the track and has done a billion laps of the place - he is hoping to not literally hit the ground running.

“We didn’t race at Donington last year so it’s especially nice to be heading there again now. It’s my home circuit and so I’m really looking forward to it of course, particularly as we’ll have the support of some local fans.

"We completed a test after the Misano race weekend and they never stop working back in Japan, so we hope we can hit the ground running at Donington and fight for the kind of results we know we can achieve.”