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If you yourself are Spanish then maybe you don ’ t realise that the Spain of 2021 features racetracks in numbers and variety that cannot be imagined in other countries . And we mean racetracks . Built-as-such-venues , ground-up designed to be racetracks , not converted airfields or public roads that morphed into short circuits . Racetracks where safety and amenity as well as on-track drama was taken into account before a single excavator arrived on site . Jerez , if you pardon the pun , was a groundbreaker when it opened at first in 1985 , and has a had no real layout modifications to its mix of natural and man-made design touches . With a modern suite of pit garages , purpose made and really quite contemporary touches all over , and for its time a large paddock area , Jerez was naturally adopted by the MotoGP™ Spaniards as a must-do very quickly after it opened . For the MotoGP™ weekend Jerez soon became the maddest race on the calendar , imprinting itself into the memory by the atmosphere generated by fans who had to get into the track very early in the morning just to get a place to sit inside the natural hillside amphitheatre formed by Turn 9 ( Angel Nieto ) and Turn 10 ( Peluqui ). The track itself is quite heavily right-handed , features no gigantic straights and a final hairpin corner that has been the scene of so many dramas in all race classes it is almost impossible to remember them all . WorldSBK has had a few stand-out moments at this final corner . Rea and Lowes colliding was one ( when they were not team-mates , of course ). Eugene Laverty riding around the outside of Marco Melandri was another . I am sure you have your own list ready at the front of your personal memory vault in terms of Turn 13 - Lorenzo corner , as it is so called now . Used once by WorldSBK in its nascent form in 1990 Jerez came back onto the WorldSBK calendar when Dorna became the rights holders , for the 2013 season . With more undulations than meet the eye Jerez is a great testing track , and is used as such all year , given another great asset this venue has compared to some others . It is so far south in Spain it is on the limits of Europe itself , making the name Jerez de La Frontera very apt . A clear view of Africa is just an hour away . This is another element in why Jerez is so often used as a test track , as well as a race venue . The first time I ever remember going there was a far an IRTA test , way back in the 1990s . I cannot be alone in going there for tests before going there to witness a full race . Jerez , not sitting on its laurels , once again re-invented itself for the requirements of the modern bike racing age by revamping much of its paddock buildings and other facilities in 2002 s to keep up with modern standards and the growth in interest of MotoGP™ . WorldSBK therefore arrived at a circuit in 2013 that is a mix of classic late 20th century Spanish circuit design and facilities so modern they include a spaceship . Yes , that UFO over the startline was an addition
MotoGP may always be the bigger thing for Spanish fans but WorldSBK has found a niche in Jerez .
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