WSB: Jerez Test: Jonathan Rea returns to the top on the final day of testing

Busy two-day test comes to an end at Circuito de Jerez Ángel Nieto with reigning World Champion back at the top of the charts.

The sun shone down on the final day of testing at the Spanish circuit of Jerez, where the WSB riders tested on the final day of the two-day long session.

With the temperature being warmer than Wednesday’s opening salvo, day two around Circuito de Jerez Ángel Nieto saw many riders improving and getting closer to each other on the timesheets. At the end of the day, the top ten riders were split by less than a second.

Facing some stiff competition from the Yamaha and Ducati rivals, reigning world champion Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) took to the track early and began working on small 2019 updates for his ZX-10RR. The four-time world champion ended the day at the top of the timesheets, thanks to a fastest lap time in 1’39.160.

Stunning with his consistency and overall pace during both the two days, Pata Yamaha’s Alex Lowes finished second quickest with a best of 1’39.372, completing 102 laps around the track.

Working on improving the acceleration of his bike and testing new parts for the YZF R1 machine, his teammate Michael van der Mark was seventh overall with a fastest lap time of 1’40.145.

Focusing on getting more comfortable on his new bike, Leon Haslam (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)had a positive two-day test, as he ended up 0.342s off his teammate to bag third fastest at the end of the test.

Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) brought his Ducati Panigale V4 R home for fourth fastest time – ending up 0.460s off Rea’s best. On the other side of the garage, Chaz Davies sat out on the opening hours of the day and took to the track later in the afternoon putting in only a few laps, closing the day out tenth overall. Still in some pain after a crash earlier on Wednesday, Davies opted to take it easy – aiming to be back to full strength for the next pre-season test which will be held at the end of this week in Portimao.  

Toprak Razgatlioglu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) continued to impress with his performance across the two days. The Turkish rider finished in fifth position, with a fastest lap time of 1’39.942.

Jerez Day Two Unofficial Times:

1. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) 1’39.160
2. Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) 1’39.372 +0.212
3. Leon Haslam (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) 1’39.502 +0.348
4. Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) 1’39.620 +0.460
5. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Turkish Puccetti Racing) 1’39.942 +0.782
6. Sandro Cortese (GRT Yamaha Team) 1’40.075 +0.915
7. Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) 1’40.145 +0.985
8. Marco Melandri (GRT Yamaha Team) 1’40.469 +1.309
9. Michael Ruben Rinaldi (BARNI Racing Team) 1’40.540 +1.380
10. Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) 1’40.621 +1.461
11. Leandro Mercado (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) 1’40.794 +1.634
12. Eugene Laverty (Team Goeleven) 1’40.879 +1.719
13. Jordi Torres (Team Pedercini Racing) 1’41.066 +1.906
14. Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) 1’41.206 +2.046
15. Markus Reiterberger (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) 1’41.231 +2.071
16. Alessandro Delbianco (Althea MIE Racing Team) 1’42.353 +3.192