Jonathan Rea hits front on final day of Jerez WorldSBK test

Jonathan Rea gets back on track at a drier Jerez and immediately hits the top of the WorldSBK testing timesheets for Kawasaki

Jonathan Rea - Kawasaki Racing Team
Jonathan Rea - Kawasaki Racing Team

Having opted to sit out the first day of WorldSBK testing at Jerez due to the dicey conditions, Jonathan Rea reasserted himself on a drier second day in typically formidable style by topping the timesheets for Kawasaki.

The Ulsterman chose to play it safe by sitting out Wednesday's session as inclement weather prevented the Spanish venue from improving beyond damp conditions, but was back on course today during a brief dry spell to resume his familiar spot at the head of the timesheets.

Indeed, despite completing only 19 laps over the two days, Rea was the only rider to dip below 1m 41s with a 1m 40.983secs effort – just over two seconds adrift of his own lap record.

He was run relatively close by Yamaha’s Toprak Razgatlioglu, the Turk leading the way early on before slipping two tenths adrift of his former Kawasaki stablemate, while Scott Redding made it a trio of different manufacturers inside the top three with a solid run to third best.

Alex Lowes turned in the fourth quickest time despite a fall, ahead of former team-mate Michael van der Mark, while Leon Haslam stretched the new Honda’s ‘legs’ in dry conditions to go sixth best, albeit 1.8secs down on Rea.

Loris Baz followed up in seventh, ahead of Alvaro Bautista on the second of the Hondas, while GoEleven Ducati’s Michael Ruben Rinaldi and GRT Yamaha’s Federico Caricasulo completed the top ten.

Tom Sykes led the BMW challenge down in 11th with new team-mate Eugene Laverty in 18th position of the 19 Superbike runners.

The WorldSBK teams will now turn attention to the final European pre-season test at Portimao before heading out to Australia in February for official testing and the opening round at Phillip Island (Feb 28-Mar 1)

Toprak Razgatlioglu - Yamaha WorldSBK
Toprak Razgatlioglu - Yamaha WorldSBK

2020 WorldSBK Jerez Test – Day 2/2

2020 WorldSBK Jerez Test [Day 2/2 - 22 January]
PosDriverNatTeamModelTime
1Jonathan ReaGBRKawasaki Racing TeamKawasaki ZX-10RR1m 40.983
2Toprak RazgatliogluTURPata Yamaha WorldSBKYamaha YZF-R11m 41.214
3Scott ReddingGBRAruba.it Racing DucatiDucati Panigale V4 R1m 41.407
4Alex LowesGBRKawasaki Racing TeamKawasaki ZX-10RR1m 41.642
5Michael van der MarkNEDPata Yamaha WorldSBKYamaha YZF-R11m 42.707
6Leon HaslamGBRTeam HRCHonda CBR1000RR-R1m 42.797
7Loris BazFRATen Kate RacingYamaha YZF-R11m 43.384
8Alvaro BautistaESPTeam HRCHonda CBR1000RR-R1m 43.579
9Michael Ruben RinaldiITATeam GOELEVENDucati Panigale V4 R1m 43.789
10Federico CaricasuloITAGRT Junior WorldSBKYamaha YZF-R11m 43.811
11Tom SykesGBRBMW Motorrad WorldSBKBMW S1000RR1m 44.014
12Maximilian ScheibCHIOrelac Racing VerdnaturaKawasaki ZX-10RR1m 44.153
13Garrett GerloffUSAGRT Junior WorldSBKYamaha YZF-R11m 44.214
14Sandro CorteseGERBarni RacingDucati Panigale V4 R1m 44.258
15Chaz DaviesGBRAruba.it Racing DucatiDucati Panigale V4 R1m 44.276
16Sylvain BarrierFRABrixx PerformanceDucati Panigale V4 R1m 44.322
17Leandro MercadoARGMotocorsa RacingDucati Panigale V4 R1m 44.451
18Eugene LavertyIRLBMW Motorrad WorldSBKBMW S1000RR1m 44.543
19Christophe PonssonFRANuova M2 RacingAprilia RSV41m 47.056

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