New Honda debuts atop timesheets as 2020 WorldSBK kicks off

Leon Haslam gave the new Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade a headline-grabbing debut by topping the timesheets on the opening day of WorldSBK testing in Jerez, held in predominantly wet conditions.

With rain delaying proceedings initially, riders eventually ventured out in the latter half of the morning, with the best lap times coming at the start of the afternoon as wet conditions eventually got to a more favourable damp state.

However, rain returned later in the day to scupper any hopes of further improvements, leaving Haslam at the head of the leaderboard with a 1m 52.149secs – around 14secs off the Jerez lap record.

While the conditions ultimately prevent too much from being read into the lap times, Haslam was nonetheless competitive in all weather out of the box as the CBR1000RR-R cut an eye-catching figure out on track. By contrast, team-mate Alvaro Bautista took a tumble early on at turn six, necessitating a lengthy stay in the pit box en route to tenth fastest.

Michael van der Mark and rookie Garrett Gerloff ran Haslam close in second and third, the Yamaha pair 0.031 and 0.064s adrift of the top spot, while Scott Redding and Loris Baz in fourth and fifth were the busiest on track notching up 47 and 50 laps respectively.

Tom Sykes finished the day sixth quickest for BMW, ahead of the sole participating Kawasaki Racing Team rider Alex Lowes after defending champion Jonathan Rea opted to sit things out in the dicey conditions.

New Yamaha signing Toprak Razgatlioglu was another rider to fall – bringing out one of the day’s four red flags – but recovered to eighth, ahead of Federico Caricasulo and Bautista.

2020 WorldSBK Testing Results – Jerez [Day 1/2]