WSBK – WSBK 2017 tests: Rea already takes the lead in Jerez – Pre-owned KAWASAKI

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WSBK 2017 tests: Rea already takes the lead in Jerez

WSBK - WSBK 2017 tests: Rea already takes the lead in Jerez - Pre-owned KAWASAKI

The winter break ended this week for the World Superbike: the main teams for the 2017 season met on Tuesday and Wednesday at the Jerez circuit to stretch the connecting rods of their motorcycles, the legs of their riders and the keys to their mechanics. Declarations and times.

With the exception of MV Agusta who will join his rivals this weekend on the sumptuous track of Portimao in Portugal, all the constructors of the WSBK met on Tuesday and Wednesday on the circuit of Jerez, in the southern tip of Spain. , to prepare for the coming season…

Kawasaki, Ducati, Honda, BMW, Yamaha and Aprilia – in order of – have dispatched their best teams, registered for this 30th edition of the Superbike World Championship (the 13th season on Site!) Which will begin in just one month , at Phillip Island in Australia.

To read the statements of the pilots (published below), these first tests of the new year 2017 went wonderfully well. Everyone still has to work on the settings of their mounts and polish their own physique, but morale is high.

The World Superbike candidates’ primaries

The times on the other hand (see at the end of the article), give a better indication of the level of each one. It is ultimately without much surprise the double world champion Jonathan Rea who took the head of his thirteen comrades the timesheet for the two days.

Lorenzo Savadori’s second place is more astonishing: the young Aprilia factory rider took advantage of a qualifying tire to fit between the ruthless "JR" and his second at Kawasaki, Tom Sykes. FYI, the two Ninjas are still on racing tires…

This first outing was also the occasion for Nicky Hayden and Stefan Bradl to baptize their, for Marco Melandri to precede his teammate Chaz Davies, for Eugene Laverty and Randy Krummenacher to telescope at the end of the straight line – fortunately without too many injuries….

Here is the story of their adventures !

Pilot statements

Jonathan Rea, ZX-10R # 1:
"It’s good to have such a great time at this time of year, but it’s just a test and I’ve never been the best guy on a lap. We still got to do a lot. fast laps in those winter testing, and we found some settings that worked well. The grip level in this test was a bit lower than in November, but we were able to be consistent. With the different character off the track we were able to evaluate different shocks. Showa worked so hard I’m really impressed. I found my form on the bike not great as it had been weeks since I had been riding my race bike. I can’t wait to take part in the next tests to complete many laps. I need more kilometers to feel like last season "

Lorenzo Savadori, RSV4 n ° 32:
“It was a good day for me. We did a lot of laps, which was really important. We tried a few things in terms of set-up and tires, and I was able to put in a quick lap and finish. second. The track was cold so it didn’t always work that well with the tires, but the bike worked well and we learned a lot. We still have a lot of work to do to get to the top of the standings, but the ‘The team is working well and it’s great for me to do some real testing. I hope to learn a lot more in Portimao. I will work hard to make good progress before I start the season at Phillip Island. ".

Tom Sykes, ZX-10R # 66:
"I’m quite satisfied, although I had pain in my neck all day when I was on the bike following my fall. It took a little bit off for me, but we still did a lot on the bike. bike, tested a lot of different setups. Jerez is not my best track but thanks to Marcel, Danilo and all the guys we ended the day really well. I think all the information we gathered today are going to allow us to be strong. We have been able to make real progress. We are still struggling in some areas, but we will continue to work. I think we cover enough laps and distance in practice to build a bigger set. solid for Phillip Island and the first test ".

Marco Melandri, 1199 Panigale n ° 33:
"This test was very positive. I expected more difficulties after my meniscus surgery, but on the contrary, I felt very good. The team does a great job and every day I feel more comfortable. on the bike. We continue to struggle a bit with the new tires. It is also because of the cold, because it is more difficult to warm them up, but we are in the right direction. I would have liked to do a simulation race, but we will wait for the test in Portimao, as I had some blisters on my hands after the winter break. Physically I feel good, I have fully recovered and I am sure I will be in 100% shape for Phillip Island. "

Chaz Davies, 1199 Panigale n ° 7:
"Overall this first test was ok. It’s still a bit physically tiring because we’re getting back on the bike for the first time after two months, but we’re slowly getting back to the right one. direction. Ducati brought a lot of stuff and we tested the main items on this list, but we still have work to do in Portimao. We have been getting faster and faster, even with a combination of different setups. what a test serves: following a program slowly but steadily to take on new challenges. If I were to race tomorrow, we would probably use more familiar settings, but we’ll focus on pushing our limits before heading to Australia ".

Nicky Hayden, CBR1000RR # 69:
“These two test days in Jerez have been useful, and we were lucky to have the weather on our side in the afternoon. The team did a great job getting the bikes up and getting them here, despite the little time they had to prepare them. The first day was almost a baptism and by the afternoon we were able to set some decent lap times. Today we tried to work more on the performance of the bike, set our window of fire and a bit of direction to aim. We have taken a few steps, but it is obvious that we are still behind our competition at the moment. There is still a lot of work to do and time to catch up: using the qualifying tire, the time we did put us higher than we really are. Overall we found a few bright spots today: we worked a lot to find more grip and the bike rolled san s no problem. The team has a little time to analyze the data before Portimao ".

Alex Lowes, YZF-R1 # 22:
“The team worked really hard. The bike is quite different from our last test in November and I feel really good. Some of the main changes are in the riding position as well as some changes that you can’t see like the electronics that I feel more comfortable with. I felt really good from the first laps. Coming out of the pit lane feeling good on the bike is obviously a big advantage. I wish I had a little more confidence in the acceleration out of curves. I feel that this is still an area where I can improve, so we will work on this subject

".

Xavi Fores, 1199 Panigale n ° 12:
"These two days have been important and have allowed us to cover many kilometers. We are not yet 100% because we are trying several new parts and we still need more time to work. The goal of the next test in Portimao is to progress, and I am convinced that by working in the right direction we can achieve this goal. I am very pleased with the way we have worked here in Jerez and I am happy to find my motorbike again ".

Stefan Bradl, CBR1000RR # 6:
“This being the first test with the new bike, we expected it to be tough. Overall though, it wasn’t that bad! Compared to yesterday, we found today ‘ hui important improvements. We still have to work a little on the exits of the curves to find more grip and speed. Obviously, we did not have enough time to react massively on the bike, we are just proceeding small not to try to figure out the new Fireblade. Overall these two days of testing were positive as the weather kept us spinning constantly on the track. Despite some logical start-up issues it was not too bad. We will continue our work in just two days in Portimao ".

Michael van den Mark, YZF-R1 # 60:
“I didn’t know what to expect. Watching the bike on the track, I always noticed that the handling was really good. Compared to the other bike the handling is a big improvement for me and the bike is really good. stable. I just need to be able to change my style. The R1 doesn’t really like being pushed to its limits. I need to be more flexible and that’s one of the things I need to change. ".

Randy Krummenacher, ZX-10R n ° 88:
“The collision was on the straight, I was behind him (Laverty) very close and for some reason he slowed down and I had no chance to avoid him. It was a big crash and I I was lucky. I just have a scar on my leg. It’s unlucky, but I’m glad there was nothing more. The test went really great. The team and I understand each other very well. I’m learning the riding style. We’re really on the right track and I think we have more potential than what we showed today ".

Jordi Torres, S1000RR n ° 81:
“The most important thing right now is to adapt my bike to my riding style and vice versa. We tried different settings to understand how the machine works in different situations. We also tested the Fortis swingarm a lot, and we have different settings to try, but we haven’t made any tangible progress yet. Fortunately, the pain from my fall is muscular, nothing is fractured. It’s time for me to rest! "

Eugene Laverty, RSV4 # 50: :
“I was unlucky today: I was hit from behind on entering the first corner and I couldn’t do anything. The bike got stuck under the barriers, but the damage did not occur. ‘weren’t too big. It’s been a tough day because of the dribbling at the start of the curve: and I have to struggle a lot to keep the bike stable. It helps to find these types of problems early so that you can work on them, and we have some plans in place to fix them. I will be in good shape again for the Portimao test: I’m stunned but we have to keep working hard, working on the problems we encountered in Jerez ".

First WSBK 2017 tests in Jerez

Chronos 2nd day:

  1. Jonathan Rea – Kawasaki Racing Team: 1 ‘39.809
  2. Lorenzo Savadori – Milwaukee Aprilia Team: 1 ‘39.920
  3. Tom Sykes – Kawasaki Racing Team: 1 ‘40.219
  4. Marco Melandri – Aruba It.Racing– Ducati: 1 ‘40.313
  5. Chaz Davies – Aruba It.Racing- Ducati: 1 ‘40.324
  6. Nicky Hayden – Honda World Superbike Team: 1 ‘40.548
  7. Alex Lowes – Pata Yamaha Official Team: 1 ‘40.600
  8. Xavi Drills – Barni Racing: 1 ‘40.738
  9. Stefan Bradl – Honda World Superbike Team: 1 ‘40.854
  10. Michael van der Mark – Pata Yamaha Team: 1 ’41’ 450
  11. Randy Krummenacher – Puccetti Kawasaki Racing: 1 ’41’ 566
  12. Markus Reiterberger – Althea BMW Racing: 1 ’41’ 578
  13. Jordi Torres – Althea BMW Racing: 1 ’41’ 619
  14. Eugene Laverty – Milwaukee Aprilia Team: 1 ’41’ 886

Chronos 1st day:

  1. Jonathan Rea – Kawasaki Racing Team: 1 ‘40.162
  2. Tom Sykes – Kawasaki Racing Team: 1 ‘40.422
  3. Chaz Davies – Aruba It.Racing- Ducati: 1 ‘40.784
  4. Marco Melandri – Aruba It.Racing- Ducati: 1 ‘40.812
  5. Alex Lowes – Pata Yamaha Official Team: 1 ’41’ 058
  6. Xavi Drills – Barni Racing: 1 ’41’ 396
  7. Lorenzo Savadori – Milwaukee Aprilia Team: 1 ’41’ 416
  8. Jordi Torres – Althea BMW Racing: 1 ’41’ 619
  9. Nicky Hayden – Honda World Superbike Team: 1 ’41’ 830
  10. Michael van der Mark – Pata Yamaha Team: 1 ’41’ 908
  11. Eugene Laverty – Milwaukee Aprilia Team: 1 ‘42.142
  12. Stefan Bradl – Honda World Superbike Team: 1 ‘42.255
  13. Markus Reiterberger – Althea BMW Racing: 1 ‘42.530
  14. Randy Krummenacher – Puccetti Kawasaki Racing: 1 ‘42.747

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