WSBK – WSBK 2019 tests in Jerez: Johnny’s show continues! – Used DUCATI KAWASAKI YAMAHA

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WSBK 2019 tests in Jerez: Johnny’s show continues !

WSBK - WSBK 2019 tests in Jerez: Johnny's show continues! - Used DUCATI KAWASAKI YAMAHA

First of the tests in Aragon two weeks ago, Jonathan Rea had been eclipsed by the first turns of the Panigale V4 R … But "Johnny" took advantage of the last WorldSBK tests of the year to return to the spotlight. spotlight by largely beating his opponents ! Report and statements.

The winter tests are linked in Jerez, in the southern tip of Spain! After the riders of and this weekend and just before the stars of MotoGP (today and tomorrow, to follow on Site), the guys from World Superbike were able to ride two full days on their car !

  • BMW, Ducati, Honda or Yamaha :

The official Ducati, Kawasaki and Yamaha teams, slowed down in their work by the rain two weeks ago in Aragon, took advantage yesterday and the day before yesterday of very good weather conditions on the Andalusian circuit – which was no longer on the calendar this season.

  • WorldSBK Calendar :
  • MNC special file : Everything you need to know about WorldSBK 2019
  • MNC special file :

Unsurprisingly, Jonathan Rea remains the man to beat: he was the fastest, both on qualifying tires and racing tires. His best time of the two days (see the times list below) would have allowed him to start from there. However, according to the pilots, the track conditions were not perfect…

WSBK - WSBK 2019 tests in Jerez: Johnny's show continues! - Used DUCATI KAWASAKI YAMAHA

The "Number One" of the discipline relegates Alex Lowes (2nd on his factory R1) to a big half-second and his new teammate Leon Haslam (3rd) to one second! "Johnny" leaves satisfied, confident, optimistic … Which does not bode well for his opponents !

The ruthless "JR" chief engineer, Pere Riba, reckons that they ran out of time to test everything he wanted. But the essentials have been covered: the management of the new engine, the new balance to be found with the chassis in cooperation with Showa and the comments addressed to Pirelli concerning new tires. The fifth title will not fall from the sky, even for the "God" Rea !

WSBK - WSBK 2019 tests in Jerez: Johnny's show continues! - Used DUCATI KAWASAKI YAMAHA

On the other side of the box, Leon Haslam progresses: fifth of the first day – the only one on the dry – in Aragon almost two seconds behind Rea, the new KRT recruit finishes this second series of tests in third place, despite a big fall on the first day which put one of his two Ninja out of service on Tuesday.

Three great friends who deposit

Among the fastest on qualifying tires, "Lione" would have also – and above all – performed an excellent race simulation. "He is more than in the rhythm", assures his new chief mechanic Marcel Duinkers: "after 10 laps, his speed is very, very competitive". As much as Rea? Mystery and Pirelli Balls…

WSBK - WSBK 2019 tests in Jerez: Johnny's show continues! - Used DUCATI KAWASAKI YAMAHA

Second to 66 hundredths of a second from the leader, Alex Lowes completes a Top 3 of friends: the three British drivers appreciate each other greatly and must already hope to drink together on the podiums in 2019 (remember that there will be the year next) !

Unlike the English n ° 22, the Dutch n ° 60 (Michael van der Mark, "who else?") Was not in full possession of his means and accused Jonathan Rea twice as late as his teammate at the ‘after two days of testing.

WSBK - WSBK 2019 tests in Jerez: Johnny's show continues! - Used DUCATI KAWASAKI YAMAHA

"Magic Michael" had to grit his teeth to endure a belatedly diagnosed fracture: he fell heavily during the in Qatar, he had got up, without knowing it, with a broken wrist … Michael therefore launched into a completely different race against the watch: that of healing !

On Monday evening, the second fastest Yamaha wore another number: Marco Melandri’s famous No.33! Still under contract with Ducati, the Italian rider has the right to drive his R1 but will not be able to comment on his tests until after the New Year … However, his times already speak for him !

WSBK - WSBK 2019 tests in Jerez: Johnny's show continues! - Used DUCATI KAWASAKI YAMAHA

After only two days of racing in the dry (one in Aragon and the first in Jerez), the Ravenna Hedgehog was only a second behind the four-time world champion and his ZX-10RR. Most importantly: Melandri was within half a second of Lowes, who has been part of Yamaha’s WSBK project from the start.

Tuesday evening, Marco was a second and a half behind Jonathan and a little behind Alex … A decline that can be attributed to the tires: Yamaha kept secret the type of rubber (qualif, soft, hard, experiments, etc.) used by its pilots.

WSBK - WSBK 2019 tests in Jerez: Johnny's show continues! - Used DUCATI KAWASAKI YAMAHA

If the previous "autumn" tests in Aragon had been marked by the baptism of the Panigale V4 R, these tests in Jerez were a great first for two pilots! Sandro Cortese, reigning World Supersport champion, rode a Superbike for the very first time.

The new kids get to work

Lantern red blue of the two days, the German n ° 11 can boast of finishing "good" last of these tests, since he yields less than four tenths of a second to his prestigious and experienced teammate Melandri.

WSBK - WSBK 2019 tests in Jerez: Johnny's show continues! - Used DUCATI KAWASAKI YAMAHA

It was also a first for Alvaro Bautista, who replaces Marco in the official Ducati team. The MotoGP defector sought the limits of his new bike and tires … and passed them twice on Tuesday, happily falling without hurting himself.

With the fourth fastest time of the two days, the Spanish n ° 19 is in such good form that Ducati asked him to stay in Jerez to ride again in the Desmosedici Grand Prix. After these final GP tests, we promise, Bautista will focus on WorldSBK. Unless his freelance MotoGP accelerates the development of the V4R ?!

WSBK - WSBK 2019 tests in Jerez: Johnny's show continues! - Used DUCATI KAWASAKI YAMAHA

Finally, Chaz Davies has to settle for 5th time. The n ° 7 finished 7 thousandths behind his new teammate. Already usually not the fastest during tests or during practice (including in Superpole, which sometimes costs him dearly in races), the "Welsh Dragon" is still handicapped by his – double – shoulder injury.

Like VDM (for Van der Mark, not "Vie de merde" …), the vice-world champion has two short months to get back on his feet and be able to match the times of the quadruple champion Rea. The road track is still long … stay tuned !

Jerez tests: unofficial lap times of the 2nd day

  1. Jonathan Rea – Kawasaki Racing Team: 1 ‘38.713
  2. Alex Lowes – Yamaha Pata Official Team: 1 ‘39.377 (+0.664)
  3. Leon Haslam – Kawasaki Racing Team: 1 ‘39.766 (+1.053)
  4. Alvaro Bautista – Ducati Aruba.it Racing: 1 ‘39.845 (+1.132)
  5. Chaz Davies – Ducati Aruba.it Racing: 1 ‘39.852 (+1.139)
  6. Michael van der Mark – Yamaha Pata Official Team: 1 ‘40.092 (+1.379)
  7. Marco Melandri – Yamaha GRT Team: 1 ‘40.235 (+1.522)
  8. Sandro Cortese – Yamaha GRT Team: 1 ‘40.592 (+1.879)
  • WSBK lap record in 2017: Marco Melandri – Ducati 1 ‘39.960 (Pole)
  • Best lap in race 2017: Jonathan Rea – Kawasaki 1 ‘40.640 (Race 2)

Jerez tests: unofficial lap times of the 1st day

  1. Jonathan Rea – Kawasaki Racing Team: 1 ‘39.657
  2. Alvaro Bautista – Ducati Aruba.it Racing: 1 ‘39.979 (+0.322)
  3. Chaz Davies – Ducati Aruba.it Racing: 1 ‘40.202 (+0.545)
  4. Alex Lowes – Yamaha Pata Official Team: 1 ‘40.296 (+0.639)
  5. Leon Haslam – Kawasaki Racing Team: 1 ‘40.390 (+0.733)
  6. Marco Melandri – Yamaha GRT Team: 1 ‘40.663 (+1.006)
  7. Michael van der Mark – Yamaha Pata Official Team: 1 ‘41.572 (+1.915)
  8. Sandro Cortese – Yamaha GRT Team: 1 ‘41.972 (+2.315)

Pilot statements

Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki n ° 1):

WSBK - WSBK 2019 tests in Jerez: Johnny's show continues! - Used DUCATI KAWASAKI YAMAHA

"It was a good last day. We put the pieces of the puzzle together and we have to be happy with the job done. It’s always difficult when the track isn’t great. In all those tight corners, with the ruts that are created. it’s hard to feel the confidence to push to the max. Other than that the track temperatures are very critical here with the base tire we have. Like yesterday we tried different things on the bike and at the end of the day we tested something very interesting in terms of balance. I felt really good with a worn tire, we have to continue like this in 2019. I also did a longer ride in the middle of the day. We did pretty much everything we planned. I was on the pace the first day, so we were able to start testing early on. ".

Alex Lowes (Yamaha n ° 22):

WSBK - WSBK 2019 tests in Jerez: Johnny's show continues! - Used DUCATI KAWASAKI YAMAHA

“We had a good two days of testing here in Jerez and we managed to go through a pretty long list of things to do. Some were positive, some not so much, but that’s what the testing is for. Yesterday, we worked on the front of the bike and today the rear, before finding the best combination of the two. I was very happy with how I felt today on the bike: we spotted two main areas on which we want to focus on in the January testing. So it was good to end the season on a positive note. A big thank you to the guys on the team for all the hard work they have done this year. We now have the time to recharge the batteries, before coming back here in January ".

Leon Haslam (Kawasaki n ° 91):

WSBK - WSBK 2019 tests in Jerez: Johnny's show continues! - Used DUCATI KAWASAKI YAMAHA

“I’m really happy with the two days. We worked a lot on how I feel with the bike. We didn’t want to make any drastic changes, and we didn’t try the development soft tires. Every time we put on a new tire, we weren’t really saving much time: we just worked on the settings and the race distance, as well as my change of style to adapt to the bike. Every ride, every session, every day, we scrambled for a few tenths and in the end, I was very happy with my pace on worn tires. I managed to take the track with Jonathan for a few laps and watch how he changed his style to make the bike progress. helped a lot ".

Alvaro Bautista (Ducati n ° 19):

WSBK - WSBK 2019 tests in Jerez: Johnny's show continues! - Used DUCATI KAWASAKI YAMAHA

“Today we started to make some changes to the base setup to see how the bike reacts, and we found some bright spots as well as some possible improvements. In terms of pace, we’ve improved a lot because I was I was able to ride regularly in the 1 ’40, while on the warm-up I felt that there was less grip, although in theory the track conditions had to be a little better. need to understand the limitations of the tires anyway. In the end, we finished our program and I’m happy with how the first two days went. ".

Chaz Davies (Ducati n ° 7):

WSBK - WSBK 2019 tests in Jerez: Johnny's show continues! - Used DUCATI KAWASAKI YAMAHA

“It was a positive test. We have learned a lot about the bike and we have a better understanding of what we need to focus on during the holidays to improve the set. We have driven several pairs of tires over a race distance and we have also tried a new swingarm with good feedback. But the main thing at this point is to avoid confusion, and I think we have a pretty clear idea of ​​which direction to go. We have a lot of information to process, there Now we just have to get them together. I will have my shoulder surgery next week, then I will resume training to make sure I am in good shape for the next test. ".

Michael van der Mark (Yamaha n ° 60):

WSBK - WSBK 2019 tests in Jerez: Johnny's show continues! - Used DUCATI KAWASAKI YAMAHA

"It was a very interesting test, but it’s a shame that I’m still not in great shape after injuring my wrist in the last race in Qatar. We still put in a lot of work here in Jerez: the first day we had a long list of things to try and i didn’t really feel comfortable on the bike, but it was a lot better today. We tried a lot again, mostly on the geometry and suspensions, but also electronics. This afternoon, I managed to find my rhythm, to improve myself lap after lap and we made some progress. At the beginning, we struggled a little in entry of the turn, but at the end we found a pretty good solution. I’m really happy with the end of the second day and I’m already looking forward to January ".

Sandro Cortese (Yamaha n ° 11):

WSBK - WSBK 2019 tests in Jerez: Johnny's show continues! - Used DUCATI KAWASAKI YAMAHA

“I’m very happy with my first WorldSBK test with the new team and the Yamaha YZF-R1. It was a special experience for me because I had never ridden a Superbike before, but I think we did a big step during these two days and now I understand much better how to ride this bike. Of course I still face a steep learning curve, and I also need to prepare my body for the demands of this bigger bike, because I can feel he wasn’t at his best after two full days on the track here! I now understand how I have to work on this bike and I can’t wait to get back to Jerez with the team in January ".

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