Superbikes | Winter Test, Jerez: the teams return to the track

The 2019 Motul FIM Superbike World Championship will begin in exactly one month, from 22nd to 24th February, at Phillip Island in Australia and the time has now come for the production derivatives to get serious and get to the heart of the development: first The stage of the winter tests is, as is now tradition, the Circuito de Jerez Angel Nieto.

The reigning world champion, Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) will be chasing his fifth world title and will do so by returning to warm up the engine of his Kawasaki ZX-10RR on the Spanish circuit. The Northern Irishman had already been very fast during the winter tests at the end of November on the same circuit.
On the other side of the garage is the new arrival, Leon Haslam who will do everything he can to adapt to the new Kawasaki. The Englishman returns to this category after four years, a new test will allow him to take measurements and improve the set up of the bike given that a lot has changed in recent years.
Aruba.it Racing – Ducati is ready to demonstrate the potential of the new Panigale V4 R especially now that Chaz Davies is back in shape and after the collarbone operation he underwent during the winter break. While for Alvaro Bautista, star of the MotoGP™, he will have to create a space for himself within the championship but given the times he recorded during the winter tests it will not be too difficult for him to become one of the protagonists of the season.
The Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK riders will return to Jerez but this time without the Formula1 champion, Lewis Hamilton, with whom they spent a day on the track last December. During the November tests, Alex Lowes recorded excellent results and this will give him an extra boost to start the new season in the best possible way. His teammate Michael van der Mark has had the time he needs to recover from his injury and is pumped to get back on track.
For the first time Markus Reiterberger and Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) will be on track with their rivals. After successfully completing private testing in December at the Almeria circuit, the team will have the opportunity to see their competitiveness within the category.
Althea Mie Racing Team will be in Jerez with Alessandro Delbianco (Althea Mie Racing Team) who will debut this year in the SBK® World Championship at just 21 years old. The Italian comes from a positive season in STK1000 and is looking forward to riding a SBK Honda CBR1000RR.
After the satisfactory tests in November, Sandro Cortese and Marco Melandri (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK) are looking ahead to when they will continue their improvement work on the YZF R1. The German is still in an adaptation phase to SBK, while Melandri will focus on various aspects of the bike trying to take a step forward with his Yamaha.
Signed for his first full season in the SBK Championship, Michael Ruben Rinald becomes part of the BARNI Racing Team in 2019. The 4-year-old thinks about the progress he can make with his Ducati Panigale VXNUMX R together with the help of the team.
After unveiling the Panigale V4 R last December, Team Go Eleven will arrive in Andalusia with Eugene Laverty. The Irishman is excited to start his new adventure with the Italian manufacturer.
Orelac Racing VerdNatura, Team Pedercini and Turkish Puccetti Racing will participate in the Jerez tests with riders from both WorldSBK and WorldSSP.
Leandro Mercado (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) is in his second season with the ZX-10RR. The Argentine, in his fifth season in Superbike, will work on the general set-up of the bike while Nacho Calero, who will be involved in SuperSport, will test his ZX-6R from the Spanish team.
Toprak Razgatlioglu (Turkish Puccetti Racing) will make his first outing on the ZX-10RR for 2019. Due to the injury suffered in Japan, the Turk was forced to miss winter testing in November. This week will be particularly crucial as the new season begins. Kawasaki Puccetti Racing will also be involved with WorldSSP together with Lucas Mahias and Hikari Okubo.
Jordi Torres will return to Superbike after a stint in MotoGP. The Spaniard will race with Team Pedercini and the tests in Almeria with the ZX-10RR were positive and during these two days in Jerez they will continue to work to perfect various aspects of the bike. The same will be done by Ayrton Badovini who will race with Team Pedercini in WorldSSP.
Completing the list of participants in the two days of testing in Jerez are five other SuperSport teams. Maria Herrera will be the first woman in history to participate in an entire season in the category and she will do it with MS Racing. This year the Spanish rider will compete with a Yamaha for the first time.
The GMT94 Team is an all-French team and will present itself in Jerez with Jules Cluzel and Corentin Perolari, both ready to finish the last tests in view of the great start of the season.
There will also be Krummenacher, Caricasulo (Bardahl Evan Bros Racing Team), Raffaele De Rosa, Filippo Fuligni (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) and Rob Hartog (Team Hartog – Against Cancer) on the Jerez circuit.