Winter Test Jerez, Day 1: Jonathan Rea ends the first day on top

The first winter testing session began today on the Jerez de la Frontera circuit, in Andalusia, with track and climate conditions ideal for the work of the teams involved.

The Kawasaki Racing Team starts the year where it ended: ahead of everyone with the reigning world champion Jonathan Rea who stopped the clocks at 1.40.162, ahead of Tom Sykes by just two and a half tenths.
The reigning champion team continued the work program left in November, with the Northern Irishman carrying out some race simulations in search of more power, while his garage partner continued to make changes to the set-up of his Ninja , after having brought it up to par with technical updates.
The Englishman is also working on his riding style, aware that to beat Rea he will truly need a phenomenal season.

Behind them the Aruba.it Racing-Ducati duo, with Chaz Davies first out on track this morning, who signed his best time in 1.40.784, while Marco Melandri placed himself in fourth place immediately behind his new team-mate team.

It was a good day for the Panigale considering that Xavi Fores (BARNI Racing Team) had an impressive first day, and finished in sixth position, with a time of 1'41.396.

The Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team worked with Alex Lowes and Michael van der Mark on the new 1 R2017: thanks to the new updates, both riders have increased the feeling with their bikes.
Alex Lowes (1'41.058) felt better in the driving position and made constant improvements, finishing in fifth position, while Michael van der Mark put together many lap times and finished in the top 10, signing his best timed in 1'41.908 and continued to modify his driving style.

Jordi Torres (Althea BMW Racing Team) finished the day in eighth position, with a time of 1'41.619, driving the 2016-spec BMW and testing some new parts. The German Markus Reiterberger (Althea BMW Racing Team) compared the various components and finished thirteenth.

Lorenzo Savadori (Milwaukee Aprilia) had a great opening day, obtaining the seventh fastest time riding the Aprilia RSV4 RF, unveiled just this morning; while his teammate Eugene Laverty is eleventh, 2 seconds away from the best time of the day.

The Honda World Superbike Team tested the new 1000 CBR2017RR for the first time: Nicky Hayden and Stefan Bradl set 73 laps during the day and finished in the top 12.

Randy Krummenacher (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) began to make steps forward with the ZX-10R, and set his best time at +2.585s from Rea's time. The Swiss has just started this new chapter of his career and will make further improvements in the pre-season test.

Some riders from the FIM Supersport World Championship were also present on the track, in detail these teams: GRT Yamaha Official WorldSSP Team, Orelac Racing VerdNatura and CIA Landlord Insurance Honda. Zulfhami Khairuddin (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) was the fastest on this first day.

Below is the complete list of times.

World SBK

Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team): 1.40.162
Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team): 1.40.422
Chaz Davies (Aruba It.Racing-Ducati): 1.40.784
Marco Melandri (Aruba It.Racing-Ducati): 1.40.812
Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha Official Team): 1.41.058
Xavi Forés (Barni Racing): 1.41.396
Lorenzo Savadori (Milwaukee Aprilia Team): 1.41.416
Jordi Torres (Althea BMW Racing): 1.41.619
Nicky Hayden (Honda World Superbike Team): 1.41.830
Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha Team): 1.41.908
Eugene Laverty (Milwaukee Aprilia Team): 1.42.142
Stefan Bradl (Honda World Superbike Team):1.42.255
Markus Reiterberger (Althea BMW Racing):1.42.530

World Supersport

Zulfhami Khairuddin (Orelac Racing VerdNatura): 1.45.658
Jules Cluzel (CIA Landlord Insurance Honda):1.46.182
Nacho Calero (Orelac Racing VerdNatura):1.46.345
Robin Mulhauser (CIA Landlord Insurance Honda): 1.46.479
Kyle Ryde (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing): 1.46.729
Hikari Okubo (CIA Landlord Insurance Honda):1.47.107

European STK000

Marco Faccani (Althea BMW Racing Team): 1.43.769
Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing-Junior Team): 1.44.023
Mike Jones (Aruba.it Racing-Junior Team): 1.44.211
Julian Puffe (Althea MF 84): 1.46.932