This week’s private World Superbike test session at Jerez has been great for Kawasaki, but not so much for Honda.
After the first day of testing, Kawasaki’s Jonathan Rea (who left Honda at the end of last season) led the pack, with a 1:41.327 test time. Alex Lowes (Suzuki) was second, with a 1:41.339 time. Another Kawasaki was third; Tom Sykes had a 1:41.412 time. He crashed halfway through the session, but seemed to be fine.
Rea’s replacement with Honda, 2014 champ Sylvain Guintoli, had nowhere near the success of his predecessor. Guintoli, who won the 2014 show with Aprilia, managed to crash hard yesterday, hurting his neck and ankle. He’s out for the remainder of the Jerez test, which wraps up today. That’s bad news for Honda, as their test sessions at Portimao and Aragon were ruined by bad weather. Guintoli is running out of time to learn the ropes on the CBR1000RR before the season starts at Phillip Island in late February.
Leon Haslam (riding for Red Devils Aprilia) also missed Monday’s action; his machine was sidelined by technical issues.
Jerez private test unofficial test times
1. Jonathan Rea, UK (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:41.327
2. Alex Lowes, UK (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:41.339
3. Tom Sykes, UK (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:41.412, crash
4. Davide Giugliano, Italy (Duc 1199 Panigale R), 1:41.516
5. Chaz Davies, UK (Duc 1199 Panigale R), 1:41.542
6. Sylvain Barrier, France (BMW S1000RR), 1:42.087
7. Randy De Puniet, France (Suz GSX-R1000), 1:42.190
8. Michael van der Mark, Netherlands (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:42.251
9. Jordi Torres, Spain (Apr RSV4 Factory), 1:42.262
10. Matteo Baiocco, Italy (Duc 1199 Panigale R), 1:42.580
11. Nico Terol, Spain (Duc 1199 Panigale R), 1:42.699
12. Leandro Mercado, Argentina (Duc Panigale R), 1:42.767
13. David Salom, Spain (Kaw ZX-10R), 1:42.898
14. Leon Haslam, UK (Apr RSV4 Factory), 1:43.176
15. Niccolo Canepa, Italy (EBR 1190RX), 1:44.008
16. Larry Pegram, USA (EBR 1190RX), 1:46.120
17. Sylvain Guintoli, France (Hon CBR1000RR), 1:49.383, crash
