WSBK - Catalunya test

[wull]

https://www.crash.net/wsbk/news/999379/ ... -catalunya


Alvaro Bautista makes a brilliant start to WorldSBK testing in Catalunya after claiming top spot by over two tenths from Jonathan Rea.

Day-one of the Catalunya WorldSBK test got underway in similar fashion as that of Misano ten days ago, with GRT Yamaha rider Garrett Gerloff setting the fastest time.

The American, who has so far looked back to the type of form we saw in 2020 as a rookie, put a time of 1:41.918s on the board to lead at the halfway mark.

Although Gerloff started and closed out the morning session fastest, there was plenty of change in between as Alvaro Bautista, Toprak Razgatlioglu, Jonathan Rea and Michael Rinaldi all spent time at the top of the leaderboard.

Fresh off his 2022 GRT Yamaha team launch on Thursday, Gerloff was immediately on the pace, suggesting the Texan could be a favourite for the podium places during the opening few rounds.

Once the afternoon action got underway, Aruba.it Ducati rider Bautista shot to the top of the times.

WORLD SUPERBIKE TEST CATALUNYA-BARCELONA, SPAIN - FRIDAY RESULTS (FINAL)
POS RIDER NAT TEAM TIME
1 Alvaro Bautista SPA Aruba.It Racing Ducati 1:40.824s
2 Jonathan Rea GBR Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK +0.238s
3 Garrett Gerloff USA GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team +0.405s
4 Michael Rinaldi ITA Aruba.It Racing Ducati +0.536s
5 Toprak Razgatlioglu TUR PATA Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK +0.699s
6 Alex Lowes GBR Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK +0.840s
7 Lucas Mahias FRA Puccetti Kawasaki +0.864s
8 Xavi Vierge SPA Team HRC WorldSBK +0.895s
9 Andrea Locatelli ITA PATA Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK +1.041s
10 Eugene Laverty IRL Bonovo Action BMW +1.118s
11 Scott Redding GBR BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team +1.189s
12 Iker Lecuona SPA Team HRC WorldSBK +1.301s
13 Philipp Oettl GER GoEleven Ducati +1.352s
14 Kohta Nozane JPN GRT Yamaha +1.604s
15 Loris Baz FRA Bonovo Action BMW +1.605s
16 Luca Bernardi SM Barni Spark Ducati Team +2.247s
17 Ilya Mikhalchik UKR BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team +2.801s
18 Oliver Konig CZE Orelac Racing Kawasaki +3.402s
19 Loris Cresson BEL Pedercini Kawasaki +4.439s
20 Hafizh Syahrin MAL MIE Honda Racing +4.715s

Rea and Razgatlioglu joined him inside the top three, which was somewhat of a deja vu moment following last month’s Portimao test which all three dominated - Razgatlioglu was quickest that time around.

Bautista spent the first couple of hours quickest before Gerloff replaced the Spaniard at the top with a time of 1:41.255s.

Behind Gerloff and Bautista, world champion Razgatlioglu managed to jump ahead of Rea by a tenth of a second.

While Razgatlioglu and Rea had a mini battle for third, Bautista and Gerloff resumed their battle for top spot before Bautista went on to set the only sub 1m 41s lap of the day.

A stunning time of 1:40.824s put the former MotoGP rider over four tenths clear of Gerloff, while seven tenths clear of Razgatlioglu.

That lead then became two tenths as Rea completed several fast laps during the final few minutes.

It was a difficult day for BMW as raw pace was severely lacking throughout. Quickest during the morning running was Loris Baz, who had to overcome an early technical issue aboard his M 1000 RR.

Things weren’t much better for factory rider Scott Redding, who himself was over a second off the top times.

Last in the 2021 manufacturers’ standings, Honda’s rookie pairing showed good speed during the morning, however, the improved lap times during the afternoon led to Xavi Vierge finishing close to nine tenths away, while Iker Lecuona was 1.3 seconds slower than Bautista.

While Vierge was the top rookie overall, GoEleven Ducati rider Philipp Oettl was the top rookie from a satellite team point of view.

[Couchy]

I hope Redding got a big payout as BMW look to be on their usual pace

[wull]

I hope Redding got a big payout as BMW look to be on their usual pace

Fingers crossed he improves, I’d much rather see everybody at similar pace.

[Bigyin]

I hope Redding got a big payout as BMW look to be on their usual pace

I might be wrong but i believe Redding is carrying an injury incurred in pre season s might be hindering his overall pace

Gerloff is showing well but has done last season on practise and qualifying but when put into a race enviroment has been gun shy after his high profile collisions. Hopefully he will be past that now and free to fight for places

[Skub]

I might be wrong but i believe Redding is carrying an injury incurred in pre season s might be hindering his overall pace

Yeah,it's called BMW.

[wull]

Day 2 results

Toprak Razgatlioglu has ended his third consecutive WorldSBK pre-season test of 2022 quickest after rain brought an early end to day-two in Catalunya.

Is Toprak Razgatlioglu in even better shape than his 2021 world championship winning season after convincingly topping the two-day Catalunya WorldSBK test?

The current WorldSBK champion has found Yamaha’s new electronics packages to be a huge step forward, as is the case for other Yamaha riders Garrett Gerloff and Andrea Locatelli.

But before crowning the Turkish sensation as the runaway favourite, heavy rain at the Spanish circuit brought proceedings to an early finish, meaning riders such as Jonathan Rea and Alvaro Bautista were unable to challenge his best effort.

Before rain hit, Razgatlioglu set a time of 1:40.571s which was enough to put him clear of Bautista by close to four tenths.


WORLD SUPERBIKE TEST CATALUNYA-BARCELONA, SPAIN - RESULTS (FINAL)
POS RIDER NAT TEAM TIME
1 Toprak Razgatlioglu TUR PATA Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK 1:40.571s
2 Alvaro Bautista SPA Aruba.It Racing Ducati +0.381s
3 Iker Lecuona SPA Team HRC WorldSBK +0.462s
4 Jonathan Rea GBR Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK +0.597s
5 Garrett Gerloff USA GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team +0.749s
6 Michael Rinaldi ITA Aruba.It Racing Ducati +1.039s
7 Scott Redding GBR BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team +1.065s
8 Xavi Vierge SPA Team HRC WorldSBK +1.153s
9 Philipp Oettl GER GoEleven Ducati +1.164s
10 Lucas Mahias FRA Puccetti Kawasaki +1.173s
11 Andrea Locatelli ITA PATA Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK +1.375s
12 Alex Lowes GBR Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK +1.428s
13 Kohta Nozane JPN GRT Yamaha +1.938s
14 Ilya Mikhalchik UKR BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team +2.192s
15 Eugene Laverty IRL Bonovo Action BMW +2.734s
16 Loris Baz FRA Bonovo Action BMW +3.190s
17 Luca Bernardi SM Barni Spark Ducati Team +3.252s
18 Oliver Konig CZE Orelac Racing Kawasaki +4.284s
19 Loris Cresson BEL Pedercini Kawasaki +4.829s
20 Hafizh Syahrin MAL MIE Honda Racing


Starting day-two the way he ended Friday’s opening day of WorldSBK testing in Catalunya, it was Ducati’s Bautista who was once again the early pace setter.

However, the Spaniard was not top for long as Team HRC rider Iker Lecuona showed what appears to be much improved performance from Honda to go fastest.

At the conclusion of the first hour, Lecuona set a time of 1:41.708s, which was just +0.023s quicker than Toprak Razgatlioglu in second.

Taking advantage of the grip that was put down after eight hours of continuous WorldSBK action, Lecuona’s lap time was also half second quicker than he went at any time on day-one.

But in typical Bautista fashion, whether it be 11 days ago at the two-day Misano test or here in Catalunya, the former MotoGP rider responded by clinching top spot come the end hour #2.

Although lap times suggested conditions were perfect for testing (before rain fell), grip was an issue throughout the two-day test.

One of the riders that highlighted this was six-time world champion Rea, who despite the low track temperatures, was able to confirm the 'positive results' found during Jerez and Portimao.

Speaking after the test, Rea added: "I had a good feeling here. We confirmed the items that we had found positive results with in both the Jerez and Portimao tests.

"The weather conditions were not perfect here and the temperature was quite low, but we were able to make a lot of laps, especially on Day One.

"Day Two was colder but we kept working with the base of the bike. I did some more practice starts on Day Two, so that is getting better. We made some progress in that area.


"I ended the test with a good feeling on the bike and I am really excited to go to Aragon. Everybody there will have the same strategy - to set-up for the weekend and then go into Free Practice 1.

"It has been a long but exciting off-season, with a lot of testing, and I have been healthy throughout."

With Yamaha, Ducati, Kawasaki and Honda all showing themselves towards the top of the times, the only manufacturer missing was BMW.

Off the pace on day-one, and by quite some margin it must be said, things took a similar course of action as Scott Redding was over two seconds down for most of the morning.

The ex-British Superbike champion did manage to climb as high as fifth, before that became seventh following significant improvements from Gerloff and Michael Rinaldi.

[wull]

[wull]

[weeksy]

Impressed by Lecuona