Barcelona WorldSBK test: Rea fastest as Razgatlioglu crashes

Former WorldSBK king Jonathan Rea topped the timesheets as testing at Barcelona concluded early due to rain.

With grip remaining at a premium throughout the late morning and afternoon, the many of the fastest times came in the morning and it was once again Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) who finished on top, the only rider in the 1’40 bracket with a 1’40.913. However, despite the sun in the afternoon, storm clouds gathered and the heavens open with just under half an hour remaining, meaning no late improvements came.

One of many riders looking to use the available grip, Rea got straight down to business on the second day with a 1’40.913 in the morning to put him as the first and only rider in that bracket.

Rea also tried the new front tyre brought by Pirelli, as well as a variety of setup refinements, with braking also being on his list of items to get through. Deciding to do a full day of testing and work on practice starts, Rea’s time remained unchallenged as afternoon temperatures increased despite cloud cover. Teammate Alex Lowes opted not to take part in the running, with remaining testing days on everyone’s minds, meaning Florian Marino was on track.

It was a bright day for Honda as Iker Lecuona (Team HRC) put his CBR1000RR-R SP into second place overall, improving his time considerably in the cooler morning session. Continuing to work with the new chassis bracing as well as trying the new finger rear-brake, Lecuona was in good form and will certainly be one to watch come the round in Barcelona.

Xavi Vierge (Team HRC) was also fighting hard and getting valuable laps under his belt, as he too continued development of the bike. With back-to-back tests being done on the newer swingarm (debuted at Misano) and the