Jonathan Rea was in Jerez this week for two days of World Superbike testing, completing 173 laps. The Pata Yamaha rider worked with three different bikes and various components, already feeling competitive aboard the YZF-R1.

The six-time world champion told worldsbk.com: ‘It’s been really positive and I’ve really enjoyed riding the bike at this test, especially on day one when the temperature was warmer than expected and similar to the race. We were able to get a lot of work done. I had 3 bikes to try different options on and loads of different parts. We never managed to put everything together to be perfect but we still have a lot of time and we got through the main test items. We managed just about everything on the list; some items we can discard, some very interesting going forwards’.

While acknowledging he hasn’t yet reached the bike’s limits, Rea ensured he already feels competitive: ‘I completed the test with a race simulation which was positive; the more laps I do on the R1, the more I understand it and how it behaves in certain conditions and also, the more confidence I get. I don’t feel like I’ve found the limit with the bike yet. I’m understanding the last part of braking but I feel competitive already’.

O conteúdo ‘I don’t feel like I’ve found the limit with the bike, but I feel competitive already’ – Jonathan Rea aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Honda debuted the new CBR1000RR-R for the World Superbike Championship this Thursday in Jerez, during the first of two days of testing with Iker Lecuona and Xavi Vierge. Initial indications are positive, but there is caution

Speaking to the championship’s official website, team manager Leon Camier stated: ‘There are a few changes with the new bike; the split throttle bodies is something that’s a good step in the right direction for the race bike and what we want on track. The normal thing to expect is more edge grip and better connection when you first touch the gas because you are only opening two cylinders, not four. Many other manufacturers are running this but for us, it’s something we wanted for the race bike. For the lighter crankshaft, it’s a small difference but we should expect a little bit better acceleration and deceleration. We have a different weight distribution of the bike; Honda wanted to go in this direction because it’s better for what we need for racing; it’s all going in the right direction’.

Regarding the innovations in the motorcycle, the official detailed: ‘The first feelings with the bike are quite good, even though there are positives and negatives. With it being the first test, it’s good that the riders are feeling the positives and with the negatives, they are things we have to work with. Setting the bike up, putting things in the right places… it’s normal that it takes time to smooth things out. Both riders need time to set it up for their style and their way of riding. First impressions are positive so we need to get through these two days, see where we are at the end of it and keep making a step forward’.

Despite the innovations, Camier revealed that the super concession, which Honda is entitled to for 2024, has not been incorporated. The British leader talked about more details about the new CBR1000RR-R: ‘It’s done in a different way with a different weight distribution; the centre of gravity is a little bit different. Overall length, I’m actually not sure where we are but I think it’s something similar but you can play around with that anyway. Alter the swingarm length a little bit and you can have a big change, so it’s just done in a slightly different way’.

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O conteúdo New CBR1000RR-R encourages Honda for the next WSBK season aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Nicolo Bulega won the Supersport world title this season and made himself be worthy of a place at the Ducati factory in the Superbikes. After his first tests earlier this week at Jerez, the italian didn’t hide his desire to be better than everybody else, even from his teammate, the world champion Alvaro Bautista.

Bulega, still at a very first stage of his work with the new team spoke of the job done in the first two days: ‘It was very good but unfortunately, we didn’t ride a lot during these two days. On day one, we only did 20 laps. On day two, we did half a day. I’m happy because I didn’t ride a lot but I was already fast. I was fast, but I was at 85%. I’m learning the bike, learning to speak with my new team so it’s important for me to do a lot of kilometres with this bike’.

As for what his teammate have done, Bulega confesses he has no clue, not showed right away his determination to beat everyone on track, despite the difficulties he expects: ‘Honestly, I don’t know what kind of work Alvaro did. I don’t want to beat Alvaro, I would like to beat everybody! Alvaro is now the reference point for Ducati because he’s the best. He’s fast and it’ll be very difficult to beat him’.

And gave then a brief comparison from the new bike to that he used this season: ‘We still have a lot of work to do and I’m still trying to learn the bike to understand better the DNA of this bike because it’s more difficult than WorldSSP. It’s all more. More brakes, more engine, more electronics’.

O conteúdo Nicolo Bulega «targets» his teammate and not only: ‘I don’t want to beat Alvaro, I would like to beat everybody!’ aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Andrea Iannone began his preparation for his debut in the World Superbike Championship in 2024 this week with the two days of testing in Jerez. It was his first contact with a racing bike nearly four years after being suspended, and upon his return, despite the fatigue, he didn’t forget to have fun.

The Italian rider from Team GoEleven revealed to GPOne.com that he was even at a higher level than expected: ‘I had a lot of fun on Wednesday, the sensations with the bike are good, as well as with the tyres. That’s the important thing; for sure, I need to improve in some areas, but we also have time for that. We started at a very good level, and I didn’t expect this at all; I expected worse. Fortunately, we are ahead; I don’t think anyone expected that’.

Despite the good start and its significance, Iannone doesn’t get carried away with excessive enthusiasm: ‘You have to keep your feet on the ground; that’s normal. You can’t think that there’s no work to be done, that you’ve arrived. You have to stay humble and work, but the starting point is important. It was essential to have felt this way, and I have to say I’m happy. An important day in many ways. […]. I have to be aware of everything that is needed, but I also want to enjoy this day and this return. It’s important that I didn’t take anything for granted; it’s really meaningful for me’.

O conteúdo ‘We started at a very good level; I expected worse’ – Andrea Iannone aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Andrea Iannone finally returned to race tracks after about four years by participating in World Superbike Championship testing in Jerez this week. The rider posted convincing lap times, but the transition to the Ducati Panigale V4 R and the return to competitive racing was not an easy task.

The Italian rider admitted to GPOne.com that he was particularly exhausted during this initial contact with WSBK: ‘I’m destroyed. I haven’t ridden a racing bike for several years, and even though I’ve trained over the years on production bikes, it’s different. On the track, you encounter amateur people who ride for fun, and it’s complex for a rider to train properly, have a free track. But I always trained at my maximum, but it’s not enough for WSBK or MotoGP. They are different bikes, of course. But there is a lot of power in both, and braking is always difficult, and I had some problems with my arms, but that’s normal. I’m happy’.

The physical aspect was the biggest challenge for Iannone during these tests, as he stated: ‘I struggled physically because there are muscles that you only use with a race bike. So, I arrived at 14:00 [on Wednesday], and I had done the most laps. My arms were tired, and I had difficulties with acceleration. This affected performance a bit, but I know it’s something I need to work on at home. I tried to get the best out of it, and I believe it would have been difficult to do more than this’.

O conteúdo Andrea Iannone ‘destroyed’ after two days of WSBK testing aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

This week marked Jonathan Rea’s debut with Pata Yamaha in the two days of testing for the World Superbike Championship in Jerez. These were his first laps on track in a new phase of his career as a six-time champion, after nine seasons with Kawasaki.

At the end of the testing, the British rider commented that it was primarily a test aimed at the initial adaptation: ‘My first feelings with this team have been fantastic, ever since I agreed to make the move. Both the team and Yamaha have been really welcoming and making everything easy. The first test was just about getting familiar with the bike – it was a bit of a shock, I had a lot of different sensations than I am used to – but in a positive way!’.

Regarding his impressions of the YZF-R1, Rea stated that it is an easy bike to ride, providing a sense of confidence: ‘The R1 is very user-friendly – not necessarily easy to go to the absolute limit just yet, but easy to ride. It generates a lot of traction which encourages you to go fast and inspires confidence. You can get into the throttle and use the power of the machine – it feels good and now I can see how Toprak [Razgatlioglu] was riding the way he was, also [Andrea] Loka being so competitive this year. It’s all good! Just a nice first contact with the set-up and the team, so I expect next time we can get more deeply into it’.

As for his work program on the previous day, rider #65 mentioned: ‘Step-by-step today we have tried some different things, fork spec, different tyre combinations so that I can understand how the Yamaha uses different compounds – I could see from the past that Yamaha have been able to maximise the SCX tyre. I requested some different electronics set-up – but not really too much. I have been using the current «base setting» let’s say of the R1 and in the next test we will start to work on development parts’.

In conclusion, Rea added: ‘A really positive experience on both days and the R1 is feeling more like my bike, particularly as we have been lucky with the weather this afternoon and got through more than we expected. I’m sure I could wake up tomorrow and even more performance would come but now I have to wait a couple of weeks…! Thanks to everybody – I really enjoyed myself!’.

O conteúdo Jonathan Rea and his debut on Yamaha’s SBK: ‘It was a bit of a shock!’ aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Álvaro Bautista completed the second day of World Superbike Championship testing in Jerez on Wednesday. One of the biggest challenges for him will be adapting to the new mandatory minimum weight combining the bike and the rider, as he is one of the lighter riders on the grid.

The Aruba.it Ducati rider stated in a press release that this was precisely his point of focus during the second day in Jerez, explaining the challenges that the weight issue presents:

– Today, we were focused on the 2024 regulations especially with the weight. We tried many solutions with the weight. Putting some weight on some areas of the bike, also trying inside the engine, and did many tests to understand how the bike’s working. It’s not easy because when the bike’s working well, if you add 7kg, the bike feels different especially in the fast corners. We made some distribution to have more data and we got that data for this winter to try to work and try to see what could be the base for starting 2024.

O conteúdo Álvaro Bautista focused on weight rules on the second day of WSBK testing aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Remy Gardner once again proved to be the fastest rider on the second day of World Superbike Championship testing in Jerez, securing the best lap time of these initial track workdays for the 2024 season.

After morning with less action, more riders took to the track in the afternoon on Wednesday. Gardner, riding for GYTR GRT Yamaha, had the best lap time of 1m38.448s, making him the fastest on the day. He edged out rookie Nicolò Bulega (Aruba.it Ducati) by 0.278s. Jonathan Rea (Pata Yamaha) claimed the third position, over seven-tenths of a second behind Gardner, followed by Alex Lowes (Kawasaki).

Andrea Iannone (Team GoEleven/Ducati) continues his adaptation upon returning to competition and achieved an encouraging fifth place, completing 68 laps and finishing 0.887s off the top spot. Two-time world champion Álvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Ducati) ended the day with the seventh-fastest time, with Lorenzo Savadori (Aprilia) and Stefan Bradl (Honda) ahead of him, both of whom were testing for MotoGP.

At the bottom of the table were the two riders from the World Supersport Championship: Adrián Huertas finished 18th with a 0.614s lead over Valentin Debise.

Timesheets:

O conteúdo Remy Gardner tops WSBK test, beating rookie Nicolò Bulega; Andrea Iannone in the top five aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Andrea Iannone finally returned to the tracks this Tuesday on the first day of testing for the World Superbike Championship in Jerez.

After a four-year suspension, the Italian rider is preparing for his debut in the 2024 season with Team GoEleven. At the Andalusian circuit, he had the opportunity to start getting to know the Ducati Panigale V4 R.

Take a look at some of the images of Iannone in action on the opening day of the Jerez tests.

O conteúdo Video: The day Andrea Iannone returned to the tracks aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Michael Ruben Rinaldi is leading the second day of testing for the World Superbike Championship at Jerez. At this moment, there are about four hours remaining in the session.

No one has done better than yesterday’s best lap time yet. In his best lap, Rinaldi (Motocorsa Racing/Ducati) rode in 1m40.211s, placing him just 89 milliseconds ahead of Dominique Aegerter (GYTR GRT Yamaha). Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha), who set the pace yesterday, is in third place.

Andrea Iannone (Team GoEleven/Ducati) is in fourth place, 0.175s behind, with Jonathan Rea (Pata Yamaha) in fifth, trailing by 0.238s. The two-time reigning champion, Álvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Ducati), has not yet set a fast lap.

It’s worth noting that the timing chart includes two MotoGP riders and three MotoGP bikes that are also testing in Jerez. There are also two riders from the Supersport World Championship classified: Adrián Huertas and Valentin Debise, with Huertas in the last position, 0.756s slower than Debise.

Timesheet:

O conteúdo Michael Ruben Rinaldi sets the pace in the day 2 of WSBK testing at Jerez aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.