Cycle News

VOL. 56 ISSUE 4 JANUARY 29, 2019 P37 ninth on day two. Eugene Laverty placed his GoEleven Ducati 12th. With a transponder now fitted to his all-new machine (he did not wear a transponder on the first day), Tom Sykes (BMW SMR) fell at high speed and his bike was too badly damaged to complete a full day of action. He was unin- jured but the crash left him 14th, and slower than his pace on the first day. Sixteen riders attended the Jerez test, with only the official Moriwaki Althea Hondas of Leon Camier and Ryuichi Kiyonari missing so far. The fastest WorldSSP rider was Federico Caricasulo, on a Bardahl Evan Bros Yamaha, with a 1:42.529. Rea Rolls On At Portimao Rea retained his overall leading position in Portimao, January 26- 27. Rea finished with a 1:42.195 lap that was fully 0.419 of a second faster than the next-best rider, Lowes. Some of the main contenders in 2019 slotted into a neat three-rider group on similar lap times behind Rea, with Lowes just 0.068 of a second up on Bautista and Razgatlioglu. In fifth place, proving his fast opening-day pace on his all-new BMW in Jerez was no fluke, was Sykes. He set a 1:42.808 on a race tire. Haslam was sixth quickest. He missed a chance to set a faster time near the end due to one of many red flags that were thrown on a very windy day. Van der Mark had a technical issue to deal with at one stage but managed to go seventh quickest. Melandri was eighth overall and Markus Reiterberger (BMW Mo- torrad) ninth as he started to get a feel for his latest BMW. Still sore and not quite at his best after suffering muscle spasms in his back, Davies posted the 10th-best time. Cortese was one place behind Davies, with La- verty (GO Eleven) 12th as he gets used to Bitubo forks and shocks on his V-4 Ducati. The fastest WorldSSP rider was Jules Cluzel (GMT 94) with a 1:45.694. Rea was again the top rider on the final day of testing in Porti- mao, January 27, in what is the final European track outing for the WorldSBK grid before the build up to the first round in Australia, in late February. Rea finished with a flourish and a 1:40.855 lap, with Lowes again second fastest with a 1:41.814. Rea's final advantage was almost a second over the Yamaha rider in what were again incredibly windy conditions. Light rain threatened to stop play with two hours to go but it came to little and the bulk of the field took to the field to make their last adjustments and fast laps before the end of the European testing season. Bautista was finally third quick- est, upping his pace late in the day. Haslam posted the fourth- best time of all and Van der Mark ended up fifth. After a particularly strong first day Sykes ended up sixth fast- est, his time Sunday almost 1.4 seconds from the incredible pace of Rea. The GRT Yamaha duo of Cor- tese and Melandri placed seventh and eighth fastest, respectively. Razgatlioglu did not resort to qualifying tires, and as a result dropped back from his day-one top four status to ninth. Reiterberger ended up 10th fastest on the day that the team's new white, red and blue livery was unveiled. Davies was 11th today and Laverty 13th, still needing work to be done on the settings of his rear suspension. Again the fastest WorldSSP rider was Cluzel, with an improved 1:44.810. Gordon Ritchie FINAL TEST RESULTS Superbike: 1. Jonathan Rea (Kaw) 1:40.855 2. Alex Lowes (Yam) 1:41.814 3. Alvaro Bautista (Duc) 1:41.934 4. Leon Haslam (Kaw) 1:42.144 5. Michael van der Mark (Yam) 1:42.191 6. Tom Sykes (GB), BMW, 1:42.246 7. Sandro Cortese (Yam), 1:42.469 8. Marco Melandri (Yam) 1:42.507 9. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Kaw) 1:42.537 10. Markus Reiterberger (BMW) 1:43.146 11. Chaz Davies (Duc) 1:43.361 12. Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Duc) 1:43.834 13. Eugene Laverty (Duc) 1:43.950 14. Alessandro Delbianco (Hon) 1:44.855 Supersport: 1. Jules Cluzel (Yam) 1:44.810 2. Raffaele De Rosa (MV) 1:45.383 3. Lucas Mahias (Kaw) 1:45.689 4. Hikari Okubo (Kaw) 1:45.919 5. Corentin Perolari (Yam) 1:46.280 PHOTOGRAPHY BY GOLD & GOOSE

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