Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1189298
IN THE WIND P30 Rea Leads Final 2019 Jerez Test T he last on-track 2019 ac- tion for the vast majority of the WorldSBK field took place between November 28-29 at the regular test and racing venue at Angel Nieto Circuit in Jerez, Spain. Unbroken Spanish winter sunshine was in place for both days but real track action did not start until 11 a.m. each day to al- low the track surface to warm up sufficiently. Qualifying tires were available and most, but not all, used them at some stage. At the end, it was arguably the most profitable two days of all for Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Rac- ing Team), as he not only set the best lap time by some distance, but he got to try all but one of his potential new components, as he experimented in a way that is simply not possible in the era of restricted test days and not enough time on race weekends. His best time was set on a qualifying rear tire, and if it wasn't for the cement dust residue after a major oil spill, he would proba- bly have gotten under his existing track record. Rea did not do a final day long run, which most riders try to do at least once in a test. "It is sometimes easy to get lost this time of year doing a long run, but we did a race distance on most of the rears we used and my consistency and pace. I feel pretty strong," said Rea. Although Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha) was the only top rider not to be as fast on day two as day one, his Thursday open- ing time put him just ahead of the impressive top independent rider, Loris Baz (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha). Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha) was the unlucky one to have lost a lot of his engine oil with around two hours of track time left, leaving a big slick into turn one that two following WorldSSP riders could not avoid and crashed hard, thankfully without injury. After a long red-flag stoppage there was one hour of track ac- tion left but another red flag—in a test littered with them after 26 different riders shared track time—was thrown before the end. Alex Lowes (KRT) crashed while going for a best time on a qualify- ing tire. He was still fourth fastest on the day, and fifth fastest overall, as he took his second step on the bike that has won the championship for the past five years. There was a final 10-minute period of action after his fall was dealt with. Job done for Jonathan Rea, who once again ended the test fastest.