Iker Lecuona, Bulega's new
teammate, secured the sixth-
best time on his new Ducati, and
like Bulega, also tipped off at the
stubbornly damp turn five. He
got out again to set more useful
laps as he gets to know his new
team more each day.
The second bimota of Axel
Bassani was seventh fastest, the
second factory Yamaha of An
-
drea Locatelli was eighth ("Loka"
fell at
turn four at one stage),
and the top 10 was rounded
out by new GYTR GRT Yamaha
signing Stefano Manzi and the
still injured Jonathan Rea—not
too shabby, on what has always
been a tricky CBR (in WorldSBK
spec, at least) over the past few
years.
With a 2026 Ninja ZX-10RR
that has sprouted big winglets
and some more changes on and
under its skin, America's Garrett
Gerloff was 11th fastest.
Miguel Oliveira (RoKIT BMW
Motorrad) was the top new BMW
competition signing, in 12th
place, with his teammate Danilo
Petrucci down in 17th place after
topping a short day one in the
wet.
Top regular Honda rider, and
yet another new 2026 WorldSBK
face, Jake Dixon, was 13th. Bau
-
tista placed 15th.
In WorldSSP
testing, Philipp
Oettl was the fastest rider,
with second-season Kawasaki
WorldSSP Team rider Jeremy
Alcoba the second fastest of the
middleweight runners.
Gordon Ritchie
WorldSBK Jerez Test Times (Top 10)
1. Nicolo Bulega (Duc) 1:39.331
2. Alex Lowes (bim) +0.119
3. Xavi Vierge (Yam) +0.439
4. Sam Lowes (Duc) +0.480
5. Michael van der Mark (BMW)
+0.505
6. Iker Lecuona (Duc) +0.648
7. Axel Bassani (bim) +0.738
8. Andrea Locatelli (Yam) +1.014
9. Stefano Manzi (Yam) +1.016
10. Jonathan Rea (Hon) +1.111
VOLUME 63 ISSUE 4 JANUARY 27, 2026 P51
Alex Lowes was
consistently quick on
the bimota.
Xavi Vierge adapted
well to his new Yamaha,
finishing third.
