Test day 1 conclusion Spain

Rea fastest ahead of Haslam and Gerloff

The most important events of the first test day in Barcelona are summarized on our website in the report “WSBK Test Day 1”. There were only a few surprises and the informative value of the times driven is limited. Some teams often use Pirelli qualifier tires in the test and their drivers hunt for impressive lap times with almost empty tanks. Others deliberately do without it and ride the somewhat softer mixture, which was developed by the standard supplier for the Superpole Race. In addition to the reigning world champion and Ducati Hope Redding, HRC Honda ace Leon Haslam and Garrett Gerloff as the best Yamaha rider were particularly impressive on the first day. The most astonishing thing for us was that both Haslam and Rea stated on the record that they weren’t working so hard for a fast lap time. More on this below in the interviews.

BMW represented in the top ten as well
At least it is reassuring for the BMW fans that not only Tom Sykes is pretty close to the front, but Jonas Folger is also represented in the top ten. The Bavarian had a violent crash in the first sector just before noon, but was able to continue his test a few hours later. Kawasaki rider Isaac Viñales also had to cope with a crash, but was able to continue afterwards. Initially Redding dominated until he was replaced at the top by Yamaha ace Gerloff and Jonathan Rea unpacked the hammer again towards the end. His best time of 1’40.793 is the new benchmark in the WorldSBK. Below is the ranking of day 1.

Interesting comparison of the top speed figures

Not the fastest on the straight set the best lap times, but with Jonathan Rea, the driver with the best time in this comparison was only to be found in P11. Gerloff and Haslam were also not at the forefront in this discipline, while many Ducatis were once again excellent in this regard. As is so often the case, the short Alvaro Bautista was the “Speed King” again this time. Even in his second year for HRC Honda, the Spaniard is usually unbeatable in this discipline.

Some driver voices after the first day

Jonathan Rea: „I tested for myself and with the lap times I was surprised when the opponents drove so fast early on. After lunch we tried different front setup topics and electronics updates and different settings. Bit by bit we are making progress and on the second day we will test topics with the balance of the bike. In addition, various translations and things like that. Sometimes the engine still feels a bit aggressive after we have a lot more power. We work with that.“.

Chaz Davies after day 1: “I have to admit that I haven’t sat on the Ducati for 5 months. So I took it easy at the beginning and didn’t push too hard. My crew chief is English and of course we in the GoEleven team also have a lot of Italians in the pits. The mood is very good and so far everything has been going well. I was particularly surprised at how quickly I felt at home on the Ducati Panigale V4R. After a few laps, it was as if I had only recently been relegated and not, as in truth, a very long time ago. At first it was a pure shakedown and then we tried some parts and different settings. At the moment I am super happy and have a lot of fun, everything works so wonderfully.”.

Alvaro Bautista: „We had a good testing program, but physically I don’t feel at 100 percent. Some chest pain after a crash in motocross last week. But tomorrow is a new day and I am basically satisfied. We tested several things that already worked very well. Also optimizations of the engine, which for me feels a lot better than before. Even if I’m a bit limited, there are no complaints so far and we have taken a step forward, no question about it.“.

Leon Haslam: „Everything went very well today compared to last year when I had a lot of problems. I’m not very happy about the fast time, but above all about the consistency I had. At the moment they are very well on track and are testing various things. I like the new corner a lot better than last year when I had a bad fall there. This time I drove with the new layout there very smoothly and with a considerable incline. We still have a few things to try with the position on the bike and with the chassis, which Alvaro was already working on.“. (The editors: Last year, Federico Caricasulo had got Haslam out of the saddle at Turn 10, so the Englishman was not to blame for his heavy fall).

Garrett Gerloff: „I had a lot of fun today, also on the new turn 10. They were basic things that we tried on the first day. Of course, my goal is to fight for podiums and wins. We are working towards that. I don’t have any problems at the moment and it’s going very well. Tomorrow I’ll try some things again and please don’t ask me about them in detail. My people told me not to tell you too much about it,“. (The US boy smiled and then he was out of the picture again).

Jonas Folger: „First we tried a basic setting and then found a slightly better balance. We tried a lot of things today and the grip was a little lacking in some places. But over time we understood which direction to go. In the end, on Tuesday we put on a soft tire and with that I tried to force something that worked out quite well so far. We still have some parts and electronics to test. We will definitely not run out of work on Thursday.”.

Beware of hasty judgments about performance

As mentioned at the beginning, reporters in particular do not know who exactly is on the route with which combination. The smarter drivers and teams would never tell them, which is why we don’t even ask about it. Above all, unlike a majority of the scribes, we learned our lesson years ago. It cannot be emphasized enough, even if even professionals rarely really understand it, but points can only be won in the race. Before the traffic lights go out, countless supposed and real experts are always wrong with their forecasts. We saw a prime example at the MotoGP season opener in Losail last weekend. We therefore guard against premature euphoria about the good times at BMW, for example. In Motorland Aragon, points are expected to be driven for the first time on Saturday, May 22nd at 2 p.m. Only an hour later do we know the real favorites, but this only applies to the 2nd day. Things can look completely different on the next course, also because falls and other breakdowns can always happen in racing.

>>Continue on Thursday with our live report from day 2 in Barcelona.

Unless otherwise stated, this applies to all images (© WorldSBK).