Alex Lowes takes the lead on second day at Jerez
Tuesday, 25 November 2014 16:46 GMT
Sykes and Haslam very close to the Crescent Suzuki rider.
The second day of testing at Jerez de la Frontera got underway in conditions that did not look promising for the WSBK riders, given the still-wet tarmac following yesterday afternoon’s heavy rain. The only riders who decided to venture out initially were Supersport’s Kenan Sofuoglu (San Carlo Puccetti Racing Team) and Leandro ‘Tati’ Mercado (Barni Racing Team Ducati). As soon as conditions improved all the other riders decided to follow and, after lunch, the 4.428km Andalusian track was busy.
Lap times dropped significantly, as Alex Lowes topped the timesheets courtesy of a strong 1’40.730 set in the second half of the day. The Crescent Suzuki rider edged out fellow Englishman Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) and Leon Haslam (Red Devils Roma Aprilia) by only 0.123 and 0.135 seconds, respectively. The former Pata Honda rider, who was the second most active on the track thanks to 76 laps completed, has already proved to be very competitive in what was his only second day aboard the new RSV4 RR.
New KRT recruit Jonathan Rea was not far off the pace as he lapped in 1’41.127, and he was trailed by Michel Fabrizio, who is testing the Aprilia machine for team Red Devils, and reigning Champion Sylvain Guintoli (Pata Honda World Superbike).
Despite an impressive total of 81 laps, 2014 WSS Champion and World Superbike rookie Michael van der Mark did not manage to break the 1min 42secs barrier.
Day 2, Jerez: 1- Alex Lowes 1’40.730 2- Tom Sykes 1’40.853 3- Leon Haslam 1’40.865 4- Jonathan Rea 1’41.127 5- Michel Fabrizio 1’41.384 6- Sylvain Guintoli 1’41.639 7- Michael van der Mark 1’42.651 8- Randy De Puniet 1’42.938 9- Kenan Sofuoglu (WSS) 1’43.730 10- Raffaele De Rosa (STK) 1’44.920 11- Luca Salvadori (STK) 1’45.985
