Baiocco ends official testing on top
Much work for teams and riders at the Circuito de Jerez.
Matteo Baiocco (Althea Racing Ducati) was the fastest rider in Monday's officia test at the Circuito de Jerez, courtesy of the 1’40.870 lap time set by the Italian during the morning session. As the day progressed, the temperatures rose considerably and for the afternoon’s three hours of track time the heat was tough to deal with.
The majority of the front-running teams present at the track (the only one missing was Voltcom Crescent Suzuki) used the seven hours available to continue developing their packages for the last two rounds of the season as well as the upcoming year.
After the joy of sealing both titles on Sunday, Kawasaki Racing Team mainly focused on the electronics of the ZX-10R, but the day had its incidents for new WorldSBK Champion Jonathan Rea and his team-mate Tom Sykes, as they suffered one crash apiece. Sykes, who fell from his Ninja halfway through the morning session, was then delayed by a technical problem in the afternoon.
Sykes and Rea were second and third on the combined timesheets, with Race 2 winner Chaz Davies sixth. Alongside test rider Luca Scassa, Davies evaluated new parts and solutions for the final rounds as well as some others specifically designed for 2016.
Fastest in the second session of the day, Leon Haslam continued to work on the setup of his Aprilia RSV4 RF, while Race 2 podium finisher Jordi Torres opted to try and solve some of the issues that affected his performance early on last weekend.
It was an important day for MV Agusta Reparto Corse, which for the first time since the introduction of its new Magneti Marelli ECU at Aragon was running a new software evolution based on the data collected over the course of recent rounds. Leon Camier also kept working around the new exhaust and engine he used for the first time at the Pirelli Spanish Round.
After narrowly missing on what would have been his first front row start in WorldSBK last Saturday, Michael van der Mark's day included the evaluation of qualifying tyres which Honda bought directly from Pirelli’s Racing Department ahead of the test.
WorldSBK action will resume at Magny-Cours in France for the penultimate round of the season, taking place in just under two weeks' time.
