The first morning of action for the two-day MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship test at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya with Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) topping the timesheets in a Yamaha 1-2. Gerloff was the only rider to lap in the 1’41s bracket as he finished the opening four hours just over a tenth clear of reigning Champion Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK).

Gerloff posted a 1’41.918s to go fastest in the first four hours of running and he, and his GRT Yamaha team, spent the morning focusing on long runs as well as looking at improvements in the electronics package. Razgatlioglu, whose best time was a 1’42.040s, had a new exhaust fitted to his Yamaha YZF-R1 as well as a new structure under his seat. The team were also looking to try out a new swingarm, also on Andrea Locatelli’s bike ahead of the Aragon Round in April. It was a strong morning for Razgatlioglu’s teammate, Locatelli, with the Italian claiming fourth place in the standings as he looked to work on the setup of his bike.

Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) topped part of the early running and finished in third place on his, just 0.150s off top spot as he continues his readjustment to Ducati. The team also are trying swingarm in Barcelona as they look to refine their Panigale V4 R. Teammate Michael Ruben Rinaldi was fifth, less than a tenth away from Bautista. Six-time Champion Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) claimed seventh spot on the opening morning of action, with Rea testing out the fins attached to the tank that teammate Alex Lowes has used. Rea’s time was a 1’42.330s, while Lowes was ninth after posting a 1’42.734s.

It was a difficult start to the test for Loris Baz (Bonovo Action BMW) as the Frenchman suffered from a technical issue with Baz pushing his M 1000 RR machine down the pitlane to get it back into the box 30 minutes into the session. He was able to return to the track after work had been completed, coming home in seventh place as the highest BMW rider. His time was just half-a-second down on Gerloff’s pace. For the BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team, Scott Redding was eighth in the standings with a best time of 1’42.432s with Redding hoping to refine the setup of his M 1000 RR ahead of his first campaign with the German manufacturer; posting the best first sector time in the session.

Team HRC had both bikes in the top ten as Iker Lecuona and Xavi Vierge finished line astern in ninth and tenth respectively. Vierge was hoping to work on the electronics setup of his CBR1000RR-R machine throughout the test. Lecuona’s best time, a 1’42.692s was seven tenths off Gerloff’s pace with Vierge around 0.010s slower than his teammate.

Luca Bernardi’s (Barni Spark Racing Team) morning running came to an early end after he suffered a crash at Turn 10 and damaged the left side of his Panigale V4 R just over two hours into the day. His time was a 1’43.385s, putting him in 14^th place.

In WorldSSP, Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team) led the way after posting a 1’46.734s, ahead of both Raffaele De Rosa (Ducati Orelac Racing VerdNatura) and Oli Bayliss (Barni Spark Racing Team), both of whom had disrupted mornings. De Rosa’s progress was halted after he came to a stop on track in the second sector after eight laps, while Bayliss had a collision with Rea into the sweeping left-hander of Turn 10; forcing the Australian into the garage while the team carried out repairs. Bayliss was able to return to the track and post the second-fastest time in WorldSSP, while De Rosa remained in his garage.

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