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AS IT HAPPENED: Bulega fastest in the dry, Rea tops wet-weather running during Jerez test!

Thursday, 23 January 2025 08:51 GMT

After a well-deserved break, teams and riders are back in action as Jerez hosts a two-day test for almost the entire WorldSBK field

The 2025 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship's start is getting closer and closer, with just under a month to go before the season-opening Australian Round. Before that, the Circuito de Jerez - Angel Nieto hosts two days of testing as everyone gets back up to speed, refiners their packages and aim to head 'Down Under' in the best possible shape. You can follow live timing from Jerez HERE while keeping up to date with the action in our live blog.

Day 2:

18:20 - you can catch up on the Day 2 action with the end of day report HERE, while the star of Thursday, Montella, gave his thoughts: read them here.

18:00 - a quiet end to the day, and the test, after rain fell on Day 2. Rea ends it on top ahead of Vierge and an impressive Montella with Bassani in fifth. Report and reactions to come...

17:19 - a swift return to the box for Redding

17:17 - Redding's opted to head back out again on his Panigale V4 R, with the #45 now up to 37 laps completed

16:56 - just over an hour left in the day but everyone is now back in the box

16:53 - Rea returned to the pits not that long ago, while Redding ventured back out on the Jerez track

16:40 - Rea's already back out, although Redding's gone back in. Just over an hour remaining in the day

16:35 - a short stint for Rea, who's returned to his box again. However, Redding has gone out on track

16:27 - Rea's ventured back out on his R1. He still leads the timesheets with his 1'53.058s

16:16 - everyone is in the box right now

16:07 - Rea and Redding are back out on track as we enter the final two hours of testing at Jerez

15:46 - it's quietened down on track again, with Rea leading Vierge and Montella. Bassani had been on track in the wet, but his day's finished now

15:21 - Montella is still lapping in the wet - along with Vierge, Bassani and Rea - but he's not setting lap times. He's doing some practice starts at the end of the pit lane

15:07 - Rea's improved his time to a 1'53.058s to maintain his grip on P1, while Montella has gone back into second place; an impressive showing for the rookie in the wet

15:00 - Honda's Vierge has improved his time to a 1'54.372s. He's done 18 laps so far, getting some valuable mileage for the manufacturer after their move to Ohlins suspension

14:53 - Vierge's moved his CBR1000RR-R into P2 with a 1'54.743s. That's around seventh tenths away from Rea's fastest lap

14:32 - Redding's headed out on his Panigale V4 R to test in the wet conditions

14:26 - Rea's back in the box now but not before he improved his lap time to a 1'54.051s

14:18 - Rea, Reiterberger and Vierge make their way back onto the track, sitting at first, sixth and eighth currently

14:12 . Sylvain Guintoli so far has ridden the most laps on the day with 31, and he sits around the middle of the pack in fifth place at 1'55.911. BMW's Technical Director Christian Gonschor told us yesterday that each of the BMW bikes that would be tested in Jerez would be running different specs in order to collect the most data possible.

13:20 - We will be taking a short break in our live coverage but we will return to cover this afternoon's action!

13:16 - Andrea Locatelli returns to the track to continue testing Pata Yamaha's R1, he currently sits in 10th with his fastest lap being 1'59.213

12:48 - Bassani has crashed in the last turn of his 13th lap, causing a brief red flag but the track is already cleared and the green flag is back

12:46 - Vierge is out on the track, looking to test out their new Ohlins suspension with his CBR1000RR-R, read more about the bike's changes here!

12:21 - Jonathan Rea records the session record with a 1'54.433, displacing his own previous lap on his other bike, clocked in at 1'54.719

12:07 - Just tuning in? Click here and catch up on yesterday's main stories! 

12:06  - Gerloff reported to be back in the Kawasaki garage and seems to be uninjured

11:59- Red flag lifted 

11:56 - Garrett Gerloff crashes in the last turn of his 11th lap, causing a red flag, updates coming on his status

11:54 - Yari Montella strides into first on a soaked Jerez circuit with a 1'58.443 in his seventh lap

11:41 Axel Bassani sets the fastest lap of the day with a 1'55.228, in pit lane, speaking to our WorldSBK correspondent he said bimota may try out their new active aerodynamics if weather permits

11:27 - Bimota rider Axel Bassani is out on the track atop his KB998 Rimini

11:26 - after a single lap, Rea returns to pit lane amid what is becoming a downpour in Jerez

11:21 - six-time Champion Jonathan Rea emerges from pit lane

11:20 - Andrea Locatelli crashes in turn 1 of his second lap, walking away seemingly uninjured 

11:13 - BMW's second test rider Sylvain Guintoli enters his eighth lap, only .022 slower than Locatelli, testing different setups for the defending champions 

11:05 - Andrea Locatelli rolls out onto the track with wet tires equipped, looking to build on the work Team Principal Paul Denning outlined yesterday

10:37 - BMW test driver Markus Reiterburger is the first rider out on the track as rain begins to fall in Jerez

10:04 - The word around the paddock is that due to track conditions being neither wet nor dry, riders will wait until either more rain falls to practice in wet conditions or wait until the track dries off to start testing

9:31 - Good morning from an overcast Jerez, Spain! Rain fell overnight at the track so the track is still quite wet, we will keep updating on track conditions and the teams' plans for today

Day 1:

17:37 - Scott Redding looks to close the day on a high note as on his 73rd lap he jumped into P3, pushing Garrett Gerloff out of the podium by a mere .052 of a second

17:20 - Tarran MacKenzie has crashed in turn 1 of lap 56 but has walked away uninjured 

16:52 - Xavi Vierge returns to the from the pit for his 68th lap of the day, currently sat in P7

16:46 - Danilo Petrucci is back into the top five with a 1'39.548, a lap .313 faster than fellow Independent Ducati rider Scott Redding 

16:40 - Gerloff breaks into the top three positions in his 60th lap with 1'39.332 to put him .131 ahead of Bassani and .151 behind Iannone in P2

16:30 - The all-Italian top three features Bulega with an almost half-second lead ahead of Iannone in P2, and .732 of  a second lead ahead of Axel Bassani in P3

16:09 - Not to be outdone, Garrett Gerloff narrowly beats Vierge's time to claim fourth for himself, just .008 faster for a 1'39.908

16:06 - Xavi Vierge and his Team HRC bike surpass the neck-and-neck pair of Bautista and Redding to claim fourth with a 1'39.916

15:59 - Redding is heating up as he moves into fifth place with a 1'40.173, close to matching Bautista's benchmark time, just .026 slower 

15:47 - still relatively quiet on track with just a handful of riders lapping Jerez. No change in the top three, but Alvaro Bautista has moved into fourth place ahead of Vierge

15:22 - Bulega's reclaimed top spot from Bassani, going into the 1'38s - his 1'38.731 is just a couple of tenths away from the race lap record

15:17 - Iannone's moved into third, ahead of Vierge in fourth. Vierge is working with his new crew, Tetsuya Sasaki, at this test. Sam Lowes is fifth, also working with a new crew chief: he's got Gorka Sergua in his box, who was with Vierge previously

14:50 - it's still fairly quiet on track, so let's bring you some updates from pit lane. Team HRC will run Ohlins suspension again, having switched to Showa in 2022. At Marc VDS Ducati, there's a new exhaust. Yamaha have a new swingarm - first run at Jerez in November

14:26 - Bassani's gone back to the top of the timesheets! 'El Bocia' posted a 1'39.463s to lead Bulega by almost three tenths. The #47's best lap time was on his 47th lap time

14:05 - We're back to bring you coverage of the afternoon, and there's been some drama recently. Dominique Aegerter had a tech issue at Turn 13 - he's already completed 36 laps with a best of 1'42.045s. Elsewhere, Bulega still leads with a 1'39.671s and recently Pata Yamaha Team Principal, Paul Denning, discussed the updates and changes at Yamaha - read more HERE

13:02 - We will be taking a short break in our live coverage, we'll be back soon!

12:58 - Nicolo Bulega shows a flash of last year's form with a scorching 1'39.761 lap

12:51 - Bahattin Sofuoglu moves into first place among WorldSBK's rookies

12:48 - Scott Redding atop his new Ducati sits in 14th with a 1'41.072 personal best

12:43 - Axel Bassani reclaims the top spot from Iannone with 1'40.178

12:32 - Things are heating up here in Jerez as 8 riders record times with less than a tenth of a second separating them

12:30 - Alvaro Bautisa and Garett Gerloff record the same exact lap time down to the thousandth of a second with 1'40.341 laps in their ninth and 26th laps respectively

12:27 - Andrea Iannone jumps into first place on the day! He sneaks by Axel Bassani by a mere four thousandths of a second to claim first place with a 1'40.272 lap

12:25 - Nicolo Bulega and Sam Lowes return to the track, joining Andrea Iannone 11th, Remy Gardner, 13th and others 

12:21 - Ryan Vickers currenly leads WorldSBK's cadre of 2025 rookies, currently in 15th less than a tenth of a second behind veteran Tito Rabat

12:17 - Tito Rabat, 14th, is currently the rider who has logged the most laps with 35, followed by Sam Lowes and WorldSSP's Kaito Toba tied with 29 

12:06 - Petrucci again leapfrogging up the rankings! he now sits in sixth behind Sam Lowes after recording a 1'40.500 in his 17th lap

12:03 - The WorldSBK Championship so far this year looks like it could be anyone's year, 12 riders sit within a second of P1

12:01 - Petrucci jumps to 11th in his 16th lap, just a thousanth of a second behind Sam Lowes

11:58 - Danilo Petrucci returns to the track for his 15th lap, currently sat behind Xavi Vierge  in 13th with a .699 gap behind the Honda rider 

11:54 - Garrett Gerloff and Nicolo Bulega return to the track from the pits, looking to improve on their 1'40.458 and 1'40.793 times, placing them at 3rd and 10th respectively

11:47 - Xavi Vierge surges into the would-be points positions with a 1'40.943 lap atop his Honda CBR1000RR-R

11:41 - Axel Bassani claims P1 with a blazing 1'40.285 lap, the top three positions now each a different manufacturer and are separated by less than a 10th of a second

11:38 - Alex Lowes records his fastest lap on the day in his 16th lap, 1'40.899, placing him in 10th for now

11:34 - On his 21st lap, Sam Lowes records a 1'40.347 lap, moving him into second on the day so far and is now returning to pit lane

11:28 - Bautista sits in third with a 1'40.544 time in his 14th lap, now has returned to the pits

11:10 - Dutchman van der Mark had a crash at Turn 8, but he's okay. Meanwhile, 2024 runner-up Nicolo Bulega has moved into second place, 0.241s slower than the #60

10:58 - van der Mark still leads, with Rea moving into second place with a 1'40.717. Andrea Iannone is third, two tenths away from the #65

10:42 - van der Mark's set the first 1'40s lap of the test with a 1'40.285s. Alex Lowes has hit the track, as has six-time Champion Jonathan Rea

10:37 - the majority of riders have headed out now, including Axel Bassani on the Bimota KB998, Bahattin Sofuoglu and Tito Rabat for their first taste of the Yamaha R1 and Yari Montella for his public debut on the Panigale V4 R

10:25 - it's now van der Mark at the top with a 1'41.104s. Plenty of riders have ventured out onto the track in the first 25 minutes

10:15 - Redding's currently top of the times with a 1'43.015s, so times still not represenattive. The #45's time is around six seconds off lap record pace

10:05 - just an out lap for van der Mark and Redding, but Tetsuta Nagashima - riding in place of Lecuona - sets the first time of the test with a 1'57.624s, before improving by five seconds on his second lap. Expect the times to fall rapidly

10:00 - the green flag waves and testing at Jerez is underway! Michael van der Mark has headed straight out on track, along with Scott Redding - back on a Panigale V4 R

09:50 - the test action is due to start at 10:00 Local Time (UTC+1), with the entire WorldSBK field bar two riders on track. Reigning Champion Toprak Razgatlioglu and Team HRC's Iker Lecuona miss out through injury. Weather is better than expected, and the day's action will conclude at 18:00