WorldSBK's first stinging shots of 2018 were fired at Jerez on January 23 and 24, with some usual and some unexpected forces pushing themselves up to the top of the timesheets.
With only six hours of available track time each day, but all dry, the action was intense from the off and culminated in the works Kawasaki duo riding high again.
Tom Sykes jumped up to the final lead on day two with a 1’38.889, with Rea half a second behind on his 2018 spec Ninja.
Niccolo Canepa, a test rider for the official Yamaha squad, sped to third place overall with four minutes to go, with a 1’39.524 lap time.
A bolt from the blue-and-red came Camier-shaped, as Leon reasserted the credentials of the Red Bull Honda squad, with a fourth best time of all, even if he was still using the 2017 electronics system on his Honda at this test.
Aruba.it Racing Ducati rider Marco Melandri ran out fifth fastest, and radical changes for the Milwaukee Aprilia team in 2018 saw Eugene Laverty rise to sixth.
Jordi Torres (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) was another radical improver on the final day, to seventh, displacing even the potent force that is Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK) to eighth.
Michael van der Mark was ninth and BSB regular Leon Haslam tenth on his JG Speedfit Bournemouth Kawasaki.
The recently promoted Orelac VerdNatura Kawasaki team, now in WorldSBK and WorldSSP, saw Leandro ‘Tati’ Mercado 11th fastest ahead of even MotoGP returnee Loris Baz (Althea Racing BMW).
Chaz Davies was a lowly 13th, 1.8 seconds from the best today, with his new European-races-only running mate for Ducati, Micahel Ruben Rinaldi, 14th. Luke Mossey was another BSB rider in the world mix, 15th. Jake Gagne from the USA placed 17th on his Red Bull Honda.
Lorenzo Zanetti ended up 18th on his Panigale V4, in WorldSBK guise over these two days.
Yonny Hernandez (Pedercini Kawasaki) was 20th. Top WorldSSP rider was five time champion Kenan Sofuoglu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing), 23rd fastest overall.
Many of the Jerez testing competitors will now head to Portimao in Portugal for two more days of testing, on 28th and 29th January.
