Kawasaki’s Loris Baz got one over his team-mate Tom Sykes during the second World Superbike free practice session at Jerez. The Frenchman set the fastest time of the weekend so far – a 1’42.677 to top the sheets this afternoon, and went 0.02 seconds under the lap record.
Sykes could only manage third, but was only two tenths off the pace of his younger colleague. Aprilia’s Marco Melandri had to settle for second quickest, but the times were so tight, that only half a second separated the top ten.
Pata Honda’s Leon Haslam obviously found something that he has been lacking so far this season, as he catapulted his Honda to fourth on the timing screens, with a time that was only one-seventh hundredths of a second slower than the Kawasaki of Sykes.
At the start of the session Pata Honda’s Jonathan Rea made his way into the top four, after ending FP1 in ninth after five minutes out on track with a 1’43.079, going four tenths faster than his best time from the earlier session. In a repeat of the morning outing, Davies crashed again unhurt, at Michelin after only a handful of minutes out on the circuit. But the rather tall Welshman did make it back out to complete a few laps.
Meanwhile Rea was not the only one to improve – Aprilia’s Sylvain Guintoli made his mark into the top five, with less than ten minutes left on the clock. The England-based Frenchman lapped a 1’43.114 knocking former MotoGP racer, Toni Elias back down to sixth. But at the flag Guintoli ended the afternoon in eighth.
With only three minutes remaining there was a flurry of activity out on track, with the timing screens turning red for many riders. Kawasaki’s Loris Baz was outside the top ten, until a 1’42.677 meant he pulverised the lap set by Melandri – by a tenth to top the sheets.
The rider who made the most impact during those dying minutes was Haslam. The Smalley rider blasted through to fourth, with a 1’42.881. Voltcom Suzuki’s Eugene Laverty also knocked off a few tenths off his best lap – and last years double race winner ended FP2 sixth overall, with crashing Davies in seventh.
In the end Pata Honda’s Jonathan Rea was three tenths off his team-mate's best lap, but did stay inside the top ten. Voltcom Suzuki’s Alex Lowes stayed in eleventh overall, but did knock seven tenths off his lap time, which is no mean feat for the youngster. Andreozzi ended the day as the fastest Evo spec bike out on the track, with Barrier second quickest, finishing the session 13th overall.
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