Factory Kawasaki's Tom Sykes set the pace over two days of World Superbike testing at Motorland Aragon, going underneath Marco Melandri's pole times using race tyres even after a fast crash on the opening day caused him some bruising.

The Huddersfield youngster was more than a second faster than team-mate Joan Lascorz and the works BMW of Leon Haslam, with Sykes citing improved front-end grip as a contributing factor to his increased pace. He crashed when his gear-lever dug into the tarmac on a downhill left-hander but Sykes escaped with light neck, shoulder and hip damage.

“I think we can be very pleased because we improved the feeling with the Ninja ZX-10R and I was able to manage my lap times a little bit easier. We improved the performance on race tyres at this track so hopefully that will improve our race times at the other tracks. We found better feedback and front traction at this test. I did a 1’57.2 on race tyres," he said.

"The weather has been kind to us through this test, even if it was a little cold and quite windy, but conditions were quite consistent. I was a bit sore after my early fall, so my physical condition is not the best and that did not help me on the bike. It was a small mistake as I caught the gear lever on a fast downhill left. I am fine, just a bit stiff in my neck, shoulders and hips, but we still put in a good performance today and I will be fine for Imola.

"The team have been working fantastically well and Kawasaki has been progressing forwards, so big thanks to them. We used two bikes in the garage at this test and that saved us a little bit of time. Both bikes feel identical and the overall feeling is great. If we can keep working like this hopefully we can have a nice season.”