Honda’s WorldSBK effort showed promise at Barcelona with Iker Lecuona rounding out the shortened two days of testing third in the combined times.

Xavi Vierge joined his teammate in the top ten, however a turn 12 crash in Saturday afternoon’s wet conditions sent the Spaniard to Barcelona hospital for checks on pain to his ribs. The resulting assessment confirming a fracture to his twelfth rib. A disappointing end with the first race of the season less than two weeks away.

“The crash was a real shame and came at the end of what’s been a constructive testing session,” the former Moto2 rider confirmed. “Montmelo is kind of a home track for me, but also a new track for me on the CBR, so the first goal was to build confidence with the bike and understand the areas where we need to work and improve the set-up. We focused on those aspects and took some steps forwards over the two days, getting into quite a good rhythm and collating a lot of information.

“On Saturday afternoon the conditions worsened and after lunch the rain came. We took the opportunity to work on some rain set-ups and wet Pirelli tyres but unfortunately, I suffered a crash which has left me in quite a bit of pain. I will start immediately with physiotherapy and rehabilitation so as to be back on track as soon as possible.”

The crash was the first Vierge experienced on the Honda Fireblade having switched from the Moto2 Championship to WorldSBK.

“We see from the data it was an entry high side into turn 12,” HRC Team boss Leon Camier explained. “Obviously wet conditions but for us it was important to get out on track and understand the bike in these conditions. The riders have no experience with Pirelli tyres or us with Showa suspension in these conditions, so it was important to get some laps.

“It was an unfortunate mistake, it’s his first crash so far of all the laps we’ve done in testing so unfortunate for him as he’s riding really well but this is racing.”