The 2024 WorldSBK pre-season kicked off today at the Jerez-Ángel Nieto circuit, with rookie Nicholas Bulega (Ducati) who achieved the best time of the first day in Superbike, while in Supersport, it was the German Marcel Schroetter who achieved the best time.
Almost the entire WorldSBK grid traveled to Jerez for the start of the 2024 pre-season, which started today and ends tomorrow. A season which, on a technical level, presents novelties with the entry into force of a new regulation which includes measures such as: control of fuel flow, reduction and regulation of the fuel tank, weight combined rider-motorcycle or the revolutions per minute limit.
The weather was perfect for this first day, with maximum temperatures of around 23 degrees Celsius today, with the same forecast for tomorrow, ideal conditions to carry out the work program of each team present. In total, 35 riders were on track today, including 21 in Superbike, 13 in Supersport and Stefan bradl on the Honda MotoGP.
Although the times are not official since they are private sessions and we are still waiting for the second and final session tomorrow, they can give an idea of the evolution that the teams were able to make during the break regulatory. So, today, he is the “rookie” of the Ducati-Aruba Superbike team, Nicholas Bulega (Ducati Aruba), who finished the day at the top of the standings with a time of 1'38.292, a time very close to the best reference in the category on this circuit established in 2019 by Jonathan Rhea in 1'38.247.
It precedes the only MotoGP present, and the rest of the field, by more than a second, which allows us to assume the use of qualifying tires...
alex lowes (Kawasaki) is second in the Superbikes, with 1.39.474, followed by the BMW rider Toprak Razgatlioglu with 1.39.521 and his teammate Michael Van Der Mark (BMW) in 1.39.531, encouraging times for the men of the German manufacturer.
The fifth time for the Yamaha Remy gardner is 1'39.679, followed by Jonathan Rhea (Yamaha-1'39.682).
Andrea Iannone (Ducati-1'39.684), Garrett gerloff (BMW-1'39.763), Danilo Petrucci (Ducati-1'39.773), with Alvaro Bautista (Ducati) close the top 10 with a time of 1'39.847.
The reigning world champion rode his Ducati weighted with 6 kilos and stopped his session before the others, suffering much more than expected following his race at Sepang (we will come back to this).
The best time of the Supersport drivers was achieved by the German Marcel Schroetter (MV Agusta) in 1'42.015, followed by the Italian Stefano manzi in 1'42.144 and from the Turk Can Oncü in 1'42.159. The Spanish pilot Adrian Huertas finished fourth with a best time of 1'42.614, the French Lucas Mahias eighth in 1'43.181 while Valentine Debise will only be filming over the next few days in Almeria.
Tomorrow, second and final session of these private tests for the drivers of the Superbike and Supersport world championship.
An idea of the atmosphere of the first day of this test:
Results of the first day of testing in Jerez de la Frontera:
Photo credit: A.Rivero-Circuito de Jerez
