Today at the Jerez circuit, several WorldSBK riders officially started the 2025 pre-season with a first test session. After concluding the 2024 season last Sunday, the teams are already looking ahead to next year, with riders looking to improve their performance and adapt to the new machine configurations.
The major absentees from this session are: Toprak Razgatlioglu, recent 2024 world champion, who is in Türkiye to celebrate his title with his team, and his teammate Michael van der Mark. Likewise, Scott Redding has not received permission from BMW to ride on the Ducati of the MGM team, which deprives him of these first tests.
Leading the times, Nicholas Bulega, from the Aruba.it team, dominated the day with a solid 1'38.142, followed by his teammate Alvaro Bautista, who signed a 1'39.567. Open up, who tested two bikes, took the first two fastest times, while Baptist, although slightly behind, showed good pace with the third best performance.
Garrett Gerloff makes good start on Kawasaki at Jerez
Garrett gerloff, who made his debut with Kawasaki, also performed well, finishing third among the drivers, confirming his good feelings with his new mount. Xavi Virgo, of Honda HRC, was busy testing three different bikes, placing fifth fastest rider with the fourth overall time of the day.
Ryan Vickers, on the Motocorsa team Ducati, completed the top 5 riders with the seventh time, while the return of Sylvain Guintoli on the track made an impression. He put it to the test on his BMW a new engine.
Finally, the team Bimota, with its pilots Florian Marino, alex lowes et Axel Bassani, debuted in red and black, putting aside their traditional green Kawasaki. Although their times were not publicly revealed, they placed fourteenth and sixteenth respectively. The Frenchman was ninth…
Tomorrow, the second and final test session will take place in Jerez, offering riders another opportunity to fine-tune their machines ahead of the 2025 season. WSBK.
WSBK Test Jerez J1: standings
