Kawasaki’s Tom Sykes went underneath his own outright lap record on the second day of testing at Jerez and became the first World Superbike rider to break the 1’40s barrier with a 1’39.924 lap set on his 63rd circuit of the day and pull a full second gap over team-mate and reigning champion Jonathan Rea.

Sykes picked up from where he left off yesterday, beating his Superpole lap of 1’40.292 and Rea had no answer. The Isle of Man resident stuck in a qualifying tyre right at the end of the session but couldn’t get close to the Huddersfield man’s time, ending the day down in seventh place on a 1’40.856.

Ducati’s Davide Giugliano was Sykes’ closest challenger, setting a 1’40.047 on his Aruba-backed Panigale while team-mate Chaz Davies was third quickest and only half a tenth further back.

Honda requested an ten extra minutes of track time at the end of the day with their riders Michael Van Der Mark and Nicky Hayden in fourth and sixth places respectively, split by the Ducati of Xavi Fores who topped the timesheet earlier in the day. Van Der Mark was three-quarters of a second off the pace and Hayden another tenth further back.

Sylvain Guintoli was the quickest of the Yamahas in eighth, just behind Rea while team-mate Alex Lowes set a 1’41.361 for ninth. Milwaukee BMW’s Josh Brookes ended the day in tenth place on a 1’41.826, one place ahead of Leon Camier’s MV Agusta.

James Ellison, on the BSB-spec JG Speedfit Kawasaki, finished in 11th place on a 1’42.442 but was unable to find the pace he showed at Jerez at the end of last year. Peter Hickman was 18th while Leon Haslam didn’t use a transponder but said his best was a 1'41.9.