WorldSBK was back in action on Wednesday as Pata Yamaha’s Toprak Razgatlioglu topped the opening day of 2023 testing at Jerez.
The first of four days on the Iberian Peninsula saw a packed Jerez Circuit - Angel Nieto with 31 riders in attendance - Sam Lowes, David Muñoz and Ana Carrasco the notable additions from the MotoGP paddock.
Razgatlioglu headed the early times thanks to a 1’39.855 as the morning action got up to speed with 2022 Champion Alvaro Bautista and teammate Michael Rinaldo fresh from the Ducati launch and in hot pursuit.
Danilo Petrucci was quickly in the mix on his debut with the Barni Sparks satellite Ducati, the former MotoGP rider circulating in the top five from the outset as he got to grips with his WorldSBK-spec Panigale V4R after a season in MotoAmerica. While a raft of rookies got acquainted with their respective teams.
John McPhee kicked off his WorldSSP career with the Vince64 by Puccetti Racing team while Tom Sykes took a second look at the Kawasaki ZX-10RR having hit the track back in December with his own Puccetti squad.
Last-season-rivals Lorenzo Baldassarri and Dominique Aegerter began their promotions to the Superbike class with GMT94 and GRT Yamaha respectively, the latter alongside Australian Remy Gardner after the 2021 Moto2 Champion’s switch from a season in MotoGP.
KRT’s Jonathan Rea and Alex Lowes waited until the afternoon before joining the action, the pair immediately running amongst the leading group in fourth and sixth, with Petrucci splitting the duo and Razgatlioglu remaining in charge, thanks to a slightly improved 1’39.587.
Bautista took control of the times with 90 minutes left of the afternoon. A 1’39.185 denying his teammate by 0.05s as the top six continued to switch positions before the 1’39 barrier was broken with Razgatlioglu back in charge on 1’38.597 pace. Rinaldi remained in check from third with Rea, Lowes and Petrucci best of the rest.
Near identical performances from Honda’s Xavi Vierge and Iker Lecuona saw the Fireblades ending the opening day split by just 0.004s in seventh and eighth while Aegerter set the highest number of laps - 89 - on his way to ninth overall and BMW’s Scott Redding completed the top ten.
1 54 WSBK Toprak RAZGATLIOGLU 67 1:38.597 -- ----- 60 253,2
2 1 WSBK Alvaro BAUTISTA 88 1:38.851 0.255 0.255 78 260,7
3 21 WSBK Michael Ruben RINALDI 72 1:39.240 0.643 0.388 64 241,3
4 65 WSBK Jonathan REA 42 1:39.302 0.705 0.062 40 201,9
5 22 WSBK Alex LOWES 37 1:39.684 1.087 0.382 34 271,3
6 9 WSBK Danilo PETRUCCI 53 1:39.790 1.193 0.106 29 259,4
7 97 WSBK Xavi VIERGE 88 1:39.879 1.282 0.089 84 244,1
8 7 WSBK Iker LECUONA 68 1:39.883 1.286 0.004 49 269,5
9 77 WSBK Dominique AEGERTER 89 1:39.934 1.337 0.051 69 248,3
10 45 WSBK Scott REDDING 63 1:39.998 1.401 0.064 47 -
11 31 WSBK Garrett GERLOFF 54 1:40.065 1.469 0.068 54 260,8
12 55 WSBK Andrea LOCATELLI 78 1:40.227 1.630 0.161 33 -
13 5 WSBK Philipp OETTL 63 1:40.234 1.637 0.007 61 271,2
14 87 WSBK Remy GARDNER 86 1:40.551 1.954 0.317 79 216,1
15 60 WSBK Michael VD MARK 64 1:40.769 2.173 0.219 60 -
16 66 WSBK Tom SYKES 37 1:40.882 2.286 0.113 22 261,1
17 76 WSBK Loris BAZ 60 1:41.040 2.443 0.157 56 228,8
18 52 WSBK Oliver KÖNIG 67 1:41.630 3.034 0.591 58 261,2
19 34 WSBK Lorenzo BALDASSARRI 67 1:41.726 3.129 0.095 51 254,8
20 11 WSSP Niccolo BULEGA 53 1:42.454 3.857 0.728 44 227,0
21 61 WSSP Can ONCU 43 1:42.466 3.869 0.012 31 233,4
22 64 WSSP Federico CARICASULO 76 1:42.538 3.941 0.072 57 238,2
23 19 WSSP Andrea MANTOVANI 83 1:43.066 4.469 0.528 76 227,4
24 40 SBK Roman RAMOS 56 1:43.139 4.542 0.073 56 256,2
25 121 WSBK Florian MARINO 11 1:43.214 4.618 0.076 7 263,4
26 122 STK Sam LOWES 52 1:43.383 4.786 0.168 49 245,5
27 99 WSSP Adrian HUERTAS 57 1:43.455 4.858 0.072 48 239,0
28 131 Roberto GARCIA 39 1:44.381 5.784 0.926 26 257,2
29 27 WSSP John MCPHEE 47 1:46.706 8.109 2.325 19 228,2
30 44 David MUÑOZ 30 1:47.672 9.076 0.967 20 228,6
31 222 Ana CARRASCO 40 1:49.538 10.941 1.865 40 226,7
