Alvaro Bautista was still the fastest rider on day two, as his best time was just half a tenth off the lap record despite crashing.
Aruba.it Ducati rider Alvaro Bautista was the fastest on the second day of the Superbike World Championship testing taking place this week in Barcelona despite suffering a crash on the Friday session along with Team HRC’s Iker Lecuona.
With only a half-worth day’s of testing available to the official Ducati squad, Bautista nevertheless managed to set the fastest time, coming very close to the Circuit de Barcelona-absolute Catalunya’s record with a best time of 1:40.459.
The Spaniard also tested the new Pirelli front tires, although he was unable to avoid a crash at turn 11 in the early morning.
Lecuona finished second, 62 thousandths of a second behind Bautista, as Team HRC maintained the strong performance from Thursday. Regrettably, his day was cut short in the morning when he was taken to the hospital after a crash at turn 14.
Jonathan Rea finished third and Alex Lowes finished fifth for Kawasaki today, with Michael Ruben Rinaldi separating the Kawasaki for Aruba.it Ducati.
Dominique Aegerter, who made his debut appearance on WorldSBK with GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team at the circuit, spearheaded Yamaha’s attack in the timing sheets by finishing sixth overall.
Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK) placed seventh overall with a time of 1’41.196 seconds for the factory Yamahas, as teammate Andrea Locatelli finished the day in 13th, three tenths behind the 2021 Champion.
The second day of testing went well for Dutch rider Michael van der Mark and his ROKIT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team, who placed eighth.
BMW brought a lot of upgrades to the test. Van der Mark tested some rider ergonomic elements, including two improvements to the fuel tank, and his best time was a 1’41.221s, which was seven tenths slower than Bautista’s mark.
