Gordon Ritchie | January 27, 2023
The top three riders from the 2022 season ended up leading the first 2023 mass-test session at Jerez in Spain over what was to two dry but occasionally cold days.
Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha) was the fastest of all, despite a fall that heavily damaged his bike, including a new swingarm on the final day. His fastest lap was 1’38.269.
Next up, just 0.083 seconds back, was Jonathan Rea (KRT), setting less than 100 laps over two days because the track surface was too cool to use for his team’s testing needs at certain times of the day.
The 2022 World Champion, Alvaro Bautista (Aruba Racing Ducati), took the lightly revamped engine inside his official Panigale V4R chassis to third-best time overall, just a day after attending the combined MotoGP/WorldSBK team launch at the high-end ski resort of Madonna di Campiglio in Italy.
The Ducati champ, too, had an early fall, but he still managed to set a total of 174 laps – more than any other rider on show. He ran his number 1 plate, of course, for the first time. His bike has now got bigger, almost double-decker, with winglets and a different exhaust compared to 2022.
Behind the top three and over 0.3 seconds adrift was Bautista’s teammate, Michael Ruben Rinaldi.
A big gap in pace saw Alex Lowes fifth fastest on the second KRT machine, over 0.9 seconds from Razgatlioglu.
In a year with a fresh intake of more than promising rookie riders two times WorldSSP champ, and MotoE championship winner, Dominique Aegerter (GRT Yamaha) was sixth, pipping the factory Yamaha of Andrea Locatelli after two days of the pre-season competition. Aegerter was the top Independent rider in this first dry-weather full-on test.
Recent MotoGP, Dakar, and MotoAmerica rider Danilo Petrucci took little time to settle into his main 2023 role, going eighth on his Barni Spark Ducati. He was one place ahead of the first factory HRC Honda of Iker Lecuona.
Another rookie rider Remy Gardner (GRT Yamaha), put himself into the top 10 and just under 1.2 seconds off the very best in this early test of his and many other new riders’ mettle.
The top BMW rider was Loris Baz, in 11th place for the new-look Bonovo Action BMW squad. He ended up one place ahead of the official – and aerodynamically updated – M1000RR of Scott Redding.
There were other WorldSBK rookies around, with Lorenzo Baldassari (GMT94) 18th.
Top WorldSSP Rider was Niccolo Bulega (Aruba Racing Ducati) 21st overall, with Can Öncu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) 22nd.
The next challenge for many, and for some new faces too, will be Portimao for more private tests between 31 Jan and 1 Feb. Then they all head to Australia for a round on the last weekend in February.
Gordon Ritchie