Remy Gardner set the pace on the opening day of World Superbike Championship testing in Jerez. In the afternoon, there were no improvements as rain made the track wet, limiting on-track action.
In his best of 25 laps, the Australian from GYTR GRT Yamaha posted a lap time of 1m39.837s, putting him 0.197s ahead of Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Ducati). Dominique Aegerter (GYTR GRT Yamaha) was third, ahead of Jonathan Rea (Pata Yamaha), with Álvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Ducati) completing the top five in WSBK.
During the morning, Rea and Bautista had crashes at turn 13, and the one suffered by the Spaniard led to a short red flag period. The top rookie was Nicolò Bulega (Aruba.it Ducati), who finished eighth among the Superbike riders. Andrea Iannone (Team GoEleven/Ducati) ended the day in 11th place on his first day of work after a four-year suspension.
Three MotoGP riders were also on the track. Stefan Bradl, on two Honda bikes, posted the fifth and seventh overall times, while Lorenzo Savadori (Aprilia) was eighth, and Michele Pirro (Ducati) recorded the ninth fastest time.
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