THE 2019 SEASON IS HERE
By the time you feast your eyes on these words, Phillip Island will have just happened; which is why I’m taking you back in time to the four days of testing and what it means for the year… and I bloody hope it’s right! I mean, with two days at Jerez and two at the incredible Portimao circuit, there were many a shock provided alongside the unsurprising. Let’s start with surprises.
Ducati, with their new V4 MotoGP-inspired weapon, were average at best; and it’s going to take them longer than anticipated to be out-and-out front runners. At closest they were still half a second off the best time over all four days. GP Exile Alvaro Bautista was the quickest of the Ducati riders, ending up fourth overall in Jerez and third in Portugal. Having to learn the undulating rollercoaster of a track, Portimao can’t have helped with the V4s testing programme, but he looked comfortable and at home on the Ducati, albeit slightly behind where we all thought this new bike would be, while Chaz Davies suffered a crash midway through the first day at Jerez.
After digging the bike out of the gravel and taking a scenic route around the service road to get back to the pits, Davies was plagued by a back spasm and only managed two laps on the second day, again limiting time on the new bike. He was sent for tests that showed nothing serious, but the small off had obviously contributed and ruled him out for most of the day. He was back in action at Portimao, but couldn't get anywhere near either the top of the times or his teammate. I’m hoping that they’re thinking about the imposed rev limits and sandbagging to stop any sanctions.
On the other hand Yamaha, and more precisely Alex Lowes, were on top form at the tests, being first or second every day and showing consistent and decent pace at both circuits. Bringing Nico Canepa in as his rider coach and track spotter seems to have worked and given Lowes a boost on last year. Hopefully, he can take the momentum to round one and start the season as strongly. Michael Van Der Mark also had a good couple of tests and seems to be over his broken scaphoid suffered at Qatar last year. Having the extra Yamaha team is helping with data as well. Woop!
BMW wheeled out their new bike at the tests, running for most of Jerez without transponders. The new factory effort looks like a great setup already, though. Sykes and Reiterberger put in a lot of laps in both Spain and Portugal, and the bike shows real promise right off the bat.
Apart from putting his bike over the catch fencing at Jerez, it was great to see the smile on Tom’s face the whole time; let’s just see how long it lasts though, and what the Beemer is like over race distance. Leon Haslam aboard the Kawasaki had a really promising few days. Still getting to grips with the World Superbike spec electronics, he spent his time methodically getting used to the bike and also running race distance tests on the tyres. With times right at the sharp end of both tests, his pace is there, and he finally looks to be a contender.
Unsurprisingly, the other side of the Kawasaki pit box was top dog at both tests. Jonathan Rea was run close in Jerez by Lowes, but on his last exit and with less than five minutes in Portimao, he put in a lap to go almost a second clear in front of his rivals. A second.
With a new engine spec for this year, he’s regained some of the revs that he lost last year – as if he needed it, and he was loving it. We thought this would be the strongest grid of World Superbikes for years and yes, it’s early days, but in a few weeks at Phillip Island at round one, will anyone be able to stop Jonathan Rea? It’s looking like a tall order, again.