Team regulars Alex Lowes and Axel Bassani set their laps on Wednesday, 17 September, while test rider Xavi Fores set his laps on the opening day, Tuesday, 16 September.

This Jerez test was scheduled between the recent Magny-Cours round (where Alex secured three podium places in succession on the bimota BK998 Rimini) and the forthcoming tenth round of the year at Motorland Aragon.

Fores worked through components and set-up options before Lowes and Bassani tested with them on Wednesday, saving both regular riders and the technical crews time to evaluate the new items and thus move the overall development programme forward.

Weather conditions were very hot at this test, which in some ways proved useful in getting more data and set-up information in these kinds of circumstances, especially in the morning and early afternoon sessions.

The extreme track temperatures of around 60°C in the later afternoon period prevented any meaningful feedback. Having understood this situation would arise, both Lowes and Bassani’s tech crews opted to stop testing at that point, with each rider having already set a high number of laps.

Although not shooting for fast times as such, Alex set his single best lap time thanks to a 1’38.845 and Axel’s best one-lap pace came from his 1’39.156.

The FIM Superbike World Championship will get underway once more between 26-28 September, at another Spanish circuit - Motorland Aragon.

Alex Lowes stated: “That was a good day’s work over 70 laps. We tried some new items, confirming some ideas that we had before. The track was really hot, but it is always good to practice in these types of conditions. We were coming off a good weekend in Magny Cours, so the target was to keep the momentum, keep the positivity, and we know Aragon is not our strongest track. So, we want to arrive there fresh and as positively as possible to achieve the best results. A good day at Jerez, so massive thanks to the team, who have been working since yesterday with Xavi. There were hot working conditions for them in the garage while they were changing lots of things. Testing is always busy for all the guys, so a big thank you to them, and now we are focused on Motorland Aragon.”

Axel Bassani stated: “We did a lot of laps on Wednesday morning, I think 65. It was a good test and we tried a lot of things on the set-up of the bike, and with the electronics. I think we found something for the next races. It was really hot today, which was good in the morning, but in the afternoon it was quite impossible to test things, because it was 60°C on the asphalt and sometimes that can be confusing. But, I think we did a really good job all together, and we are ready for the next race.”

Pere Riba, Crew Chief for Alex Lowes, stated: “We finished the two days of testing and we followed the plan to test on the first day with Xavi Fores, then with Alex on the second day. Yesterday, we focused on some new items, keeping the development of the bike going, and improving our understanding of the weaker points, so that we can still make steps forward. Xavi worked very hard. The condition of the track yesterday was very good, very fast. In the morning in particular it was really fast and then in the afternoon, from around 12.30 it started to be very hot. Then, you cannot get the same information. Today, with Alex we started at 10am and we tried to test all the things we wanted from then until 2pm. Then we stopped as the track temperature increased. Alex was up to speed straight away from the first lap, showing confidence with the bike, and we understood a couple of items that can help for the future. Everything went very smoothly. We also focused on preparing the starting point for the Jerez race weekend. We are quite happy with the package we have got. After Magny Cours, where Alex was doing a great job and had great results, it seems we have kept going in the same way. We did not use any soft tyres, just race tyres, and we were not far from the top times. We are very happy and let’s see what we can do during the next races in Motorland.”

Marcel Duinker, Crew Chief for Axel Bassani, stated: “Due to the forecast of hot conditions, we went out straight away at 10am and tested all the new components in the morning. These are for future development, mainly, and we took this opportunity to test these new items in hot conditions. We know that once we start testing after the final round of the year, we will find cool and grippy track conditions, and that is not what we will find, on average, during the season. We did 65 laps with Axel, and we have a clear understanding of these new components. Next for us is the Motorland Aragon race weekend, and I think we are all looking forward to the last three rounds of the season. We will try to push to get the best possible results, and soon after that, we will get back into the winter tests.”