WorldSBK, Jerez Testing [Day 1] | Nicolo Bulega sets a searing pace as 2024 prep begins – PICS

Nicolo Bulega showed up his more experienced rivals as he paced the first day of WorldSBK testing in Jerez.

The Italian – who joins the title-winning Aruba.it Racing Ducati team after winning the WorldSSP Championship in 2023 – lapped the Jerez circuit in a 1m 38.292secs, more than a second quicker than closest rival Alex Lowes.

The test, which runs over two days, is being attended by all five main factory manufacturers and a handful of this year’s independent contenders.

Despite the gulf to the top, Lowes was still able to out-perform the factory ROKiT BMW duo of Toprak Razgatlioglu and Michael van der Mark, the former in fine fettle straight away as he looks to give the German marque its first win since 2020 this season.

Remy Gardner – riding alone for the GYTR GRT team after illness ruled Dominique Aegerter out – was the best of the Yamaha contingent in fifth place, just ahead of new Yamaha lead Jonathan Rea in sixth position.

Having only thrown his leg over a race bike for the first time in four years in November 2023, Andrea Iannone proved competitive out of the box as he swept to the seventh fastest time, ahead of Garrett Gerloff on the Bonovo Action BMW M 1000 RR, while Danilo Petrucci and defending champion Alvaro Bautista completed the top ten.

In his first WorldSBK group test outing since making his move from Moto2, Sam Lowes was a solid 15th fastest on the Marc VDS Racing Ducati.