Several MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship teams and their riders are testing at Misano World Circuit “Marco Simoncelli” today and tomorrow, and former MotoAmerica Superbike rider Garrett Gerloff topped Wednesday morning’s session aboard his GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team YZF-R1. Gerloff was the early pacesetter during the first four-hour track session as the teams and riders prepare for the 2022 season.
The Texan posted a 1’34.419-second lap to top the timesheets in the early stages of the test as he continued to show strong pace in the off-season, finishing around half-a-tenth quicker than his nearest rivals. His teammate Kohta Nozane, entering his second campaign in WorldSBK, was in ninth place on the first morning of the test.
Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) was second and posted a time of 1’34.741s during the first four-hour session on track as Ducati continued to test the swingarm on his Ducati Panigale V4 R machine first tested at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve in an off-season test just a couple of weeks ago. Along with teammate Michael Ruben Rinaldi, the pair continued to work on some electronic settings and new chassis components. Rinaldi posted a time of 1’34.929 to move into third place, around two tenths slower than his teammate.
Rookie Philipp Oettl (Team GoEleven) continued to show rapid pace ahead of his maiden WorldSBK season as he claimed fourth on the first morning of the test, posting a 1’35.052s. The team will be working on the ergonomics of their Ducati Panigale V4 R as well as a new fork and exhaust to test.
Former MotoAmerica Superbike rider Loris Baz (Bonovo Action BMW) was the fastest rider on the BMW M 1000 RR with a lap time of 1’35.328s. Baz has been testing new components provided by BMW, and he was fifth-fastest in the morning session.
