Bautista in top form as he dominates final day of testing, rookies shine

Fast from the outset of day two, Bautista clocked an early time of 1:30.272s to send a signal to his WorldSBK rivals.

Four tenths clear of what Toprak Razgatlioglu managed on Monday, Bautista was unable to improve as the day went on, however, it was a lap time that proved too good for the competition to match.

• Rea ‘frustrated’ by crash after fastest lap, bike had ‘pretty big dent in it’ 
• ‘I don’t understand why’ - Razgatlioglu confused by FP1 fall

In a class of his own, Bautista looked the most comfortable rider ahead of this weekend’s opening round as work on the set-up of his Panigale V4 R continued. 

Second and just +0.072s down on Bautista was Andrea Locatelli, who continued his strong pre-season.

Fourth overall in FP2, Locatelli’s time put him second on combined times throughout the two days, while Michael Ruben Rinaldi finished third - two tenths down on Bautista.

Looking to join the top three and make it a four-way title fight, Rinaldi has been mightily good throughout testing and appears set for his best season ever in Superbikes.

There was a small blip for the Italian rider as he crashed at turn 10, the same corner that caught out Razgatlioglu on day one. 

Quiet on the final day of pre-season testing were both Jonathan Rea and Razgatlioglu, with the former finishing close to half a second down on Bautista. 

After crashing on day one, Rea once again fell with 30 minutes remaining at turn 4, the same corner that was his undoing on Monday. 

For Razgatlioglu, no attempt at a fast lap was made which resulted in the Yamaha rider finishing down in tenth place - sixth on combined times.

Top rookie went the way of Dominique Aegerter, after the two-time WorldSSP champion was in fantastic form on day two.

Second in FP2, the Swiss rider finished out the test in fifth place as he continued to test items and a new electronics package for GRT Yamaha.