Friday 17 January saw the completion of the first test of the new WSBK season for KRT riders Tom Sykes and Loris Baz, with both lapping confidently and at pace at the Spanish circuit of Almeria.

During a two-day test the team worked through the new and existing race parts fitted to the Ninja ZX-10R. The riders ended up setting very good lap times on day two at a circuit which is not used for regular SBK competition.

Sykes set a 1’34.0 on race tyres, while Baz posted the same lap time using a qualifying rear and made a 1’34.5 on a race tyre. For Sykes the test at Almeria began a season in which he will be going for back-to-back Superbike World Championship titles on the awesome official Ninja ZX-10R. The Brit made 33 laps on the first day at Almeria, and then 83 on the second day, completing the schedule of planned work despite suffering a little with a head and chest cold.

Loris Baz was in particularly good form compared to his previous outings at Almeria, going over three seconds faster than he managed at the Spanish track at the corresponding tests at this time last season. The French rider, who will soon celebrate his 21st birthday on February 1, did 42 laps on day one at Almeria and 65 on day two.

Tom Sykes: “The test went well and the schedule of work we had to get through was completed. We have evaluated everything and it has all been positive. We did over 80 laps on the final day and I feel we made a step forward. I have a bit of a cold so I personally have not been feeling 100% but having said that the Ninja ZX-10R was working well. We were able to make some good lap times and evaluate a few things so we are one step closer in our preparations for Phillip Island. We understand things a bit more clearly and now I am looking forward to the next test at Jerez.”

Loris Baz: “A good test at Almeria. We just wanted to try a lot of things that we had already tried in Jerez last time out. We wanted to confirm them, and the overall feeling with the bike, and it was very good. I am really happy with the test especially at this track, which is one of the most difficult ones for me. It is very small and slow and I improved more than three seconds a lap compared to when I was here last year.The good things we found with the set-up at the Jerez test last time out also worked for us at this different style of track in Almeria. Now we have the official team launch, then another test at Jerez, and then we go to Australia.”