The 2021 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship’s first day of action at the Circuito de Jerez – Angel Nieto saw plenty of action and gave plenty of food for thought across the remainder of the Motul Spanish Round. Leading the way and being the only rider to set a lap time in the 1’39s bracket, Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) was in fine form on Friday afternoon, but he way joined by Italian star Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati), with the Catalunya Race 2 winner featuring uncharacteristically high up the order on Friday.

Jonathan Rea hit the ground running, with the reigning six-time World Champion being a solid third in FP1 before going on to put in a fast lap time in at the end of the day in FP2, giving him a 0.399s advantage over the rest of the field. Setting a long 10-lap at the start of the session which consisted of low-to-mid 1’40s, Rea looks to have the race pace from what the timesheets are saying, although races are usually a different story.

Speaking at the end of the day, Rea commented on his wish to have the same weather on Saturday and Sunday instead of the forecasted temperature increase: “Well, to be honest it would be nicer if we can face the same weather for tomorrow; it’s always nice when you have all the info for each temperature, you’re able to understand the different tyre solutions that Pirelli bring. There’s some interest information with the new tyres; they’ve transformed the way my bike is working so I am able to ride in a more normal way which is positive for us.

“We just need to focus on how that negates in the hotter conditions tomorrow, particularly on the front of the bike, I’ve felt more consistent. We can be satisfied with our work today. I did a run on each of the three front tyres and I preferred two of them over the other one, and then for the rear, there’s two potential race tyres there for us. They are always working and they’re bringing good stuff to the track for us. I think having a lot of info from WorldSBK is helping them develop a lot; big thanks to everyone back at Pirelli for all of the development.”

Over at Ducati, Michael Ruben Rinaldi’s day was very consistent; second in the morning and second in the afternoon and in the cooler temperatures, whereas before, he’s been known to perform well in the hot temperatures. With these forecasted for tomorrow and Sunday and with Rinaldi already being able to be amongst the leads, could he be looking at back-to-back wins? His race pace from FP2 isn’t as fast as Rea, although he was able to set three low 1’40s at the end of his second run, of which the last lap was his fastest.

Talking about day one, Rinaldi stated: “For sure, I am happy about the start here at this track; we worked well today and we managed to maintain the pace with the soft tyre. We’ve not decided the tyre yet because today was cloudy and perhaps tomorrow, something will change. Anyway, I am happy with the start; at the end, Jonny did like a Superpole time attack but it doesn’t matter, we are happy with our job and tomorrow, we will try to improve again as the feeling is 95%. I need 5% more to try and fight for victory.

“We will try to fight for the podium, and if we have the pace to win, I’ll give my 120% to fight for the win, as I am not fighting for the Championship, so if I have the opportunity, then I’ll try to fight for it. The Championship is important but I am fourth, so I just want to win races when I can or finish in the podium. My goal every race is to be on top and have a good feeling with my bike.”

Outside of the top two, Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) was third and just 0.004s back of Rinaldi’s time, relying on his FP1 lap time to keep him in the top three overall. Leon Haslam (Team HRC) led Honda’s charge in fourth, with teammate Alvaro Bautista sixth – the Spaniard having a crash in the closing stages of FP2 but showing promising pace on the opening day. Scott Redding split the Hondas, finishing fifth.

WorldSBK FP3 kicks off at 09:00 local time (GMT+2), and you can watch it LIVE with the WorldSBK VideoPass!