van der Mark to the front as Yamaha comes to fore

WorldSBK Jerez – Free Practice Results (3)

Michael van der Mark hit the front of the pack in final free practice for the latest WorldSBK Championship round in Jerez as Yamaha consolidated its place at the head of the timesheets.

The Dutchman – who recently announced his Yamaha exit for a move to BMW in 2021 – struck to the front in the closing stages on edge out overnight pace setter Loris Baz on the semi-factory Ten Kate Racing bike.

Defending champion Jonathan Rea worked his way up to third position, penetrating a Yamaha stronghold that also had Toprak Razgatlioglu in fourth and GRT’s Federico Caricasulo in sixth position.

Scott Redding led the way for Ducati in fifth position, with erstwhile championship leader Alex Lowes competitive in seventh, Tom Sykes eighth on the best of the BMWs and Leon Haslam leading a somewhat muted Honda challenge in ninth. Friday standout Michael Ruben Rinaldi completed the top ten in tenth.

With the cooler morning temperatures allowing riders to post quicker times, just a single second would cover first down to Alvaro Bautista in 12th position.

Elsewhere, of the newcomers or returnees hitting the track this weekend, Marco Melandri continued his progress on the Barni Ducati in 14th, with Christophe Ponsson placing his Aprilia RSV4 19th despite suffering a crash and Lorenzo Gabellini 19th on the MIE Racing Althea Honda.

The riders will now turn their focus towards Superpole, which takes place at 11am this morning before moving on to what promises to be a scorching first race of the weekend as temperatures continue to rise