Jonathan Rea endured a tough day back at the office after encountering issues with the new electronics on his Pata Honda Fireblade at Jerez in Spain.
Northern Ireland rider Rea and his World Superbike teammate, Leon Haslam, joined several teams including BMW, Aprilia, Kawasaki and Suzuki on the opening day of the two-day shakedown.
Rea ended the afternoon in ninth position on the timing charts, one place behind Haslam, as new electronics on his CBR1000RR Fireblade made life difficult at the Spanish venue.
In less than ideal conditions, Aprilia’s Davide Giugliano posted the fastest time on his RSV4 in between the showers to take the top spot by 0.419s from Marco Melandri on the BMW S1000RR.
Sylvain Guintoli, who has joined Eugene Laverty in the factory Aprilia team for 2013, was third fastest, 2.3s behind Giugliano.
Laverty - who has assumed the role of lead rider for Aprilia this season following the retirement of reigning world champion Max Biaggi - was fifth overall on the first day of the test, 2.8s off the top and one place behind Leon Camier on the Fixi Crescent Suzuki.
Rea’s fastest lap overall was 4.3s slower than Giugliano managed on the Aprilia.
Kawasaki’s Tom Sykes and Loris Baz are also testing at Jerez but elected to ride without transponders and no times were therefore available for either rider.
Alstare Ducati duo Carlos Checa and Ayrton Badovini also had to contend with poor weather at Jerez, managing less than three hours’ track time on their new Panigale 1199R machines during a separate three-day test from Saturday to Monday.
In the World Supersport class, Dubliner Jack Kennedy caught the eye as he finished second quickest on the Honda CBR600RR, 0.7s behind Sam Lowes (Yamaha) and ahead of current champion Kenan Sofuoglu (Kawasaki).
Kennedy has moved to the class after securing a ride with the Russian Rivamoto Honda team, which is managed by Jeremy McWilliams.
The Irish rider narrowly missed out on the British Supersport title last year, when machine trouble ruled him out of the final race.
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