Now, here is a wild sight for testing season: Somkiat Chantra putting Honda right at the sharp end of the timesheets. The Thai star topped Day 2 of the test at the Circuito de Jerez - Angel Nieto, Andalucia in the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship, posting a stunning 1’38.703s lap. That time wasn't just good enough for the day; it was the absolute fastest of the entire two-day test.
It was a relatively quiet outing on track with a sparse turnout of just four WorldSBK and two WorldSSP machines running, but the work happening behind the scenes was massive. Honda rolled out a testing ‘camo’ livery hiding a brand-new aerodynamic package that features some serious ground effect work. The manufacturer is clearly hunting for a massive step forward for their 2027 package, and Chantra put in the heavy lifting to prove it, churning through an immense 77 laps.
Slotting in right behind him was none other than test rider Jonathan Rea. The six-time Champion hustled his machine to within 0.163s of the top spot with a 1’38.866s, completing 63 laps along the way. Jake Dixon (Honda HRC) rounded out the manufacturer's trio in third place, stopping the clocks at 1’39.295s after knocking out 74 laps of his own.
Over in the BMW camp, Michael van der Mark flew the flag alone as part of the test team, following Miguel Oliveira's running on Thursday. The Dutchman wrung a 1’39.995s out of his M 1000 RR machine to take fourth place, banking 65 laps of valuable data.
Down in the WorldSSP ranks, the track belonged to the exact same pair we saw on Thursday: Aldi Mahendra and newly-announced AS BLU CRU Racing Team rider Jeremy Alcoba. Mahendra took the bragging rights by topping the class with a 1’43.147s over 52 laps, leaving Alcoba roughly three tenths back after a 36-lap stint.
