Source: Supplied.

The Ten Kate-run Honda WorldSBK Team delivered on its intentions to debut the 2017 CBR1000RR SP2 during this week’s Jerez test on Tuesday, with both Nicky Hayden and Stefan Bradl riding the brand new model.

Both former MotoGP riders – Hayden the 2006 world champion – eased their way into the first phase of development and will continue into today. Their experience will prove vital as Phillip Island’s opening round draws closer.

Hayden was ninth on the timesheets at 1m41.830s, around 1.6s off the benchmark set by world champion Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team), while Bradl was 12th on the charts with a 1m42.255s in Spain.

“The team has had the bikes two weeks, so you can only do so much in two weeks as an independent team,” Hayden said. “The engine at the moment, we’re just happy to have an engine that’s racy – let’s say just not out of the street bike. They literally built the engine that would come here and last, so of course there is some work to be done in a lot of areas.

I pretty much matched the same laptime I did here at the race with race tyres, so it’s a starting point. Of course, I’d have loved to be doing 1m40s, but we didn’t expect that. It just don’t happen in racing, so…

“We chipped away at it and took a couple of chunks here and there. Also, my condition is still not 100 percent after my knee injury – it will be another month before I’m fully ready and I wasn’t able to go at my maximum today.

“The gap to the Kawasakis looks really bad today, but we have to stay calm and realise what we’re in for. You dream of showing up and getting a surprise and the bike is way better than you expected and way closer, but it’s been a long time since I’ve had that happen, so I was prepared for a first day test like this.”

New teammate, 2011 Moto2 world champion Stefan Bradl, echoed Hayden’s statements: “This is the first spec engine, so there is a lot more to come from it. We need to work on the electronic settings too – we’ve got a lot of problems with wheelie control. Overall the first day is okay, but still a lot of work in front of us, which we knew – it’s not unexpected.”