As the team continues to make progress with the new generation of Aprilia RSV4 RF, the test focused on setup and verification of 2017 development parts ahead of further testing at Portimao later this week.

Lorenzo Savadori, entering his second WorldSBK season, finished the day's running with a fantastic 2nd place just over 0.111s shy of the top. As he continues to hone the new Aprilia RSV4 RF to his style, the team are hoping to carry on the fast pace found today.

Rider Eugene Laverty was hit by another rider on the entry into Turn 1, resulting in a crash which finished his test early. Eugene will focus on recovery for the Portimao test this weekend.

Team Manager Mick Shanley:

"It was a very bittersweet day for us in a way. Lorenzo is adapting really well to the team and to the 2017 RSV4 RF. We've worked through a lot of things with him so far and to finish second today is a really good result. He's achieved his personal best times here this week, and we've got a few new things for him to try.

Eugene struggled with some chatter during the course of the day and we've been working through that. He slowed towards the end of a run and unfortunately got struck by another rider, which caused a crash and ultimately cut his test short. He'll recover in time for Portimao and we'll keep working hard to develop the bike for him.

We'll have a good debrief tonight with the guys and put our plans into action, and we should be in place to head to Portimao in a good position."

Lorenzo Savadori:

"It was a good day for me today, and we got lots of laps in which was really important. We tried a few different things with the setup and the tyres, and I was able to set a fast time and finish second.

The track was cold during the day so it didn't always work so well with the tyres, but the bike ran well and we learnt a lot. We still have a lot of work to do to reach the top of the field, but the team is working well and for me it is great to do some real testing.  

I'm hoping to learn a lot more at Portimao, and I will work hard to make some good progress before we start the season at Phillip Island."

Eugene Laverty:

"It was unfortunate to crash today. I got hit from behind going into Turn 1, and there was nothing I could do. The bike got stuck under the barriers but the damage wasn't too bad.

It's been a tough day and I've struggled with chatter going through corners, and I have to work hard to keep the bike stable. It's useful to find issues like this early so we can work on them, and we have a few plans in place to address them.

I should be in good shape again for the test in Portimao; I'm a bit sore but we just need to keep working hard and working through the issues we've had at Jerez."

Milwaukee Aprilia now head to the Portimao circuit in Portugal for two days of testing before final preparations to ship out to Phillip Island in Australia.