The opening Official Tests of the 2020 Bennetts British Superbike Championship season concluded yesterday with Josh Brookes setting the bar after two days on track at Jerez for the title-defending VisionTrack Ducati team.

The final minutes of the day were cut short by a red flag, but it had been Brookes who had set the pace, building on his experiences of last season to keep title rival Tommy Bridewell at bay on the final day, after the Oxford Racing Ducati rider topped the times at Monteblanco.

Héctor Barberá clearly was bonding with the Rich Energy OMG Racing BMW team in Spain; taking advantage of the five days on track to end the Jerez test third on the timesheets and feeling confident ahead of his first full season in the championship.

The McAMS Yamaha charge was led by Tarran Mackenzie and he was making positive strides forward throughout the day to post the fourth fastest time, which put him ahead of Luke Mossey on the second of the Rich Energy OMG Racing BMWs, who set his best lap time on the opening day.

Peter Hickman had a crash on the final day of action, but like Mossey, his fastest lap of the test came on the opening day of action, putting him sixth on overall times for the Smiths Racing BMW team as they awaited further new parts to test ahead of the season opener at Silverstone.

Christian Iddon continued to get to grips with the VisionTrack Ducati in Jerez, setting the seventh fastest time and missing the final session on the last day as Michael Dunlop had a run on his Superbike.

The Massingberd-Mundy Kawasaki team were also making good progress with Danny Buchan setting the eighth fastest time, putting him narrowly ahead of Ryan Vickers who maintained a place in the overall top ten for the RAF Regular & Reserve Kawasaki team despite a crash in session three.

Jack Kennedy showed he was adapting well to the Santander Salt TAG Yamaha on his return to the Superbike class, completing the top ten on combined times at Jerez.

Bennetts British Superbike Championship, Jerez, Official Test, combined results:

1. Josh Brookes (Vision Track Ducati) 1m:40.596s
2. Tommy Bridewell (Oxford Racing Ducati) +0.625s
3. Hector Barbera (Rich Energy OMG Racing BMW) +0.755s
4. Tarran Mackenzie (McAMS Yamaha) +1.065s
5. Luke Mossey (Rich Energy OMG Racing BMW) +1.243s
6. Peter Hickman (Smiths Racing BMW) +1.329s
7. Christian Iddon (VisionTrack Ducati) +1.364s
8. Danny Buchan (Massingberd-Mundy Kawasaki) +1.475s
9. Ryan Vickers (RAF Regular and Reserve Kawasaki) +1.605s
10. Jack Kennedy (Santander Salt TAG Yamaha) +1.614s

The opening round of the 2020 Bennetts British Superbike Championship takes place at Silverstone on April 10/11/12.