The last day of WSBK testing in Portimao but also in Europe has begun and at half-time it is Alvaro Bautista who leads. The reigning World Champion with Ducati set the benchmark at 1'39.035, making the old Portuguese track record set by Jonathan Rea an old memory. The Spaniard also sets the record straight with his dominant teammate the day before, Rinaldi pushed back this time by more than half a second. Will it be the same at the end of this final trial run before loading all the equipment towards Australia? Answer this evening...
Despite a fall, Alvaro Bautista made a strong start this Wednesday at Portimao, thus taking advantage of the beautiful conditions and mild temperature to establish a new benchmark in WSBK on the route located in the Algarve. With 1'39 "035, il a ainsi amélioré la précédente établie par Sale by almost six tenths. His teammate Rinaldi is at a good distance but still perfect, a nice overall picture Ducati which Yamaha could not disrupt. Locatelli is still fourth and ahead of his illustrious teammate Razgatlioglu who would have liked to do better. But his R1 was affected by a problem which kept his mechanics busy.
Jorge Martin and Miguel Oliveira are also in Portimao
The official Kawasaki and six-fold title Sale closes the provisional top 5, ahead of Honda de Virgin despite a fall and the ZX-10RRalex lowes. The top 10 is held by Remy gardner, still a second and a half. The Australian resists the first BMW conducted by van der mark. The other M1000RRs remain at a good distance, which is starting to become worrying for the Bavarian firm. For his part, Danilo Petrucci started to make its mark with the 2023 version of the Panigale V4R.
Tech problems for @Reddingpower 👀🛠#WorldSBK #2023StartsNow pic.twitter.com/0dvivySVQx
- WorldSBK (@WorldSBK) February 1, 2023
In the ranking, we find a certain Jorge Martin who is indeed the Pramac Ducati MotoGP rider who rides with the WSBK with a Panigale V4S almost standard. The Martinator not only respects the WSS but also agitated. Olive tree, with an RSV4 just as close to the machine sold in dealerships is not doing badly either…
WSBK Portimao J2, mid-day: times
