As last week in Jerez de la Frontera (Spain), bad weather affected the two days of testing World SBK Superbike d'Alvaro Bautista et Nicholas Bulega in Portimão (Portugal).
Alvaro Bautista et Nicholas Bulega were forced to ride only in the afternoon session of the first day. Meanwhile, on the second day, dry track activity was limited to a few minutes.
Nicholas Bulega finished in third place on the first day with a time of 1'40.748, just 98 thousandths off the best time of Toprak Razgatlioglu, but was unable to make the most of his time trial attack due to traffic slowing him down in the first sector.
Alvaro Bautista continued his fine-tuning work in Jerez de la Frontera, setting the 12th fastest time (1'42.141) without using the soft tyre. On the second day, the Spanish rider tried to take to the track in the morning, but after a few laps, first on slick tyres and then on wet tyres, he crashed, without any particular consequences, at turn 9.
Nicholas Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati n°11)
“I am quite happy with what we did in Portimao, even if the weather did not allow us to do all the work planned. The feeling with the bike is positive, even if it is not yet 100%. However, I am satisfied with the race pace that I managed to maintain, even if there are still some details to sort out. I could have done better in the time attack if I had not found traffic on the track.”
Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati n°19)
“Unfortunately, the conditions were still difficult at this test. However, we did a good job comparing the bikes’ settings. The crash was scary, but at the same time I’m happy that I wasn’t injured.”
Day 1:
Day 2:
tests Portimão Bautista Bulega
tests Portimão Bautista Bulega
