The debut in broad daylight and in the face of competition from the new CBR1000RR-R, released by Honda to regain supremacy in WSBK, was eagerly awaited. Rumor had it that in secret the new weapon of the winged coat of arms had already broken the Portimão track record with Bautista. Then there were the official tests in Jerez followed by the equally serious tests in Portimão. Result ? The expected fireworks turned out to be a damp squib. With last place in the standings of the final European test before the start of the season in Australia, Bautista could not do worse. And now ?
What to say about the news Honda CBR1000RR-R and its pilot Alvaro Bautista ? As a result of his last two outings this offseason in WSBK, not much except that there is work. The driver is not on the pace, far from it, and it is his teammate Leon Haslam which partly saves the furniture, notably with a sixth position at the end of the Portuguese tests. The Briton finished 0,851 seconds behind the best time of Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha) and he rode faster than the two BMW riders. Baptist found himself last in the combined time after two days of training and with an abysmal delay of 2.775 seconds.
Alvaro Bautista had crashed from the start with the Honda at Jerez. Since then, he has been at the bottom of the rankings, a worrying situation. But the 2019 world vice-champion and 16-time winner last year keeps a cool head: “ we need to make huge changes to the bike to collect data. So you never develop the feeling of being able to attack. At the end of the day, we need to do this work, we are looking for a good basic setup. This may be slower than expected, but at least I was able to provide the engineers with a lot of information. »
« The test in Australia will be very important for us », Underlined the Spaniard. “ Until then they have time at the Honda factory to give me what I asked for. Last year I was in a similar situation before Australia, and my bike at that time was even more developed. We were better prepared. The Honda project was born only three months ago, we need more time. We would need at least four more tests to reach last year's level. I need more feel from the bike, front and rear. This goes hand in hand with confidence. We were able to make great progress with the engine over the winter break, including the electronics. We haven't touched the framework yet, we are working on it now. »
It will be recalled that the WSBK season will begin at Phillip Island on February 28 .
Portimao WSBK test: combined times
1. Toprak Razgatlioglu, Yamaha, 1:40.804 min
2. Scott Redding, Ducati, 1:40.883
3. Loris Baz, Yamaha, 1:40.994
4. Michael van der Mark, Yamaha, 1:41.426
5. Chaz Davies, Ducati, 1:41
6. Leon Haslam, Honda, 1:41
7. Tom Sykes, BMW, 1:41
8. Eugene Laverty, BMW, 1:41
9. Federico Caricasulo, Yamaha, 1:42
10. Garrett Gerloff, Yamaha, 1:42.045
11. Michael Rinaldi, Ducati, 1:42.309
12. Leandro Mercado, Ducati, 1:42.462
13. Javier Fores, Kawasaki, 1:42.802
14. Sandro Cortese, Ducati, 1:42.936
15. Sylvain Barrier, Ducati, 1:43.458
16. Christophe Ponsson, Aprilia, 1:43.480
17. Álvaro Bautista, Honda, 1:43,559
