News

Portimao Test: Lowes on top after FP1

Sunday, 25 August 2019 12:27 GMT

The British rider leads the way after Day 2 first session in Portugal

Testing continues at Autodromo Internacional do Algarve Portimao for the second and final day of Official WorldSBK Test in Portugal. With the sun still shining up in the sky and temperatures expected to raise in the afternoon, riders were keen to take full advantage from their morning session considering the good track conditions.

Working with different qualifying tyres and new chassis components Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team) set the fastest lap time this morning in 1’41.153. The British rider had surgery during summer to cure tendinitis problems, and after the two-day test he is now sure to be completely fit and comfortable on his bike. His teammate Michael van der Mark set the fourth fastest lap riding on qualifying tyres too.

Behind Lowes, reigning World Champion Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) finished second as he spent the morning fine tuning his ZX-10RR in preparation for the Portuguese Round. Same did his teammate Leon Haslam, who finished sixth just 0.605 s from Lowes.

Day 1 pacesetter Toprak Razgatlioglu ended FP1 this morning in third position but compared to yesterday the Turkish rider has not been feeling well today and depending on how he will feel this afternoon he will decide if he continues to test in FP2 as he has some electronics updates still to try.

Loris Baz made big improvements today too. The Ten Kate Racing – Yamaha rider has also been having a busy test in Portimao with the main focus on trying new Pirelli tyres and finding a good base setup for his bike. Depending on the weather conditions this afternoon he will try to go even faster than the fifth fastest lap time he was able to achieve this morning.

Continuing his preparation for the season finale, Sandro Cortese (GMT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) finished seventh ahead of the two Ducati bikes of Eugene Laverty (Team Goeleven), who has been testing a new rear shock with good feedback, and Michael Ruben Rinaldi (BARNI Racing Team) that focused on adapting his riding style to his Panigale V4 R.

Chaz Davies (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati) closes the top ten, while his teammate Alvaro Bautista completed just 17 laps and has decided that he will not take part to FP2 considering that he is still suffering some pain in the shoulder injured in the U.S.

Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team), who was fourth yesterday, ended FP1 in eleventh position as he spent the morning testing a different clutch and new components for the forks of his BMW S1000 RR.

Federico Caricasulo (BARDAHL Evan Bros. WorldSSP Team) was the morning pacesetter among the WorldSSP riders as he set the fastest lap time in 1’45.281. Randy Krummenacher dropped down to fifth position, but he sits there just 0.346 s behind his teammate. Raffaele De Rosa (MV AGUSTA Reparto Corse) was second, while Jules Cluzel (GMT 94 Yamaha) maintains the third position ahead of Isaac Viñales (Kallio Racing), who continues with the same good pace as yesterday.

WorldSBK and WorldSSP riders will have one more session each this afternoon to complete.

Portimao Official WorldSBK Test Day Two FP1 top five:

1. Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team) 1’41.153
2. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) 1’41.371 (+0.218)
2. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Turkish Puccetti Racing) 1’41.428 (+0.275)
4. Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team) 1’41.489 (+0.336)
4. Loris Baz (Ten Kate Racing – Yamaha) 1’41.718 (0.565)

For full results click here!

Portimao Official WorldSSP Test Day Two FP1 top five:

1. Federico Caricasulo (BARDAHL Evan Bros. WorldSSP Team) 1’45.281
2. Raffaele De Rosa (MV AGUSTA Reparto Corse) 1’45.449 (+0.168)
3. Jules Cluzel (GMT94 Yamaha) 1’45.459 (+0.178)
4. Isaac Viñales (Kallio Racing) 1’45.573 (+0.292)
5. Randy Krummenacher (BARDAHL Evan Bros. WorldSSP Team) 1’45.627 (+0.346)

For full results click here!

Don’t miss anything from the Official Portimao Test. Find out who will be on top at the end of the two days with the WorldSBK VideoPass.