With one round under their belt so far in 2026, the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship field have been flying around the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve in their first day of testing at the venue ahead of the Pirelli Portuguese Round, March 27^th-29^th. Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) maintained his strong form from Down Under as he topped the first half of Day 1 running at Portimao. He continues to build continuity with his upgraded KB998 Rimini machine ahead of the upcoming round, and was tailed on the timesheets by Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) and Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) to form the top three times at the session’s midpoint.

Alex Lowes and the resurgent Bimota racing project soared to new heights in the season opener last round, landing their first double podium since WorldSBK’s first season back in 1988. The #22 showed that speed was no fluke as he sent himself and his Bimota KB998 Rimini to the top of the timesheet in the morning with a time of 1’40.622s. Prior to Lowes taking the fastest time, Nicolo Bulega led the pack with a 1’41.154s time. He however, crashed later in the session on Turn 14, inciting a red flag which, while he walked away from unscathed, prevented him from recording a faster time in the session as his team worked to repair the bike, shuffling him to P2. Sam Lowes landed third-fastest on the day, just a thousandth of a second slower than Bulega, as he returns to his Ducati machine for the first time since a crash in Australia.

Showing a step forward after a hard-earned pair of top-eight results in Oz, Miguel Oliveira (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) made it three manufacturers in the top four as his 1’41.355s placed him just two tenths out from Sam Lowes, and seven tenths out from P1. Behind the Portuguese rider, Iker Lecuona (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) continued adapating to the Ducati as he took P5 from the opening session. The #7 posted a time of 1’41.382s, just 0.027s slower than the #88 with whom he sparred in the closing race of the Australian Round. Hot on Lecuona’s heels, two more BMW M1000RRs were up next on the timesheets. In P6, Michael van der Mark (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Test Team) set a 1’41.422s lap to lead Danilo Petrucci (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) on the order, whose 1’41.494s time sat him in P7, seven tenths behind the Dutchman and 0.872s out from P1.

Arriving at Portimao after achieving his best round yet in World Superbike, Axel Bassani (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) placed P8 after half of Day 1’s running, with a 1’41.554s time. He will look to build from this base to get back up into the top spots. Six-time World Champion Jonathan Rea (Honda HRC) continues in his new test rider role with Honda HRC, Landing in P9 with a 1’41.732s effort. Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) took top Yamaha honours in P10 as he looks to bounce back from an off-pace home round after having suffered an off-season injury to his shoulder and forearm. The Australian’s fastest of his 21 laps clocked in at1’42.092s, fast enough to lead fellow Yamaha riders Andrea Locatelli (Pata Maxus Yamaha) and teammate Xavi Vierge, who took P11 and P12.

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