News

With the Australian Round’s season opener fast approaching, the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship field move on from 2026’s first preseason test at Jerez to the last preseason test on European soil before they set sail for the Land Down Under! Rainy weather has unfortunately played a large role so far this offseason which has prevented riders from making the comprehensive shakedowns they would have otherwise liked to have completed by now, making this test all the more vital! Get the full panorama of what the teams hope to accomplish here in this test with the Portimao Test Preview! Keep up with the action on track today and tomorrow January 29^th both days from 10:00-18:00 (UTC +0).

LIVE FROM THE CIRCUIT: Follow the test with live timings!

14:55 – Rain has unfortunately begun to lightly fall once again, ushering the riders back into the boxes for now

14:38 – ‘Balda’ is looking to start his second year in WorldSBK strong as he jumps up to P5 with a time of 1’50.317s on his second stint 

14:35 – Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) takes to the track on his Ducati Panigale V4R with hopes to continue his shakedown of the new bike prior to Australia

14:30 – Surra is charging up the timesheets, having moved up into P3, now P2 in sequential laps, his latest time clocking in at 1’48.136s!

14:18 – Now out on track atop his new 2026 bike, Gerloff takes P1 with a lap nearly two seconds faster than his fastest lap on the 2025 model with a time of 1’47.536s

14:17 – Ducati Independent riders Alberto Surra (Motocorsa Racing) and Lorenzo Baldassarri (Team Goeleven) have each taken to the track! Surra currently sits in P4 with a 1’51.397s and Baldassarri in P7 with a 1’55.787s

14:15 – Philipp Oettl (Feel Racing WorldSSP Team) logs the first laps of the test among WorldSSP riders as he quickly jumps up to 1’54.059s, second among all riders 

14:05 – Gerloff improves his time with the day’s fastest lap by far as the Texan posts a 1’49.235s to increase his gap to over six seconds

13:58 – Gerloff looks to be enjoying the new ZX-10RR Ninja and its new front aero package as he sends himself up to the top of the order with a 1’52.242s time on his seventh lap

13:53 – The session’s current leaders are currently Fores with a time of 1’55.547s, Vickers 1’56.824s, and Nagashima with a time of 1’58.492s

13:51 – Garrett Gerloff (Kawasaki WorldSBK Team) and Alberto Surra (Motocorsa Racing) make their debut on track, the #31 logging a 3-lap stint and the #67 just testing the conditions on an out lap before returning to his box

13:26 – So far it’s been just three riders out on track: both of Honda HRC’s test riders, Vickers with 10 laps, Nagashima with three, as well as Bimota’s Xavi Fores with 23 laps as windy conditions have kept the rest of the field in their boxes 

13:11 – On his very next lap, Vickers takes P1 from Fores with a 1’57.168s time

13:09 – Vickers returns to the track for his second stint, currently sitting in P2 with a time of 1’58.984s

12:52 – Fores returns with a vengeance to claim the day’s top spot so far from the Brit, the Bimota Test rider takes P1 with a 1’58.608s time

12:37 – Former WorldSBK rider Ryan Vickers rolls out on track where he is riding as a Honda HRC test rider. He quickly puts the Japanese manufacturer at the top on his fourth lap, recording a 1’59.799s time 

12:11 – It’s still been a quiet day out on track. Fores has taken to the wet circuit on two KB998 Rimini machines and leads the way, completing 12 laps in total, while Nagashima hasn't added to his three from earlier.

11:49 – It’s the Fores show currently in Portimao as he’s currently the only rider who has logged laps apart from Nagashima’s 3 laps to start the day. With his 12^th lap, he raises the bar for P1 once again as he clocks a 2’01.746s time

11:41 – Fores returns to the track this time on a different KB998 Rimini bike to test another setup on his second stint

11:10 – Currently on his eighth lap, Xavi Fores put Bimota atop the timesheets last lap with a 2’02.212s effort

10:57 – Test rider Xavi Fores (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Test Team) rolls out of pit lane to start his day

10:44 – Nagashima returns to boxes after a three lap stint

10:36 – Honda HRC Test rider Tetsuta Nagashima is the first rider on track on Day 1! He opens the timesheets with a time of 2’05.900s

10:17 – Despite the cloudy skies, rain is not falling on track, however between the inundated conditions from overnight showers and wind gusts up to 43 km/h, riders remain in the boxes

10:00 – Testing in Portimao is officially underway! Once again, rain is making an appearance on track long before any riders have yet had the opportunity. Further complicating the picture here in Portimao are strong gusts of wind which cast dark clouds on the idea of riders emerging on track for the next half hour at least