On the first day of testing in Portimão, it was somewhat surprising that Michael Rinaldi set the best time with the new Ducati V4R. Six Superbike riders beat all records. Öttl (Ducati) and Aegerter (Yamaha) not in the top 10.
The Portimão test on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week is organized by Ducati. According to the regulations, this test opportunity had to be offered to all other teams in the near-series world championship, which they are happy to make use of: With the exception of Oliver König (Orelac Kawasaki), the field of participants in the Superbike World Cup 2023 complete at the two-day Portimão test. The track was very busy with blue skies and sunshine, because in addition to the 22 Superbikes, eleven pilots from the Supersport World Championship were also testing.
© GeeBee Images
Alvaro Bautista
© GeeBee Images
Jonathan Rea
© GeeBee Images
Loris Baz
© GeeBee Images
Scott Redding
© GeeBee Images
Toprak Razgatlioglu
© GeeBee Images
Michael Ruben Rinaldi
© GeeBee Images
Dominique Aegerter
© GeeBee Images
Axel Bassani
© GeeBee Images
Alex Lowes
© GeeBee Images
Daniel Petrucci
© GeeBee Images
Remi Gardner
© GeeBee Images
Michael van der Mark
© GeeBee Images
xavi virgin
© GeeBee Images
Philipp Oettl
At the top of the timesheets on the first day of testing were World Champion Álvaro Bautista (Ducati) and Toprak Razgatlioglu (Yamaha), who swapped the lead several times. Also doing well, like recently in Jerez, were Michael Rinaldi (Ducati) and Andrea Locatelli (Yamaha). Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki) was also up front. The factory riders regularly switched back and forth between two bikes for comparison and faster progress.
Driving continued until the last minute, when the top pilots fought a duel for the best time of the day. In the end, Rinaldi set a remarkable time of 1:39.639 minutes. For comparison: Rea drove the fastest race lap in Portimão in 2019 in 1:41.272 min, the pole record has been held by Razgatlioglu with 1:40.219 min since 2021. Rea and Bautista were slightly slower, losing 0.061 and 0.068 seconds to the Italian. Razgatlioglu was fourth, 0.2 seconds back.
In cooler conditions than on the race weekend, Locatelli and Honda driver Xavi Vierge also undercut the existing records.
Basically, you shouldn’t attach too much importance to the times in a test. Only the teams and drivers know which tire a driver used during his run and whether the motorcycle was full of fuel or in qualifying trim.
What is striking, however, is that BMW, after appearing to be falling behind in Jerez, is also not represented by a driver in the top 9 in Portimão. Bonovo Action newcomer Garrett Gerloff (10th) drove the fastest lap with an M1000RR in 1:40.698 min.
Best rookie was Remy Gardner in 9th, while his GRT Yamaha teammate Dominique Aegerter was 16th. At the Jerez test, the Swiss caused a sensation in sixth place with a qualifier. Philipp Öttl (Go Eleven Ducati) lost 1.2 seconds on the best time and finished 13th.
Axel Bassani from the Ducati Team Motocorsa was not seen much on Tuesday. The best privateer in the 2022 Superbike World Championship only finished 18th with a time of 1:41.985 minutes, but Portimão is his first test of the year. The same goes for rookie Bradley Ray (19th/MotoXracing Yamaha).
Bitter: MIE Honda riders Eric Granado and Hafizh Syahrin were slower than several Supersport riders. The fastest in the middle category was Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Ducati) in 1:43.282 min.
| Superbike: Times Portimao Test, January 31, 2023 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Pos | Driver (Nat./Motorcycle) | time | Diff |
| 1. | Michael Rinaldi (I/Ducati) | 1:39,639 min | |
| 2. | Jonathan Rea (GB/Kawasaki) | 1:39,700 | + 0,061 sec |
| 3. | Alvaro Bautista (E/Ducati) | 1:39,707 | + 0,068 |
| 4. | Toprak Razgatlioglu (TR/Yamaha) | 1:39,851 | + 0,212 |
| 5. | Andrea Locatelli (I/Yamaha) | 1:39,987 | + 0,348 |
| 6. | Xavi Vierge (E/Honda) | 1:40,053 | + 0,414 |
| 7. | Alex Lowes (GB/Kawasaki) | 1:40,264 | + 0,625 |
| 8. | Iker Lecuona (E/Honda) | 1:40,581 | + 0,942 |
| 9. | Remy Gardner (AUS/Yamaha) | 1:40,667 | + 1,028 |
| 10. | Garrett Gerloff (USA/BMW) | 1:40,698 | + 1,059 |
| 11. | Loris Baz (F/BMW) | 1:40,737 | + 1,098 |
| 12. | Scott Redding (GB/BMW) | 1:40,749 | + 1,110 |
| 13. | Philipp Öttl (D/Ducati) | 1:40,846 | + 1,207 |
| 14. | Michael vd Mark (NL/BMW) | 1:40,875 | + 1,236 |
| 15. | Danilo Petrucci (I/Ducati) | 1:41,321 | + 1,682 |
| 16. | Dominique Aegerter (CH/Yamaha) | 1:41,432 | + 1,793 |
| 17. | Tom Sykes (GB/Kawasaki) | 1:41,578 | + 1,939 |
| 18. | Axel Bassani (I/Ducati) | 1:41,982 | + 2,343 |
| 19. | Bradley Ray (GB/Yamaha) | 1:42,400 | + 2,761 |
| 20. | Lorenzo Baldassarri (I/Yamaha) | 1:42,450 | + 2,811 |
| 21. | Florian Marino (F/Kawasaki) | 1:42,624 | + 2,985 |
| 22. | Eric Granado (BR/Honda) | 1:43,950 | + 4,311 |
| 23. | Hafizh Syahrin (MAL/Honda) | 1:44,242 | + 4,603 |
| Supersport: Times Portimao Test, January 31, 2023 | |||
| Pos | Driver (Nat./Motorcycle) | time | Diff |
| 1. | Nicolo Bulega (I/Ducati) | 1:43,282 min | |
| 2. | Federico Caricasulo (I/Ducati) | 1:43,773 | + 0,491 sec |
| 3. | Raffaele De Rosa (E/Ducati) | 1:43,785 | + 0,503 |
| 4. | Valentine Debise (F/Yamaha) | 1:43,879 | + 0,597 |
| 5. | Stefano Manzi (I/Yamah) | 1:44,062 | + 0,780 |
| 6. | Yari Montella (I/Ducati) | 1:44,125 | + 0,843 |
| 7. | Can Öncü (TR/Kawasaki) | 1:44,246 | + 0,964 |
| 8. | Oli Bayliss (AUS(Ducati) | 1:45,150 | + 1,868 |
| 9. | Jorge Navarro (E/Yamaha) | 1:46,096 | + 2,814 |
| 10. | Max Kofler (A/Ducati)) | 1:46,491 | + 3,209 |
| 11. | Federico Fuligni (I/Ducati) | 1:46,565 | + 3,283 |