SBK | Back on track: Portimao hosts two days of testing

Shutters lowered, crates closed and trucks on the road: the winter of the World Superbike Championship is quite hectic these days, with riders and teams busy in collective testing. Once everything is packed up in Jerez, the crates are reopened and the garages are set up for another two days of testing in Portimao. These are the last ones in Europe before flying to Australia, where the final tests will precede the opening round of the 2024 season.

On Monday and Tuesday, the Algarve racetrack will host all the teams, who will continue the work already done on the Andalusian track this week. The reference will be Nicolò Bulega, absolute dominator in Jerez and expected for confirmation in Portimao. The rookie he returns to the track where he won the Supersport world title last October and in the tests he will continue his learning path in Superbike, which so far seems to be going very well.

Will he break the track record in Portugal too? Hard to say, the other riders won't be watching. There is also a lot of anticipation for the reigning world champion: Alvaro Bautista arrives in Portimao not in 100% physical shape following the injury that affected the whole winter and also the Jerez tests. However, it will be important to continue working on his Ducati Panigale V4R which this year will be ballasted by 7kg due to the new regulations.

All eyes are also on Jonathan Rea, who did well in Spain with Yamaha. The six-time world champion, who will take to the track with the new colours, presented today, and will continue his familiarization with the R1. Spotlight on Toprak Razgatlioglu, who showed himself to be very competitive on the BMW M 1000 RR. We cannot forget Andrea Iannone, who will debut in Portimao with the Goeleven team's Ducati.

But not only that: there will be a lot of irons in the fire in the tests in the Algarve, where we will continue to see the forces on the field, more or less hidden. A lot of work also for those who will have to make up the gap (Honda is the sore point of the winter tests) and for the newcomers who are adapting to the new features, such as Axel Bassani in Kawasaki and Michael Ruben Rinaldi with the four-cylinder of the Motocorsa team.