Nicolò Bulega starts again where he left off: in first position. After dominating the Jerez tests, the Ducati rider also finished the first of the two days of testing in Portimao ahead of everyone. Great performance for the rookiewho among Superbike riders is the only one to break the 40 mark, clocking a 1'39”913.
Once again, the Italian from the Aruba team is faster than his teammate. Alvaro Bautista is in fact eighth at the end of Day 1. It must be said that the reigning world champion hasn't ridden with the tire for some time, working only on rediscovering the sensations on his Panigale V4R. The Spaniard is recovering from his injury in November and is focusing on his feeling.
With Bautista's absence from the top positions, Bulega's first rival is once again Toprak Razgatlioglu. As in Jerez, the Turk shows himself to be competitive aboard the M 1000 RR. After leading the timesheets at the start of the day, the BMW driver ended Day 1 just 94 thousandths behind the leader and in second place. An equally excellent Jonathan Rea follows, who took to the track in Portimao with the official colors presented just yesterday (here is the Yamaha gallery). The Northern Irishman is adapting well to the Yamaha and ends the day with the third fastest time.
Rea grabbed the top 3 right at the end, snatching third position from a surprising Remy Gardner, who was fourth on the GRT team Yamaha. The Australian places himself between the two official standard bearers: Andrea Locatelli is in fact fifth with the R1 of the factory lineup and is the author of a solid day, with the Portimao tests starting better than those of Jerez, in which he seemed to have struggled more.
After the good performance of the tests in Andalusia, Sam Lowes confirms the positive sensations: it is almost not surprising to see him in sixth position at the end of Day 1 in Portimao. The Brit is working with the Marc VDS team's Panigale V4R and the debut so far is more than satisfactory. Lowes precedes Michael van der Mark, seventh with the other official BMW.
The aforementioned Bautista is eighth, while closing the group of the top ten we find Xavi Vierge, ninth with Honda, and Alex Lowes, tenth with Kawasaki. A breath of fresh air for the two Japanese manufacturers, who had encountered various difficulties in Jerez, but in Portimao they grabbed the top 10, relegating Bradley Ray to 11th position aboard the Yamaha of the MotoXRacing team.
Complicated day for Danilo Petrucci who, after complaining of the same problems as in 2023 after the Jerez tests, is also forced to chase in Portimao. The Terni native from the Barni team is only 16th. He is pushing Andrea Iannone, 50 thousandths behind his compatriot. Even for the rider from Vasto, Day 1 wasn't all sunshine and roses and he didn't get higher than 17th position. Great effort for Axel Bassani, who with Kawasaki is immediately behind the Goeleven rider.
On the occasion of the Superbike tests, the MotoGP riders of the Academy also rode in Portimao, riding the road bikes. The best is Pecco Bagnaia, who stopped in 1'43”090 with the Ducati Panigale V4S, ahead of Luca Marini, second with the Honda. Franco Morbidelli and Marco Bezzecchi follow, third and fourth respectively. Quinto Enea Bastianini. Valentino Rossi was also on the track, remaining a second and a half behind the reigning MotoGP champion. The Doctor reunited with his old rival Marc Marquez, who was also on the track with the road Ducati together with his teammate Alex Marquez. The Gresini couple shot without a transponder.
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