In the first direct confrontation at Portimao we had seen Jonathan Rea put the wheels of his Kawasaki ahead of those of Toprak Razgatlioglu’s Yamaha, but the reigning World Champion reversed the roles on the second and final day of testing. On the Algarve track, the Turkish kicked off in the very last minutes, lowering the Northern Irishman’s already record time and going to sign a 1’39 ”616, officially the track’s new benchmark.
The Portimao tests thus leave us once again an extraordinary balance between the two contenders for the 2021 title, who seem to be by far the favorites also this season. Razgatlioglu and Rea are separated by just over two tenths, with a “third wheel” chasing them. In fact, Alvaro Bautista places himself in third position also on the second day, confirming that he is in good shape on the Ducati and proposes himself as another contender in 2022.
Razgatlioglu and Rea confirm themselves at the top, but Ducati is not far off
The Yamaha and Kawasaki riders still make the difference on all the others, the only ones to go under the 1’40 barrier in this second day of testing in Portimao. The reigning world champion rode with a new, narrower tank and a different fairing. The solutions seem to work, given the time at the end of the day, two tenths faster than Rea’s.
But Ducati does not stand by and even in this second and final day of testing it immediately moves behind the two big favorites. Alvaro Bautista is back on the Panigale V4R after two years of absence, but he still seems to be at ease with the bike, given the times not far from the leaders. The Spaniard has improved by seven tenths compared to the first day and pays a gap of 439 thousandths from Toprak, immediately applying himself not only as the third wheel in the duel between Ragzatlioglu and Rea, but also as a contender for the title, at least as far as we could see in these early tests.
Once again the first three, then all the others
The first references of this test session leave us a rather clear picture of the situation, even if the race weekends will be a story unto themselves: Razgatlioglu, Rea and Bautista have another job compared to the rest of the group (Portimao lacked Honda and BMW), which it pursues with much higher gaps. The “first of the others” is Alex Lowes, who improves yesterday’s time and moves to fourth position, ahead of Andrea Locatelli, fifth with the other factory Yamaha.
The second Ducati in the time table is that of Phillip Oettl, who can certainly be satisfied at the end of this first test session. The German, making his Superbike debut with the Goeleven team, closes with the sixth time, remaining ahead of Michael Ruben Rinaldi’s official Panigale V4R. The rider from Romagna has the seventh time of the day, worse than yesterday’s fourth, but better in terms of time trial. Christophe Ponsson and Luca Bernardi close the group, eighth and ninth respectively, with the latter still in the process of adapting to Superbike, in which he makes his debut this year.
Bulega is already a record in Supersport with Ducati
If Ducati chases in Superbike, it dominates in Supersport. In fact, Nicolò Bulega’s adventure in the intermediate class of production derivatives seems to have started on the right foot, where he set the best time of the day in 1’43 ”876. The Aruba team rider precedes Maximilian Kofler, second on the CM Racing Panigale. The Austrian is also familiarizing himself with Supersport, in which he makes his debut this year. On the other hand, Oli Bayliss was absent, forced to miss the last day of testing due to the fracture of the right ankle remedied in a fall which took place yesterday. In his place was Nicholas Spinelli, who has the last time trial.
Position |
Pilot |
Team |
Weather |
Turns |
1. |
Toprak Razgatlioglu |
Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK |
1’39 “616 |
66 |
2. |
Jonathan Rea |
Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK |
1’39 “851 |
87 |
3. |
Alvaro Bautista |
Aruba.it Racing – Ducati |
1’40 “055 |
68 |
4. |
Alex Lowes |
Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK |
1’40 “335 |
83 |
5. |
Andrea Locatelli |
Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK |
1’40 “674 |
79 |
6. |
Phillip Oettl |
Goeleven team |
1’41 “061 |
63 |
7. |
Michael Ruben Rinaldi |
Aruba.it Racing – Ducati |
1’41 “143 |
52 |
8. |
Christophe Ponsson |
Gil Motor Sport-Yamaha |
1’42 “374 |
51 |
9. |
Luca Bernardi |
Barni Spark Racing Team |
1’42 “961 |
54 |
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