The winter tests have a great protagonist in Nicolò Bulega, but they end in the name of Toprak Razgatlioglu. It can be said that the two were the “winter champions” of the Superbike, which concluded the winter tests with the second day in Portimao (with the exception of those at Phillip Island which anticipate the start of the season). In fact, the Turk set the best time on the final day in the Algarve, also shattering the track record with a 1'39”189. However, once again the performance of the Ducati rookie was excellent, leaving him with just 86 thousandths of a second.
Once again, it's strange not to see the name of the reigning world champion in the leading positions. Alvaro Bautista finishes the tests in 15th position, a condition we are not used to seeing. The Spaniard is struggling with recovering from his injury and adapting to a Panigale V4R to which the 7kg of ballast required by the regulations has been added.
As for the rest of the grid, the times are very close on this last day of testing, in which we see eight riders under the 40 mark. Behind the two dominators of the winter we find Alex Lowes, author of a great leap in the final stages and third at the end of Day 2. The Briton puts the Kawasaki ahead, which remained behind during all the tests, but finishes on a high note, just over three tenths behind Toprak. Remy Gardner also did well, the only survivor of the GRT team due to Dominique Aegerter's withdrawal due to a virus that prevented him from riding. The Australian is the best of the Yamaha riders and is fourth ahead of the official rider Andrea Locatelli, sixth. Between the two comes Michael van der Mark, fifth with BMW.
Jonathan Rea puts the winter tests to rest with the seventh fastest time, 496 thousandths behind the leader of the day. The adaptation to the R1 seems to be proceeding well for the six-time world champion, who always manages not to be too far from the leaders. Great performance by Danilo Petrucci, who took the eighth fastest time in Portimao and was the last driver to lap in 39”. The Terni native of the Barni team precedes the BMW Bonovo duo, with Scott Redding remaining ahead of Garrett Gerloff and the two are ninth and tenth respectively.
Sam Lowes is close to the top 10 and can certainly be considered satisfied with these tests. The Briton is making his Superbike debut with the Marc VDS team and the duo seems to work well. Despite his position, the rookie has had a solid winter, which suggests a very positive start. Behind him we find Axel Bassani, who takes a step forward today, even though we have seen him in difficulty during these winter tests and on Day 2 he is 12th. Honda is also struggling a lot, with the first of its riders, Xavi Vierge, in 13th position, while Iker Lecuona doesn't get beyond 17th place.
Michael Ruben Rinaldi is struggling, having completed only 39 laps today. The Motocorsa rider is 14th ahead of his brand mate and reigning champion. The aforementioned Bautista is 15th and struggling as is Andrea Iannone. Difficult tests in Portimao for the driver from Vasto, who after 75 laps is only 16th.
Also today, the members of the VR46 Academy rode together with the Superbike riders. Pecco Bagnaia concludes Day 2 ahead of everyone, followed by Fabio Di Giannantonio. Third was Franco Morbidelli, who suffered a bad fall at Turn 9, fortunately without consequences, which forced the red flag to be displayed (details here). Marco Bezzecchi was fourth ahead of Enea Bastianini, while Luca Marini was sixth among the VR drivers. Seventh place for Celestino Vietti, with Andrea Migno bringing up the rear. Marc and Alex Marquez were also present, but they did not have a transponder and did not have a timed time.
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