Rea edges opening day of Portimao WorldSBK test from world champion Razgatlioglu
Jonathan Rea continued his impressive form from Jerez to top the opening day of WorldSBK testing at Portimao, while world champion Toprak Razgatlioglu was just a tenth behind.
The two title contenders from 2021 were once again the stars of day-one at the Algarve International Circuit, as Rea and Razgatlioglu battled throughout the morning for top spot.
Razgatlioglu looked to have sealed first place heading into lunch after setting an impressive 1:40.722s, however, Rea joined the Yamaha rider in the high 1m 40s before making that a 1:40.621s to go +0.101s quicker.
Both riders completed over 60 laps for the day but were unable to improve on their time during the afternoon. A rider who did find late improvements was new Aruba.it Racing Ducati rider Alvaro Bautista who managed to cut an eight tenth deficit to just under two tenths.
Like Bautista, team-mate Michael Rinaldi made a late jump up the order after being close to two seconds off Rea and Razgatlioglu’s fastest times. Rinaldi eventually finished +0.640s off the six-time world champion in fourth.
Just behind Rinaldi was the man he competed for P4 in the championship with last season, Andrea Locatelli. The Pata Yamaha rider set his best time during the morning session and was eight tenths away from Rea come the end of proceedings.
Sixth fastest was Kawasaki rider Alex Lowes, meaning all six factory riders made up the top six places on the leaderboard.
In terms of who completed the most laps, that honour went the way of Bautista as he finished the day with 82, one more than Rinaldi.
WorldSBK debutants Philipp Oettl and Luca Bernardi got their official 2022 preparations underway with the former finishing just over a second down.
On the other hand it was a relatively slow start for Bernardi as he finished last of the nine WorldSBK riders - three-and-a-half seconds down. Splitting the two Ducati rookies in eighth was French rider Christophe Ponsson.
| World Superbike Portimao, Portugal - Tuesday Test Results (Final) | ||||
| Pos | Rider | Nat | Team | Time |
| 1 | Jonathan Rea | GBR | Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK | 1:40.621s |
| 2 | Toprak Razgatlioglu | TUR | PATA Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK | +0.101s |
| 3 | Alvaro Bautista | SPA | Aruba.It Racing Ducati | +0.132s |
| 4 | Michael Rinaldi | ITA | Aruba.It Racing Ducati | +0.640s |
| 5 | Andrea Locatelli | ITA | PATA Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK | +0.819s |
| 6 | Alex Lowes | GBR | Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK | +0.856s |
| 7 | Philipp Oettl | GER | GoEleven Ducati | +1.086s |
| 8 | Christophe Ponsson | FRA | Gil Motor Sport Yamaha | +2.546s |
| 9 | Luca Bernardi | SM | Barni Spark Ducati Team | +3.432s |
Also on track were Ducati’s new WorldSSP riders Nicolo Bulega, Oli Bayliss and Maximilian Kofler. Bulega was quickest by over two seconds from Kofler, while Bayliss finished 3.7s down on Bulega and 7.7 down on Rea.
Unfortunately for the Australian he crashed after just nine laps and was taken to the hospital (ankle injury). The fall came at turn five and is enough to rule him out of tomorrow’s final day.
