SBK | Portimao Test Day 1: Rinaldi in command, but Rea and Bautista are close

SBK Test Portimao – The first day of testing on the Portimao circuit ends with the best overall time of Michael Ruben Rinaldi, who on his Ducati precedes Jonathan Rea by just 61 thousandths.

After the Jerez tests, the SBK riders returned to the track to fine-tune the final things before the start of the season. At the end of the day Rinaldi finished in command with a time of 1'39.639, ahead of Rea by a whisker and teammate Alvaro Bautista by just 68 thousandths.

After dominating the Jerez tests, Toprak Razgatlioglu closed day 1 in Portimao with the fourth fastest time ahead of his team mate, Andrea Locatelli. Sixth and eighth position respectively for the Team HRC duo formed by Xavi Vierge and Iker Lecuona. Among them Alex Lowes, who crashed during the morning. Ninth place for Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) ahead of Garrett Gerloff (Bonovo Action BMW) and Loris Baz: the American and the Frenchman are separated by just 39 thousandths.

Scott Redding (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) in 1'40.749 is 12th and is the best official BMW rider while Michael van der Mark is 14th. The official BMW team continues to adapt the Brembo brakes in addition to the new fairing and aerodynamic package without forgetting the new gearbox. 13th place for Philipp Oettl (Team GoEleven) while rookie Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) was 1th in 41.321'15.

Rookie Dominique Aegerter (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) in his first time in Portimao aboard a WorldSBK bike is 16th in 1'41.342 and puts Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) behind him – returning to WorldSBK on a Kawasaki – followed by Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) for the first time on his 4 Panigale V2023 R. 19th time for WorldSBK debutant Bradley Ray (Yamaha Motoxracing WorldSBK Team) while rookie Lorenzo Baldassarri of the GMT94 Yamaha team closes the ranking of WorldSBK riders.