Superbike: Lowes ahead of everyone in the Portimao tests
The new entry in the World Championship sets the best time on the last day of testing
Very positive tests concluded yesterday in Portimao for Team Voltcom Crescent Suzuki, which saw its riders set excellent times on the track.
In particular, the performance of World Championship debutant Alex Lowes was impressive, as he was able to set the best time on the track, 1'42”5, coming very close to Tom Sykes' record.
Despite a late crash, which forced him and the other riders into the pits due to oil leaking from his GSX-R 1000, Lowes leaves Portimao with the knowledge that he can be one of the fastest riders for next season.
Behind him was teammate Laverty: his 1'42”6 demonstrates how the changes made to the bike, especially to the electronic package, are working.
As for the other teams involved, Ducati, Honda and Aprilia leave Portugal satisfied with the work done and the improvements seen on the track, which also had good feedback on the times.
Jonathan Rea seems to have improved his feeling with the electronics of his Honda, while Melandri worked a lot on the set up of his Aprilia, perhaps managing to find the solution best suited to his riding style.
The Panigale also seems to have made progress, despite those 4 tenths of a distance from Lowes: Giugliano was still confident of being able to close them if the red flags (due to oil on the track) had not been displayed.
Still behind the others is the MV Agusta team, which must refine the F4 especially with regards to electronics and ride-by-wire. For Claudio Corti there is still a lot of work to do in view of the start of the championship.
Below are the (unofficial) times recorded yesterday by the drivers on the track:
1. Alex Lowes (Suzuki) 1'42”5
2. Eugene Laverty (Suzuki) 1'42”6
3. Davide Giugliano (Ducati) 1'42”9
4. Jonathan Rea (Honda) 1'42”9
5. Marco Melandri (Aprilia) 1'43”1
6. Chaz Davies (Ducati) 1'43”2
7. Leon Haslam (Honda) 1'43”3
8. Sylvain Barrier (BMW EVO) 1'44”0
9. Claudio Corti (MV Agusta) 1'44”5
10. Alex Hofmann (Aprilia) 1'45”0
11. Jeremy Guarnoni (Kawasaki EVO) 1'45”3
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Finally the abstinence has come to an end, we are starting to smell competitions.
In Portimao, SBK kicked off the games, also because in just over a month, we're starting, WE'RE BEGINNING.
Everyone is dealing with new things, adaptations, first contact with new bikes, etc., and Ducati is no exception. The article rightly highlights Lowes, who, as soon as he arrived, had already lined up everyone, riding the Suzuki which, already last year, had given new and promising signs.
As a Ducati fan, I focus on the red one and start by saying that Giuliano set a time that was 9 tenths better than the time set by Checa in the race.
Naturally, we must take into account all the aspects and all the differences that led to the performances in question, but even without going into the detail of the matter, such a large improvement is rarely seen, especially if this improvement is not followed by equally important improvements of the other "competitors". The position in the standings of these tests gives great hope for the Ducati Panigale and, in the hope that it is not a "flash in the pan", as was the first race of the last championship, the fans of the red are full of new hopes .
What led to this rapprochement and whether this rapprochement with the best will be confirmed throughout the season is difficult to say, but I would tend to exclude significant interventions by Dall'Igna.
This makes me think that the potential of the bike was already present last year and that an unfortunate series of circumstances prevented the riders from being able to get the best out of the bike.
Since the publication of the news, I have given broad consideration to the structure of Battà who took charge of the Ducatis, but perhaps the inexperience on the vehicle, the disagreements that arose between Ducati and Battà regarding the direction to be given to development, led a year of real suffering for us fans of the red.
The year horribles (is that correct in Latin?) is over and from the way things are going, it seems like it won't be repeated. With this I am not at all saying that Ducati will return to the top of the charts, but at least the hope drawn from these tests gives us hope for a year of struggles.
Go Ducati, this is the first seed of the Red team's recovery and who knows whether the "organized" enthusiasm can be transmitted to the Red team in MotoGP.
Congratulations to Giuliano for the new air that Ducati has been allowed to breathe, if before you had to put up with the air full of exhaust fumes from all the bikes that preceded it, now it already seems clearer and more breathable.
However, the problems are still intact, there is a lack of horsepower compared to the 4 cylinders and this is a very important handicap that can decide the outcome of an entire world championship.
Let's hope that they manage to "squeeze out" as much as possible and that, in the coming years, the regulation will "help" the Red, bringing the SBK closer to the dealers' series bikes.
In this configuration (SuperStock), the Ducati has proven that it is second to no other bike.