Winter Test Portimao, Day 2: Chaz Davies confirms himself as the fastest

The intense week of WorldSuperbike Winter Test ended today, Sunday 29 January, at the Circuito do Algarve in Portimao, where some of the teams, with only Kawasaki absent among the big names, continued the work done in Jerez de la Frontera.

Chaz Davies stood out above all and if yesterday, Saturday 28 January, he was the only rider to dip under 1'43", on Day 2 he even managed to do better by breaking the 1'42 limit ”, although the same heavy gaps as on the first day were not recorded.
Even though Laverty and Savadori have become closer, this test session shows Davies in great shape supported by a convincing Ducati Panigale R.

Opposite feelings, however, for Marco Melandri who seemed to be in difficulty here in Portimao, and only finished in eighth place, over a second and a half behind his teammate.
Interim weekend for Honda which with the new CBR1000RR did not go beyond the ninth and tenth times of Hayden and Bradl: in this case, however, it is premature to talk about performance, considering that many racing components are not yet available and that the development of the new Japanese inline fours, which the Ten Kate team is pursuing with Cosworth, is only just beginning.
The potential to do well is there and the new sponsor Red Bull, whose colors will characterize the new liveries, will certainly be able to bring new life to a project that has been stuck in development for two years: Team Honda Worldsbk will be officially presented on Monday 6 February in Salzburg.

For a bike yet to be discovered, there is another that already seems to be a candidate for a leading role: behind Davies we find the RSV4 RF of Team Milwaukee of Laverty and Savadori, who showed off his usual riding aggressive and spectacular, but at the same time concrete, stopwatch in hand.
Given that the Italian rider had already shown off in Jerez, placing himself between Rea and Sykes, we can say that the surprise of the weekend is Leon Haslam, who finished in fourth place aboard the Puccetti team Kawasaki.

Fifth time for Leon Camier, who made MV Agusta make big steps forward on the second day of testing, managing to stay ahead of the Yamahas of Lowes and Van der Mark, who were a bit disappointing this weekend considering that the R-1 she is no longer a debutant in the category.

The times of the second day of testing in Portimao:

1 – Chaz Davies (Ducati) 1'41.813
2 – Eugene Laverty (Aprilia) + 0.189
3 – Lorenzo Savadori (Aprilia) + 0.230
4 – Leon Haslam (Kawasaki) +0.487
5 – Leon Camier (MV Agusta) + 0.526
6 – Alex Lowes (Yamaha) +0.720
7 – Michael Van der Mark (Yamaha) + 0.981
8 – Marco Melandri (Ducati) + 1.531
9 – Nicky Hayden (Honda) + 1.679
10 – Stefan Bradl (Honda) + 1'883
11 – Raffaele De Rosa (BMW) + 1.895
12 – Xavi Fores (Ducati) + 1.987
13 – Riccardo Russo (Yamaha) + 2.112
14 – Leandro Mercado (Aprilia) + 2.688
15 – Markus Reiterberger (BMW) + 3.007