Rea dominant in final European test
Next stop Phillip Island for the WorldSBK paddock as the final countdown to the championship opener from February 22-24 continuesWorld champion Jonathan Rea has dominated the final leg of European-based testing ahead of the championship opener at Victoria’s Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit from February 22-24.
At the two-day hitout in Portugal, Rea came out on top on his Kawasaki ZX-10RR, lapping the Portimao circuit in a best time of 1min40.855secs on a qualifying tyre, nearly one second ahead of Yamaha’s Alex Lowes (1:41.814).
Former MotoGP star and WorldSBK rookie Alvaro Bautista (Ducati, 1:41.934) was next, with the top five rounded out by the returning Leon Haslam (Kawasaki, 1:42.144) and Michael van der Mark (Yamaha, 1:42.191).
“It has been a super-positive test,” said Rea. “We confirmed the chassis items we tested at Jerez, and electronically we worked a bit better.
“I was really happy with how I felt with a lot of laps on the tyre compared to last this time last year. I got to try a qualifier at the end of the day and that felt quite good and I was really fast with it.
“This test ticked every box, just a couple of little items we could have re-checked and gone over. But the priorities were done and we got to try some new Pirelli tyres as well.”
But it wasn’t just the green, blue and red machines to impress at Portimao. BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team rider Tom Sykes put in a sensational final lap, finishing the test in the sixth spot with best lap of 1:42.246.
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The teams will now move their operations to Australia, with the final pre-season test at Phillip Island on February 18-19 ahead of the title opener which will be the debut of the new three-race format.
Tickets are available at www.worldsbk.com.au.
Portimao test times
1. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing WorldSBK Team) 1:40.855
2. Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team) +0.959
3. Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) +1.079
4. Leon Haslam (Kawasaki Racing WorldSBK Team) +1.289
5. Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team) +1.336
6. Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) +1.391
7. Sandro Cortese (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK) +1.614
8. Marco Melandri (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK) +1.652
9. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Turkish Puccetti Racing Kawasaki) +1.682
10. Markus Reiterberger (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) +2.291
11. Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +2.506
12. Michael Ruben Rinaldi (BARNI Racing Team Ducati) +2.979
13. Eugene Laverty (Team Goeleven Ducati) +3.095
14. Alessandro Delbianco (Althea MIE Racing Team Honda) +4.030
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