Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) topped the session for the second time in two days, followed in P2 by Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) for the second time in two days as well. Bringing up the rear of the top three, Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) atop his KB998 Rimini placed P3, bumping Michael van der Mark to P4 in the final minutes of the session.
Drier conditions than in Day 1 helped riders push harder early in the day in Day 2, by 9:40 local time (+0:00 UTC), four riders had already broken into the 1’41s mark; whereas at this time in Day 1, riders had not even taken to the track yet, and by the end of the day, only 12 riders hit that mark. While the grid had more dry time than in Day 1, rain would return to fall on the WorldSBK parade in Portimao. After the lunch break, intermittent showers would continue and leave the track wet, only drying off in the last half hour of the session.
After a dominant performance by the grid’s Panigale V4R riders, Portimao’s two days of testing still featured Ducati machinery in numbers up around the top 10, but not the all-Ducati top five in the Tissot Superpole and all-Ducati top six Race 2 seen in Australia. Ducati riders nonetheless performed in the top half of the timesheet, led by Nicolo Bulega in P2 with his best lap time of 1’40.017s. After a stunning hat-trick in Australia and a P2 yesterday, he suffered a crash in Turn 11 of the circuit at around 10:00 today; he was fortunately cleared by the medical team and returned to the track atop a different bike, atop which he logged his P2 time. Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) made an appearance after not participating in Day 1’s rainy test day, earning a P9 with his fastest lap being a 1’40.717 just slower than his 2024 fastest lap here of 1’40.612s. Following up his strong P5 performance in Day 1, Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) had another strong day which via his 1’40.651s lap, he placed P6. His Barni Spark teammate, Yari Montella continues to look increasingly comfortable on his bike, placing P11on 56 laps. After a personal best in Australia and a similarly fast Day 1 of testing, Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) with a time of 1’40.928s again cracked the top ten for the second time in the pair of testing days. Andrea Iannone was uncharacteristically off-pace in Day 2 as he brought up the rear of the Ducati cadre in P14 on a 1’41.514s lap.
Toprak Razgatlioglu enjoyed a return to the top of the podium in Portimao’s Test Day 1. Phillip Island is a track that tends to give him more trouble than others, and after Race 2, ‘El Turco’ was clearly frustrated. He seems to be progressing well as between the change in scenery and changes to the bike, he set the top time of the day at 1’39.592s, beating the circuit’s all-time WorldSBK record, set by the ‘Professor of Portimao’ himself, Jonathan Rea (Pata Maxus Yamaha). Impressively, it is not the first time he has hit this lofty benchmark, as I last season’s preseason testing, he accomplished the same feat. Michael van der Mark looked to be worlds more comfortable as well, he sat in P2 as the riders entered their rain-induced early lunch break at 12:00 local time and finished the day in P4 only thanks to late runs from Bulega and Alex Lowes.
After an impressive P4 finish yesterday, Xavi Vierge (Honda HRC) was not quite as fast in Day 2. While he did say that the bike might struggle to replicate Day 1’s results in warmer weather, P12 in Day 2 on the back of a 1’41.264s lap leaves the work for him and his Honda HRC team cut out for them. In that pursuit, Tetsuta Nagashima put down a combined 63 laps and finished P17 from a 1’42.644s lap. One place ahead of Nagashima, Tarran Mackenzie was the fastest rider for PETRONAS MIE Honda, a 1’42.623s lap earned him a P16. Honda HRC Test rider Tommy Bridwell was slightly slower than Nagashima, just 0.126s slower after 25 laps. Zaqhwan Zaidi (Petronas MIE Honda Racing team) ran his fastest lap of the day as a 1’45.816s on 32 laps.
In Day 2, Yamaha stayed on the gas; Andrea Locatelli (Pata Maxus Yamaha) shined in Day 1 in Portimao’s testing, landing a P3 finish on Day 1. The result came after a still strong, but uncharacteristically slow weekend in Australia; while a pair of P7’s in Races 1 and 2 were his worst result at Phillip Island in his WorldSBK career, it is if anything, a testament to the affinity ‘Loka’ has for Phillip Island. #55 in Day 2 finished P7, with his fastest lap of 1’40.702s . Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) showed even steeper signs of improvement, from a trio of P11’s in Australia to P6 in Day 1 in Portimao, and only 0.189s away from Nicolo Bulega in P2. Day 2 saw him up around the podium again for most of the day, finishing in P4 off of a fastest lap of 1’40.544s. The WorldSBK grid’s newest rider, Augusto Fernandez continues to get up to speed on his Yamaha R1, landing a fastest lap of 1’41.362s, landing him P13.
After a strong showing from both Bimota riders on Day 1 in which again the Lowes-Bassani pair finished one immediately after the other in P7 and P8, Day 2 featured Alex Lowes shining with a blistering 1’40.359s lap earning him P3; this time out in the track being the first time this season we’ve seen an appreciable gap between the two riders in time after they have been practically inseparable on the time sheet. Axel Bassani continued his work atop the bike earning another strong result with a 1’41.049s P9.
Yamaha riders continued their strong form in Portimao on Day 2. In Day 1 Can Oncu (Yamaha BLU CRU Evan Bros Team) topped the timesheet and the Turk does it again in Day 2 via his 1’43.623s lap. Behind him, fellow Yamaha R9 rider Lucas Mahias (GMT94- Yamaha) was tailing Oncu, clocking in at 1’44.301s despite running only 22 laps.in P3 for WorldSSP, representing the third different Yamaha team, Stefano Manzi (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing) ran 54 laps, and his fastest among them was a 1’44.655s. In P4, Michael Rinaldi (GMT94-Yamaha) clocked in at 1’44.865, only 0.210s behind Manzi.
1. Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) 1’39.592s 47 laps
2. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) 1’40.017s 38 laps
3. Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) 1’40.359s 45 laps
4. Michael van der Mark (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) 1’40.436s 46 laps
5. Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) 1’40.544s 33 laps
6. Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) 1’40.651s 35 laps
