The second of two days of testing for MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship teams and riders at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve got underway on Wednesday and Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) continued where he left Tuesday’s action by topping the morning session on Wednesday, with the six-time Champion posting the first time for WorldSBK in the 1’39s bracket.

Rea added another 34 laps to his tally for the test from the session which started at 10:00am Local Time, with a best lap time of 1’39.851s as he went under the lap record pace at the circuit, beating Toprak Razgatlioglu’s (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) 2021 pole time by more than three tenths. Rea was hoping to add more mileage to test more components ahead of the 2022 campaign getting underway. Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK), who felt the first day of testing was one of his best days on a Kawasaki, was fifth in place with the British rider aiming to focus on outright performance throughout the day as well as potentially trying Pirelli’s new SCQ tyres. Lowes completed 42 laps with a best time of 1’40.879s on his ZX-10RR machine, going 0.5s quicker than he did on Tuesday.

Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) continued to show strong pace at the Portimao venue as he claimed in second place, despite a crash at Turn 8 in the morning, with Bautista completing 29 laps with a best time of 1’40.664s. Bautista’s aim for the day was to try Pirelli’s new SCQ tyre while also maintaining the same mentality as on day one. Teammate Michael Ruben Rinaldi will try a new swingarm on his Ducati Panigale V4 R today after not testing it yesterday as well as potentially trying the new SCQ tyre from Pirelli. Rinaldi’s best lap time was good enough for seventh place as he posted a 1’41.823s after completing 34 laps.

Italian Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) claimed third place on Wednesday morning as he looked to work on the electronic setup of his YZF-R1, with Locatelli posting a 1’40.674s with 32 laps under his belt. Teammate and reigning Champion Razgatlioglu was fourth after posting a 1’40.906s and racking up 24 laps. Yamaha brought a new fuel tank for Razgatlioglu as well as rider position changes for both riders, as well as working on electronic changes on Wednesday morning.

Rookie Philipp Oettl (Team GoEleven) continued his adaptation to WorldSBK with the sixth fastest time on Wednesday morning. Oettl, aiming to find a good setup for himself at his first test, completed 35 laps with his best time coming in at 1’41.534s. French rider Christophe Ponsson (Gil Motor Sport-Yamaha) was disrupted through electrical issues on Tuesday but was able to work on new parts for his YZF-R1, including components that had been used by Razgatlioglu and Locatelli in 2021, as well as his position on the bike. His best time was a 1’42.374s after completing 26 laps. Luca Bernardi (Barni Spark Racing Team) also continued to adjust to WorldSBK with a further 31 laps to his name, with a best time of 1’43.074s.

In WorldSSP, Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team) was once again the pacesetter with the Italian potentially trying setup changes on his Ducati Panigale V2. He added 27 laps to his total on Wednesday morning with a best time of 1’44.890s. Maximilian Kofler (CM Racing) was in second place with 22 laps to his name, 1.775s back from Bulega. Nicholas Spinelli, standing in for the injured Oli Bayliss at Barni Spark Racing Team racked up 25 laps for the team, with a best time of 1’47.936s.

WorldSBK times at 13:00 Local Time

1 Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) 1’39.851s, 34 laps

2. Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) 1’40.664s, 29 laps

3. Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) 1’40.674s, 32 laps

4. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) 1’40.821s, 26 laps

5. Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) 1’40.879s, 42 laps

6. Philipp Oettl (Team GoEleven) 1’41.534s, 35 laps

7. Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) 1’41.823s, 34 laps

8. Christophe Ponsson (Gil Motor Sport-Yamaha) 1’42.374s, 26 laps

9. Luca Bernardi (Barni Spark Racing Team) 1’43.074s, 31 laps

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