Near perfect weather greeted the WorldSBK paddock on their returns to action this weekend for the Pirelli Portuguese Round.
Blue skies and sunshine with temperatures over 20°C offered a stark contrast to the recent test at the Autodromo Internacional Algarve and saw Sam Lowes lead the way for the ELF Marc VDS Racing Team.
Having suffered a fractured left wrist at the season opening round Lowes was able to complete 32 laps throughout the course of the day and topped the times in both sessions.
Championship leader Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) was second fastest with a Ducati 1-2-3 closing the day at the top of the time sheets after 90 minutes of action.
The day was blighted by crashes in the afternoon session. Jonathan Rea, returning to WorldSBK action as a replacement rider at Honda HRC, suffered a high speed crash at Turn 11 while his teammate, Somkiat Chantra, ended the session in the Turn 15 gravel trap.
Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) crashed at Turn 5 along with Iker Lecuona (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) and Alvaro Bautista (Barni Spark Racing Team) but they all ended inside the top six on the combined times.
The Portuguese crowd has a home hero to cheer this weekend and Miguel Oliveira (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) started the weekend with the eighth fastest time.
P1 – Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team):
“Today was positive because I expected my wrist to feel worse. I’m happy with the progress even if I’d still like it to be a bit better. This track suits our bike and the Ducati package quite well. We tested here and that gives us a small advantage. Our pace was strong at the end. I was also quick this morning, with a 1’40.2, which was competitive but I know that the key is to manage the final part of the race. If I can stay there in the last six to eight laps I feel like I can fight for something. Today was encouraging.”
P2 – Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati):
“Our position isn’t bad but honestly the feeling wasn’t very good today. I struggled to find the right setup and I wasn’t able to push at 100%. I’d say that I’m at around 90% so I just tried to ride and improve this afternoon. It was a bit difficult and I know that we need to take a step forward for tomorrow and I’m sure we’ll find a solution. In general we need to improve a bit everywhere but the main issue is braking. There are many heavy braking areas here and I don’t have the same feeling as last year. Our race pace wasn’t bad but I wasn’t fully comfortable. I hope we can improve tomorrow because there are definitely some fast guys out there.”
P3 – Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team):
“I need something more from the bike, especially with the front feeling. We have to analyse the data and try to make a step forward for tomorrow. We just need to keep working. At the moment there are a few riders who can fight for the podium and it will be a tough fight tomorrow. The key is to improve the feeling with the bike so I can push properly in the races.”
P8 – Miguel Oliveira (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team):
“It was a good day but our position doesn’t really reflect the work we did. During the afternoon session we were strong, especially in the first stint, so I felt fast and competitive. On the second set of tyres something didn’t work. I’m not sure if it was tyre-related or something else, and we couldn’t put together good laps. That was frustrating because the potential was there to be inside the top five. Based on the ideal lap time we were only about three tenths from P1, which shows what we’re capable of. We need some small tweaks to make the bike more user-friendly in certain corners but the potential is there. Now it’s about putting everything together.”
Combined Results after FP2
1. Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) 1’39.941s
2. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +0.247s
3. Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) +0.410s
4. Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) +0.501s
5. Iker Lecuona (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +0.517s
6. Alvaro Bautista (Barni Spark Racing Team) +0.535s
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