On the Portuguese track, the second day of testing with the Spaniard of the redhead who knocks down the record by six tenths, lapping just three tenths from Bagnaia’s MotoGP one. Rea 2nd at 9 thousandths, Rinaldi 3rd, Danilo pays 2″4
– portimao (portogallo)
Alvaro Bautista and the Ducati went wild in the Portimao tests, the last in Europe before flying to Phillip Island in Australia, where the last two days of testing will be held on Sunday 20 and Monday 21, before the Superbike World Championship kicks off the following weekend. Bautista lapped very fast with the new Panigale V4 R, establishing the new record on the Portuguese circuit in 1’39″035, six tenths less than the previous record, but above all just 3 tenths from the record set by Francesco Bagnaia in 2021 astride his Ducati MotoGP. Behind Bautista, very close to just 9 thousandths, 1’39″044 Jonathan Rea with Kawasaki, ahead of a reborn Michael Ruben Rinaldi, who with the second Ducati of the Aruba team stopped just a tenth behind his fellow world champion in charge. The three made the difference on the flying lap, given that the fourth of the day, the Turkish Toprak Razgatlioglu, with his Yamaha did not go beyond a 1’39″441, still below the old Portuguese record, but still 4 tenths behind by Bautista. Behind the 2021 world champion are the other Yamaha of Andrea Locatelli (at 0″607), who preceded the best Honda of Iker Lecuona (at 0″768) and the Yamaha of rookie Remy Gardner, however 1″ behind 1 from the summit.
we worked well
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But it is above all on the race pace that Bautista and Rinaldi have caused fear, lapping at a very fast and constant pace, which suggests the enormous potential of the latest addition to Borgo Panigale. “Winter times matter relatively, what counts is the feeling with the bike and I think we’ve worked quite well these days – says the Spanish world champion -. Especially on this last day we improved the rear grip a bit at maximum lean angle and this makes me happy. Everyone has been strong these days and, looking at it this way, this could be an even more interesting season, but we are waiting for the first race. But I think we prepared well, the bike is new but we have already found an excellent set-up”. As for Rinaldi, “we started these tests very well, closing the first day with the best time. faster but we too have made important steps forward. I am very satisfied above all because with my team we were able to follow the program we had agreed on, laying a solid foundation that will undoubtedly help us in the future”.
petrux what an effort
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The painful notes, however, for the Italian riders, come from Axel Bassani and Danilo Petrucci, very far behind and in big set-up difficulties. Bassani, who last year was constantly sailing close to the leaders, finished 2″3 behind Bautista with his Ducati of the Motocorse team, also behind the deb Lorenzo Baldassarri, 17th at 2″183, with Petrucci right behind him at 2”4 in what was the first day of work for the rider from Terni with the official Panigale of the Barni team. With only two days of testing left before the start of the championship, Petrux is already in a race against time not to be caught unprepared for the Australian debut. “It was a complicated test in which I tried various things to find a setup that I liked, unfortunately without ever succeeding – explains Petrucci -. The new bike is a step forward but I don’t have it in hand yet, and this can be understood from the fact that I can’t improve the time when I put on the new tyre. It went better in Jerez, here I never looked at the standings, I was looking for a confidence that never arrived”.
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