Only three weeks before the first race weekend of 2025 in WorldSBK at Phillip Island and the pre-season testing at Portugal closed with two days being cut short due to wet-weather conditions. This is the second opportunity to improve on set-up for the new machinery after the testing in Jerez, and there will only be one more in Australia, before all improvements need to be made under race conditions.
Bimota improving quickly
Sam Lowes was the fastest rider on Day 2 with a 1’42.096s just 0.005 seconds ahead of reigning world champion Toprak Razgatlioglu. Lowes took advantage of brief dry conditions to set up the fastest lap on board of the new KB998. With only two half-days of testing due to the weather conditions between Jerez and Portimao the team is finding their ideal set-up with every stint. “I feel we’re starting from at least the same point we finished on the Kawasaki” said the #22 rider after testing on Tuesday.
Toprak back on top of the BMW
Razgatlioglu came back to the WorldSBK paddock after having to sit out Jerez due to a broken index finger after a motocross accident he suffered over the winter. He is using a set of gloves that have the index and middle finger sown together so he can use as much force on the index as he can. “On the bike I’m riding like before. On the brake I use more the middle finger, you know not bad, the balance is good (…) if I feel my finger getting better, I’m more relaxed”. Teammate Michael van der Mark did also go on track but did not set a lap time. And BMW used Markus Reiterberger to complete the day of testing.
Ducati not quite on pace
Bautista was the top Ducati on third place at just under a second away from Lowes, was able to complete a short stint of laps before losing the rear and suffering a high-side on Turn 9. “I don’t have good confidence with the bike, I hope to build that in Australia” was his reasoning for the lack of pace. In the afternoon Nicolo Bulega was able to complete an installation lap after the mechanics were able to somewhat repair the Panigale V4R.
Rookie Ryan Vickers got his first taste of the WorldSBK paddock taking sixth place on the timesheets. Yari Montella as well as Scott Redding went out on track as various times to make the most of the rainy days of testing as both need to adapt to new machinery from the 2024 season.
In the WorldSSP category Phillip Oettl was the only rider on track testing the Panigale V2 and setting a lap time of 1’45.834 seconds
Locatelli top Yamaha
Andrea Locatelli’s fastest time on the R1M was good enough for fourth, with Yamaha checking the positive results they saw while testing in Jerez with new components. Jonathan Rea did not test as rain in the afternoon cut the day of testing short. Remy Garder, Tito Rabat, and Dominique Aegerter finished fifth, seventh, and tenth respectively, as rookie Bahattin Sofuoglu had to crashes on track, the second of which brought the red flag.
Both Hondas on the top ten
Iker Lecuona was the fastest of the two on the second day at the rollercoaster with both Lecuona and Xavi Vierge getting limited time on track. The main worry from Honda since pre-season testing started is how quickly they can adapt to their new Öhlins suspension on the CBR1000RR-R. In contrast, Tarran Mackenzie did not go out on track with the Petronas MIE Honda.
One last shot before the WorldSBK testing ends
The teams will have one last testing opportunity on February 17th and 18th to test at Phillip Island, before the race weekend starts that Friday February 21st. And with flag-to-flag races mandatory (for feature-length races) it’s not just the bikes and the riders that need to be on their A-game. Pit crews will need to practice pit-stops to ensure they can make the most of the allocated minimum pit-time. As a badly time tire change or pit-exit can be costly on a championship that is tighter than ever.
