alvaro bautista marked during the second day of testing Portimão a record of 1:39.035, a great time that dropped by almost six tenths the absolute record (in the specialty) of the track that he had in his possession Jonathan Rhea from the superpole of 2022 of the Portuguese round of SBK World Cup (1:39.610). The Spaniard was not the only one to lower that record on Wednesday, as did the Northern Irishman himself, rinaldi and razgatliogluwhich demonstrates the evolution experienced by the three best factories (ducati, yamaha and Kawasaki) of the derivatives of the series from one year to the next.
The progress in time, the best time of the 2022 test in the same scenario was improved by one second, has placed the superbike in the times of MotoGP in the same circuit Portimão. With a nuance that must be highlighted: you have to go back to 2021 to be able to compare both categories, since last season the water on the track caused the prototypes to run far from their best times.
In that November 2021 Pecco Bagnaia marked with the ducati the absolute record of Portimao with a time of 1:38.725 at an average speed of 167.4 km/h. A time that earned him pole position at the Algarve GP. Last season Rea, with the Pirelli classification, a fact that cannot be ignored either, he signed pole position for sbk with the Kawasaki, 1:39.610, at an average of 165.2 km/h. A difference of 0.885 seconds and 2.2 km/h in favor of the Italian, who in any case would have placed the Northern Irishman 11th on a hypothetical starting grid combining MotoGP and SBK.
But Bautista’s improvement last Wednesday, with that 1:39.035 and 166.9 km/h on average, would have boosted him even more, to sixth place, second row of Portimao 2 with the Panigale. The Spaniard was just over three tenths (0.310) behind the desmosedici from Bagnaia and 0.5 km/h from the Italian average, surpassing the official ones, for example, from Honda (Espargaró, 1:39.058), Yamaha (Quartararo, 1:39.131) or Suzuki (Rins, 1:39.649). Rea would have been seventh with the time of the last test, 1:39.044, and ninth, Rinaldi, 1:39.144, just behind Pol, 1:39.058. Three SBK among the top 10 MotoGP times. “In the winter tests you can see many good times”, the Talaverano limited himself to saying about his fabulous record, putting more focus on “the good sensations”.
In terms of top speed, the distance is wider in favor of the prototypes. The Ducati of the Pramac Zarco registered 351.7 km/h in 2021 in Portimao, while in the derivatives of the series the highest peak is for the Sling of Friday, with 324.4 km/h. The slowest MotoGP bike that weekend in 2021 was the M1 of Morbidelli, with 329.2 km/h, not too far from the fastest of the SBKs that are one step closer to the MotoGP. “Doing 1:39.0 in Portimao is a fast time. Last year, with the Q tyre, we did a 1:39.6 and now, with the race solutions, we are even faster. What is clear is that the competition never stops. I wanted to see a 1:38 on my board to get the fastest lap here. We have come close”, declared Rea after finishing the tests in Portugal. “The times have been incredible,” he adds. rinaldi.
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