WorldSBK, Portimao Testing Results [Day 2] | Razgatlioglu kicks it up with lap record pace on BMW

Toprak Razgatlioglu sent out a direct warning of intent to rivals on the second and final day of pre-season testing in Portugal as he twice lowered the lap record at Portimao to top the timesheets.

Having spent the past four days of testing at Jerez and Portimao getting acquainted with his new ROKiT BMW M 1000 RR following his move from Yamaha over the winter, Razgatlioglu usurped rookie Nicolo Bulega – quickest on each of the erstwhile three days in Spain and Portugal – on the final day of action.

Indeed, Bulega had looked well set for a clean sweep of top times as he continued his impressive pace on the Aruba.it Racing Ducati Panigale V4 R, the reigning WorldSSP Champion breaking the lap record first with a 1m 39.275secs lap.

However, it would last only 15mins before the 2021 WorldSBK Champion came out on track mid-way through the day’s session and pumped in a 1m 39.225secs effort. The Turk would then return to track in the final minutes to go quicker still, ending up on top with a 1m 39.189.

It was enough to end Bulega’s grip on the top spot, though the Ducati man continued show impressive pace on the Panigale V4 R in the absence of team-mate and reigning champion Alvaro Bautista operating at full strength.

The Spaniard, title-winner in 2022 and 2023, continued to post times in the lower end of the order as he struggles with the lingering effects of a neck injury sustained in a crash at Jerez back in November. He would end the test with the 15th fastest time, 1.5secs off Razgatlioglu.

After a quiet start to proceedings on Monday, Alex Lowes showed strong pace on the factory Kawasaki to end Tuesday up in third place. There was also some better news for his team-mate Axel Bassani, the Italian – who has been struggling in testing so far as he attempts to tricky transition from V4 to inline-four machinery – showing a notable step forward to end the test 12th, less than a second off Lowes.

Among the Yamaha contingent, Remy Gardner – a race winner at Portimao in Moto2 – was the quickest of the five R1 riders on track in fourth, ahead of Andréa Locatelli in sixth, the Italian making a slight improvement late on to leapfrog factory Pata PROMETEON team-mate Jonathan Rea in seventh. The Ulsterman brought out one of the day’s red flags when he encountered technical issues on his machine.

Among them was Michael van der Mark, the Dutchman demonstrating the progress made by BMW over the winter by joining Razgatlioglu in the top five in fifth place.

Danilo Petrucci was the quickest of the satellite Ducati contingent in eighth place, ahead of Bonovo Action BMW team-mates Scott Redding and Garrett Gerloff, who posted almost identical lap times to ensure all four M 1000 RR riders were present inside the top ten.

Elsewhere, Sam Lowes ended his second proper WorldSBK test just outside the top ten in 11th with a time just over a second off the lap record benchmark, while the highest-placed Honda rider was Xavi Vierge in 13th on the latest CBR1000RR-R SP.

Meanwhile, having spent much of Monday in the pit box, Honda’s satellite entry – Petronas MIE Racing – made it onto track on Tuesday, albeit with Tarran Mackenzie and Adam Norrodin some 4.5secs and 6.3secs off the overall pace at the bottom of the timesheets.

2024 WorldSBK Pre-season Testing Results, Portimao [ Day 2 of 2]