The weather once again played its role in WorldSBK testing this week as the two-day test in Portimao was effectively cut to one.

Only two riders set lap times on the second day of the test, newcomer Tommy Bridewell and WorldSSP rider Philipp Oettl, as wet conditions made riding essentially pointless. On day one, though, dry conditions in the morning presented an opportunity for everyone at the test to get some laps in, and they ended with Alex Lowes fastest for Bimota.

“I felt good today [Monday] on the bike,” Lowes told WorldSBK.com after day one of the test.

“Obviously, it’s nice to get back to Europe after Australia. In Australia, we were quite strong and quite quick in the dry, and here we continued our work in the winter. 

“The feeling on the bike is positive; we gathered some good confidence here today.”

Although the rain most substantially affected Tuesday, the afternoon on Monday was also affected. Lowes expressed some frustration at this, especially as it follows a European testing campaign that was also heavily affected by rain.

“The conditions were unfortunate, we had just started to try some things on the bike, and then it started raining,” Lowes said.

“So we only did 30 laps and didn’t get a chance to really test things. I’m really happy to be back on the bike, though; we hadn’t ridden here in a year, since the race last year, so it’s been nice to see the evolution of our KB998 Rimini.”

Bassani: “We have been really unlucky”

Axel Bassani is another rider to be frustrated by the weather at this year’s WorldSBK tests. The Italian said at the end of the second day in Portimao, on which he didn’t complete any laps, that the series had been “really unlucky” with the conditions it has encountered in the first seven weeks of 2026.

“On day one we did about 29–30 laps and we tried some things in dry conditions,” Bassani said.

“We worked a little bit on the set-up for the race and a lot on the electronics side. Then we had some bad weather. 

“This year we have been really unlucky with the weather and only the two days in Australia were really good. It has been the same for everyone, but in general it is not the best for the riders. 

“We need more time to work on the bike and feel good. So, we have to keep working, stay positive and we will see how it goes in the next days.”