Friday saw Kawasaki Racing’s Alex Lowes in action thanks to a one day test at Portimao with the WorldSBK regular pleased with the progress made despite the hot conditions.

With a triple header looming, and conditions expected to replicate those of the late-August test as the season ramps up, especially across the Iberian Peninsula, the Brit used the full time allowance to fine-tune his front end feel and race setting analysis before the team heads to France, and Magny-Cours next weekend.

“This morning was good. We tried three or four different options on the front end of the bike and we also had some parts to try,” Lowes explained.

“We made some geometry changes which gave me some quite positive feedback. In the afternoon when the temperatures got higher we tried a longer run race in preparation for the race weekend at Portimao at the start of October.

“I had a good feeling with the bike. The Ninja ZX-10RR was working really well around Portimao. It was a very positive test for us so I am happy with that.”

“This test was good for us,” Lowes’ crew chief Marcel Duinker confirmed. The track surface has changed since last year and it was a bit of a surprise how the tyres responded to it at first.

“We knew from the last couple of WorldSBK rounds which way we wanted to go with the chassis set-up and we tried out three different items on the bike. We did 55 laps in all, confirmed those items and Alex did a race run at the end. I had a very happy rider at the end of the day.”