Aruba Ducati riders Chaz Davies and Davide Giugliano debuted a new Akrapovic exhaust in the second World Superbike free practice at Portimao this afternoon and it propelled the pair to the top of the speed list.

Davies was clocked at 308.6kph on the Portugese track’s start/finish straight on his way to the fourth fastest lap of the day  an advantage of almost three kilometres per hour over the pack.

World Superbike technical director Scott Smart explained the new system to bikesportnews.com at Portimao: “It’s a new concept for Ducati and results in one exhaust outlet high on the right-hand side, so it is more like the megaphone arrangement of MotoGP bikes.

“It it still legal, the silencers are in the same place, one on each side and hopefully gives them a little bit of extra performance.”