Voltcom Suzuki's Alex Lowes has shocked his World Superbike rivals by grabbing top spot on the Portimo test timesheets today, despite only riding at the Portugese track for the first time yesterday.

The reigning British Superbike Champion was three-tenths faster than team-mate Eugene Laverty and only a second slower than Tom Sykes' circuit best lap set last summer with a much warmer track temperature.

“The test has been really good, I'm still learning a lot about the bike and obviously it’s a new track for me, so it was nice to have the opportunity to learn the track and still be quick! We did a long run today and while the times were good, the most important thing was that it gave me a lot of confidence," said Lowes.

"We got a lot of information about the bike and it was good for me as well, as I've not done a race simulation since the last round of BSB. I still need to improve myself a lot and work on the bike but we shouldn't be too far away!

“A massive thanks to the team, they've been working really hard, late nights and two tests back-to-back. I think everyone is excited, we are all getting on great; we know we need to work hard, we have a big challenge in front of us and it’s nice to do a good job.”

Factory Ducati's Davide Guigliano and Jonathan Rea tied for third with a 1'42.9 with Aprilia new boy Marco Melandri a further two-tenths in arrears. Chaz Davies was next along on a 1'43.3 while Leon Haslam was another tenth in arrears.

Portimao WSBK test final times - conditions dry

1 Alex Lowes (Voltcom Suzuki) 1'42.3

2 Eugene Laverty (Voltcom Suzuki) 1'42.6

3 Davide Giugliano (Factory Ducati) 1'42.9

4 Jonathan Rea (Pata Honda) 1'42.9

5 Marco Melandri (Factory Aprilia) 1'43.1

6 Chaz Davies (Factory Ducati) 1'43.2

7 Leon Haslam (Pata Honda) 1'43.3

8 Sylvain Barrier (BMW EVO) 1'44.0

9 Claudio Corti (MV Agusta) 1'44.5

10 Alex Hofmann (Aprilia tester) 1'45.0

11 Jeremy Guarnoni (Kawasaki Evo) 1'45.3

(All times unofficial, courtesy various)