KRT’s Jonathan Rea completed two days at Portimao second in the standings as preparations for the WorldSBK season continued.
Rea was the first rider to lap Autodromo Internacional do Algarve under the 1’40 barrier on Wednesday before finishing the afternoon with a 1’39.851, 0.235s behind 2021 Champion Toprak Razgatlioglu.
The Northern Irishman concentrated on chassis and electronic set-ups with his 2022 Ninja ZX-10RR across the two days. Completing a long run in the final afternoon session with positive results in terms of tyre life. Rea also evaluated Pirelli’s new SCQ development tyres as he set his best lap time.
“We got a lot of laps in at this test,” Rea confirmed as the test concluded. “We have been going back and forward because we had a couple of chassis items we were not sure about. Finally I think we can be pretty confident that we have confirmed a couple of items we found in Jerez at the previous tests. We finally put the package together.
“In the middle of the day Pirelli brought some tyres that we had to try and then we worked on our plan in the afternoon. We did a long race simulation at the end - and some practice starts that were much better than the ones on the first day. During the long run the feeling was that the set-up was taking some feeling away ‘from my hand’ but it is actually better.
“Normally in Portimao there is a big tyre drop after 10 or 15 laps, but today I did not experience any drop in the long run. I’m pretty happy with that and we will keep working on that side of things. It is important to be fast but it is important to be fast at the end of races. I think we can safely say we managed that today. So, all-in-all, it was a pretty solid day. I think we have a pretty good handle on what our base set-up is going to be to start the year.”
“Over the two days Johnny set a lot of laps,” Pere Riba, Rea’s Crew Chief agreed. “Today, at the end, he was tired because we made so many laps and even in the afternoon we made a real long run, 19-20 laps.
“We made a good test. We have been focusing during the tests in Jerez and Portimao to understand some items to build the base to start the season in Motorland Aragon. Here, we had a chance to compare things again in these two days and the weather was very good. We collected very helpful information to understand the next step to build the package. We also focused with the electronics to give a little bit to Johnny in some areas.
“We are all happy and now we have time to analyse some things and prepare for the next test. We have had the first impressions of our competitors at this test and I think everybody knows who will be fighting for the championship. It is a little bit more clear. Now, we will try to prepare everything for the next test.”
