Yamaha’s Toprak Razgatlioglu dominated the opening WorldSBK practice at Portimao this morning, finishing six-tenths ahead of team-mate Michael van der Mark with reigning champion Jonathan Rea in third.
Rea took the early advantage in Portugal this morning, setting a 1’43.160 but it wasn’t long before Turk was into his stride and put in a 1’42.454 before cementing top spot with a 1’42.103.
Michael Rinaldi (Team Goeleven) was the top independent rider in the opening session as he went fourth fastest on his Ducati, and the Italian was also the highest-placed Panigale rider in the session - less than a tenth behind five-time Champion Rea.
Loris Baz (Ten Kate Yamaha) was fifth fastest with championship leader Scott Redding in sixth and the last rider within one second of Razgatlioglu.
Kawasaki’s Alex Lowes ended seventh fastest as he finished the session with a 1’43.203, more than a second behind Razgatlioglu and looked to be having some braking problems, especially into the fast turn one.
Leon Haslam (Team HRC) was the fastest Honda rider in the session as he finished ahead of Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) and Chaz Davies (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati).
Alvaro Bautista (Team HRC) was 12th fastest throughout the 50-minute session on his Honda, three tenths behind teammate Haslam.
He held off Eugene Laverty (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) in 13th, 1.5 seconds off Razgatlioglu’s time. Turn 1 had most of the action troughout the session with a number of riders running wide at the right-hander.
Top ten top speeds
1 7 C. DAVIES Ducati Panigale V4 R 315,0
2 45 S. REDDING Ducati Panigale V4 R 312,3
3 54 T. RAZGATLIOGLU Yamaha YZF R1 312,3
4 60 M. VAN DER MARK Yamaha YZF R1 311,4
5 66 T. SYKES BMW S1000 RR 309,6
6 76 L. BAZ Yamaha YZF R1 309,6
7 1 J. REA Kawasaki ZX-10RR 308,7
8 12 X. FORES Kawasaki ZX-10RR 308,7
9 19 A. BAUTISTA Honda CBR1000RR-R 307,8
10 31 G. GERLOFF Yamaha YZF R1 307,0
