Bad Weather Hampers Portimao Test

Cycle News Staff | January 27, 2011

Inclement weather hit the Portimao Circuit today, making the World Superbike test a hit-and -miss affair with times considerably slower than yesterday’s. When all was said and done, Castrol Honda’s Johnny Rea ended the day with the fastest lap – a 1:54.718, well over 10 seconds slower than the best lap of Jakub Smrz from yesterday’s two dry sessions.No one came that close to matching Rea’s effort today with Marco Melandri ending up second on the factory Yamaha with a 1:55.063, the Italian returning to action following off-season shoulder surgery.

Althea Racing”s Carlos Checa ended today as the third quickest rider with Effenbert Liberty Ducati’s Sylvain Guintoli fourth and his teammate Smrz fifth. Tom Sykes was the only Kawasaki rider to do laps today and he ended up sixth.