machine, working only on race
tires on the final day to get his
final setup ready for round one.
Still work to do, it seems, for him,
even if Rea was second fastest
and happy with his new electron-
ics engineers.
Tom Sykes found some pace
on day two to take his Indepen-
dent Kawasaki Puccetti Racing
Ninja to 10th place.
Until now, in a field that is drip-
ping in old and new talents, there
has been no BMW rider men-
tioned, as the German manufac-
turer's four-strong riding lineup
found difficulties and sometimes
lost time in the pits.
On his 30th birthday, Loris Baz
(Bonovo BMW), was top M 1000
RR rider, but 11th.
New BMW boy Garrett Gerloff
(Bonovo BMW) was 12th, thanks
to his first-day time, with the of-
ficial riders Michael van der Mark
and Scott Redding 13th and 14th
respectively. The mood inside
the BMW garages could only be
described as gloomy and seri-
ous.
"The BMW engine is dif-
ferent from the (cross-plane
crankshaft) Yamaha," Gerloff
said. "The BMW has a ton of
power—how fast the thing revs,
it is ridiculous. The feeling I think
is about trying to manage that
power, especially when we are
on full lean angle and picking the
bike up and trying to drive with it.
I think managing it is doable, but
it has been kind of a challenge
trying to figure out exactly how
to do it. We are making progress.
It is going to take maybe a sec
-
ond to get close to full potential.
But if we can keep that trajectory
upward then I am hoping we can
get there sooner or later."
Privateer Ducati rider Philipp
Ottl (GO Eleven Ducati) was 15th,
while Jerez super-rookie Domi
-
nique Aegerter (GRT Yamaha)
was 16th. GMT94's first WorldS-
BK foray saw ex-Supersport
challenger Lorenzo Baldassarri
in 17th place.
Reigning BSB champion
Bradley Ray was 18th on his
European-rounds-only Motoxrac-
ing Yamaha R1, but he was still
ahead of two strong Ducati
riders, Danilo Petrucci (Barni
Spark Racing) and Axel Bassani
(MotoCorsa) who completed the
top 20.
Nothing, if not the fact that
names such as Petrucci and
Bassani were holding up the
main competitors, can explain
just how tough and bursting with
possibilities WorldSBK looks to
be in 2023. Bassani's 1:41.394
best lap was 2.3 seconds slower
than Bautista, on his first ride
back since last season, so those
margins looks like they will be
reduced all the more once a
proven podium runner like Bas
-
sani gets into his stride.
It looks like it's going to be a
WorldSBK year and half, starting
in the last weekend of February.
WorldSSP
A few top names in the
30-strong WorldSSP season
riding lineup (if we include
WorldSSP Challenge riders, who
will only race in Europe) were
in attendance at the Portimao
tests, some for the first time on
their 2023 bikes.
One top Ducati runner from
2022, Nicolo Bulega (Aruba
Ducati), was the fastest rider
over the two days in Portugal,
with a 1:43.636 lap time, which
was quicker than some of the
lower order WorldSBK riders.
Gordon Ritchie
Portimao WorldSBK Test
1. Alvaro Bautista (Duc) 1:39.035
2. Jonathan Rea (Kaw) +0.009
3. Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Duc) +0.109
4. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Yam) +0.406
5. Andrea Locatelli (Yam) +0.67
VOLUME ISSUE FEBRUARY , P29
Jonathan Rea's Kawasaki upgrades were
less than he'd hoped for, but the six-
time champion is still in the hunt.
