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Superbike testing in Portimao did not get into full swing until the afternoon, at around 2 p.m., as the track was wet this morning due to the rain that fell overnight. The session will last until 5 p.m. local time, 6 p.m. Italian time, with the hope that conditions will improve during the afternoon.
That said, at the stroke of 3 p.m., Toprak Razgatlioglu was on the top in front of everyone riding a BMW. The Turk set the benchmark time of 1'42.428, which is 3 seconds slower than the track record, confirming that the conditions are not ideal.
For this very reason, Bulega and Bautista decided to remain in the pits, waiting to see how much the situation may or may not change. Sould it be the case, they might opt to stay put today pending Saturday.
Behind the reigning champion can be found the Yamaha of Gardner, lagging by 365 thousandths, then the R1 of Locatelli, with a gap from the top that is close to a second. Chasing the Bergamo rider is Vierge followed by the Bimota of Alex Lowes.
Scrolling down the standings, in eighth position we can find Andrea Iannone, with a gap of one second and seven tenths from Toprak's time while behind him is new entry Augusto Fernandez, more than two seconds off the top.
Recall that the Spaniard is in action riding the Yamaha to replace the injured Johnny Rea, whose recovery time is currently still unknown. Reiterberger on a BMW concludes the top ten.
Among those still in the pits are Petrucci and Montella.
