2011 WSBK Portimao Test Friday Session 2 Times: Little Change In Tricky Session

By David Emmett | Fri, 28/01/2011 - 16:44

The weather conditions were once again the main protagonist on the final day of testing for the World Superbike class at Portimao, with few riders managing to improve their times from the morning session. Only Noriyuki Haga and Eugene Laverty made any significant progress, moving up into 3rd and 4th respectively in the combined times from both of Friday's sessions. 

The World Superbike riders now turn their sights towards Australia, and the opening round of the WSBK season at Phillip Island. Before that, though, there is a final test at the Australian track, to prepare for battle to commence in earnest.

Results: 

Pos No. Rider Bike Time Diff
1 111 R. Xaus Honda CBR1000RR 1'47.065  
2 84 M. Fabrizio Suzuki GSX-R1000 1'48.267 1.202
3 41 N. Haga Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1'53.414 6.349
4 58 E. Laverty Yamaha YZF R1 1'54.130 7.065
5 33 M. Melandri Yamaha YZF R1 1'54.348 7.283
6 50 S. Guintoli Ducati 1098R 1'54.516 7.451
7 121 M. Berger Ducati 1098R 1'55.633 8.568
8 7 C. Checa Ducati 1098R 1'56.276 9.211
9 66 T. Sykes Kawasaki ZX-10R 1'56.328 9.263
10 17 J. Lascorz Kawasaki ZX-10R 1'56.361 9.296
11 4 J. Rea Honda CBR1000RR 1'56.378 9.313
12 96 J. Smrz Ducati 1098R 1'56.571 9.506
13 86 A. Badovini BMW S1000 RR 1'57.759 10.694
14 52 J. Toseland BMW S1000 RR 1'58.234 11.169
15 2 L. Camier Aprilia RSV4 Factory 1'58.703 11.638
2011
World Superbikes
Portimao, Portugal
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Comments

rumerz.com (not verified)
12 years 8 months ago
Permalink

I'll sleep well tonight knowing Toseland is still half a second a lap slower than his teammate. Just like 2010, 2009, 2008.

In this crazy mixed up world, at least there's a little consistency.

wosideg (not verified)
12 years 8 months ago
Permalink

I'm not his biggest fan myself, but if you are going to slag him..at least get your facts right.

Final Combined Times for January 26-28 Test at Portimao:

Pos. No. Rider Time Team
1. 96 Jakub Smrz 1:43.503 Team Effenbert-Liberty Racing (Ducati)
2 4 Jonathan Rea 1:43.676 Castrol Honda
3. 58 Eugene Laverty 1:43.707 Yamaha WSBK Team
4. 66 Tom Sykes 1:43.770 Kawasaki Racing Team SBK
5. 7 Carlos Checa 1:43.789 Althea Racing (Ducati)
6. 3 Max Biaggi 1:43.840 Aprilia Alitalia Racing Team
7. 84 Michel Fabrizio 1:43.879 Team Suzuki Alstare
8. 50 Sylvain Guintoli 1:44.369 Team Effenbert-Liberty Racing (Ducati)
9. 2 Leon Camier 1:44.446 Aprilia Alitalia Racing Team
10. 17 Joan Lascorz 1:44.752 Kawasaki Racing Team
11. 52 James Toseland 1:44.764 BMW Motorrad SBK Team
12. 41 Noriyuki Haga 1:44.857 PATA Racing Team Aprilia
13. 111 Ruben Xaus 1:44.885 Castrol Honda
14. 121 Maxime Berger 1:44.886 Supersonic Racing Team (Ducati)
15. 33 Marco Melandri 1:45.461 Yamaha WSBK Team
16. 86 Ayrton Badovini 1:45.678 BMW Motorrad SBK Team

rumerz.com (not verified)
12 years 8 months ago
Permalink

Now I've got nothing to believe in.

As much as any of us dislike unpredictable track conditions,I'm of the opinion that a racer should exploit the opportunity as presented.Especially as its testing.
Work on wet weather,intermediate set up.There are no promises of a rain free season and never has been.
Nothing could be read into the timesheets all week long.Good on the riders who did put in the the laps.There is data to work with. This data can translate into results further down the road.I never did believe in adopting an attitude of 'rain stopped play'.
Pushing the envelope in testing under dubious conditions on race weekend is a different animal. Too much at stake. The Portimao test was a washout,but will benefit those riders and teams that kept rotating in the long run which is SBK 2011.
Sepang 1 GP test is around the corner. Again,the predicted weather conditions look unpredictable at best. The really smart teams and riders will exploit the conditions without undue risk.

in 2011, data from this test will prove useful to those who gathered it.

If a motorcycle handles well on wet tarmac, it'll handle well on dry tarmac. As for the rider's ability to adapt, that's a different story. But it stands to reason that a bike you can set up to handle smooth input when it's wet is more likely to be able to be set up to respond to violent input when it's dry.

Traction dynamics are, after all, traction dynamics. The only difference between a wet test and a dry test are coefficients of friction, i.e. tire grip. The way forks and shocks compress and rebound, the way forks and frames and swingarms flex, the way it all works together; that all remains unchanged from wet to dry.

Of course, there's also the engine. Rain used to demand new parameters of one's right wrist. Now there are engine maps to construct. These, though, would seem to be of little use when it's dry.

So, for whatever it's worth, I agree with whoever it was that said the teams that didn't just throw up their hands and say, "Crap, it's raining," must have derived an advantage of some sort from the Portimao test, even if most of the year's races are run in the dry.

If nothing else, it's an opportunity for everybody on the team to work together under pseudo-race-weekend conditions.

Craush first??, oops sorry xaus first??, somebody tell me than this is the apocalipse or am watching double?.

Is hard to believe than xaus ended very well the test, or it's my imagination or the change to bmw's to castrol honda has fit very well for the spaniard?, Rea is the main man at CH, but will be a surprise if Rea and Xaus make 1-2 in the first race in Phillip island.

just want to see if that guy dont crash again and Rea get the first superpole and double victory, am requesting too much but with the fireblade that is possible.