Recent testing at Portimao took place with Leon Haslam (above) and Marco Melandri sharing a a partial race version of the 2012 BMW S1000RR.
Only days after concluding the 2011
World Superbike Championship several riders began testing new equipment for the upcoming season. Irishman Eugene Laverty, fresh off his rookie season in WSB, posted the fastest time of the field aboard his new
Aprilia RSV4. Despite only six hours of track time Castrol
Honda’s Jonathan Rea also proved quick just a tenth off the pace of Laverty.
Kawasaki Racing broke into the top-three during the day with Joan Lascorz having a strong outing aboard his Kawasaki ZX-10R. Leon Haslam and new
BMW teammate,
Marco Melandri, also participated in the test with a partial race version of the 2012 BMW S1000RR machine, the duo recording fourth and eighth-fastest on the charts.
“I have been quite happy with the lap time today but I was not thinking about lap times, so to make it without trying to find a lap time was a good feeling,” Melandri said. “Now we have to work to grow up."
Liberty Racing
Ducati put its new team to work with Maxime Berger and Canadian Brett McCormick debuting on the big Twin. Italian
Michel Fabrizio rounded out the top-10 times during the test while putting in laps with new BMW Motorrad Italia teammate, Aryton Badovini.
Portimao World Superbike Test Results:
1. Eugene Laverty (Aprilia) 1'42.8
2. Jonathan Rea (Honda) 1'42.9
3. Joan Lascorz (Kawasaki) 1'42.9
4. Leon Haslam (BMW) 1'43.2
5. Max Berger (Ducati) 1'43.3
6. Tom Sykes (Kawasaki) 1'43.3
7. Aryton Badovini (BMW) 1'43.4
8. Marco Melandri (BMW) 1'43.7
9. Brett McCormick (Ducati) 1'44.2
10. Michel Fabrizio (BMW) 1'44.4
