WSB Test: Haslam secures top spot, Five Brits in top six

Leon Haslam continued to set the pace at the end of day one of official testing at Portimao onboard his Alstare Suzuki. The 26 year old has now been fastest during both sessions in Portugal after topping the time in winter testing at Valencia last December.

Speaking to MCN, he said:
“I wasn’t expecting the grip to be as good as when we tested here after the final race and it wasn’t, but we’ve still gone faster on the hard tyres we’re using. I didn’t expect to get into the 1m 42s but we have and that shows how well the bike is working.

“We came here with one bike set-up like the Portimao test and one from Valencia. We’ve ended up modifying the Valencia bike but and its working well. We’ve still got things to test and develop and I know we can go quicker so for a first day I’m happy.”

Cal Crutchlow continued to make improvements to his factory Yamaha, but maintains that he still has a long way to go despite setting the second fastest time.

Jonathan Rea bounced back from a massive crash this morning to improve his lap time this afternoon. The Ten Kate Honda man defied the pain barrier of his severely bruised and cut hands to post a 1m 43.033 best.

Max Biaggi was the first non-Brit in fourth onboard his factory Aprilia ahead of James Toseland and Shane Byrne who made it five British riders in the top six.

Testing resumes tomorrow and could be the first wet test for a number of riders with heavy rain showers forecast throughout the day.

1. Leon Haslam GBR Alstare Suzuki GSX-R1000 1min 42.778s
2. Cal Crutchlow GBR Yamaha WSB YZF R1 1min 42.960s
3. Jonathan Rea GBR HANNspree Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR 1min 43.033s
4. Max Biaggi ITA Aprilia Racing RSV-4 1min 43.364s *
5. James Toseland GBR Yamaha WSB YZF R1 1min 43.378s
6. Shane Byrne GBR Althea Ducati 1098R 1min 43.569s
7. Noriyuki Haga JPN Ducati Xerox 1198 1min 43.574s
8. Michel Fabrizio ITA Ducati Xerox 1198 1min 43.711s
9. Carlos Checa ESP Althea Ducati 1098R 1min 43.870s
10. Leon Camier GBR Aprilia Racing RSV-4 1min 43.903s
11. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Alstare Suzuki GSX-R1000 1min 44.283s
12. Tom Sykes GBR Kawasaki SRT ZX-10R 1min 44.365s
13. Troy Corser AUS BMW Motorrad S1000RR 1min 44.376s
14. Max Neukirchner GER Ten Kate Honda CBR1000RR 1min 44.453s
15. Ruben Xaus ESP BMW Motorrad S1000RR 1min 44.570s
16. Chris Vermeulen AUS Kawasaki SRT ZX-10R 1min 44.576s
17. Broc Parkes AUS Echo-CRS Honda CBR1000RR 1min 44.751s
18. Vittorio Iannuzzo ITA SCI Honda CBR1000RR 1min 46.444s
19. Javier Fores ESP Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R 1min 47.293s
20. Roger Lee Hayden USA Team Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R 1min 48.317s