Alvaro Bautista was one of three riders to go unde🐻rneath the official Portimao WorldSBK lap record after finishing third in ꧑the two day test. 

The Portimao test, which was Bautista’s first on track action for Ducati this year, managed to finish just behind WorldSBK champion Toprak Razgatliog🐽lu and former 2019 rival Jonathan Rea.

With the official lap record currently a 1:40.219s set by Razgatlioglu during qualifying for the 2021 Portuguese round, the Yamaha rider and Rea both set the first ever 1m 39s laps, with Razgatlioglu posti൲ng an exact time of 1:39.619s. 

Although Bautista wasn’t quite able to break the 1m 40s barrier, the former MotoGP rider still went underneath Razgatlioglu’s previous pole time by two tenths - set a 1:40♏.055s. 

While it was a promising test in terms of speed and consistenc𒅌y, Bautista wasn’t mistake-free as he suffered a turn 8 crash during day-two. 

In terms of what was tested by Ducati, both Bautista and Rinaldi tried the team’s new swingarm along with a new fuel ta🧸nk. 

"I am very satisf𒈔ied with these two days of testing," said Bautista. "The feeling is already good and I am having a lot of fun. I feel that the experieಌnce I have gained over the last few years is helping me. 

"If I have to be ho💧nest, I have found myself on the bike better tha🅷n I expected. We worked a lot on the tyres today, trying out the new solution brought in by Pirelli. 

"I am only sorry for the crash this morning: I made a mistake, luckily without conseq𝓰uences. I can't ✃wait to be at Misano."

On the other side of the Ducati garage it was another difficult test for Rinaldi who was over five tenths off Bautista on day one, b൩efore back pain limited the four-time WorldSBK race winner on Wednesday. 

Rinaldi ultꦰimately finished the Portimao test sev꧑enth quickest - 1.5 seconds off Razgatlioglu’s time. 

"It has🧸 been a tough two days of testing. On the first day, we lapped without working on the set-up in particular: the feeling was positive, and - with the race tyre - we had better results than last year's race," added Rinaldi. 

"Today we concentrated on some new solutions w﷽ithout trying to set the lap-time. Unfortunately, because of the pain in my back, I wasn't able to try the new SCQ brought by Pi♍relli."