Haga sets the best time in S6, but the best laps of the week all come from the first day of action
Ruben Xaus retained his place at the top of the World Superbike timesheets at the end of the final test day in Portugal after weather conditions failed to improve during the afternoon session.
Xaus earned his position with a quick time towards the end of the morning session, set during a brief period when the circuit was almost dry.
However, having been seven seconds faster than all but
Michel Fabrizio at the end of that session, further rain meant any improvements from riders during the afternoon would occur lower down the order.
As such,
Noriyuki Haga set the fastest time of the PM session, though it was only enough to lift him to third on the combined timesheets, still almost six seconds off Xaus. Eugene Laverty was another to improve to go fourth, just ahead of Yamaha team-mate Marco Melandri.
Most riders stayed in the pit lane, including Max Biaggi, who - having been forced to sit out day two in order to participate in a PR engagement – only ventured out in two of the six sessions.
With rain affecting two of the three test days, each of the fastest laps occurred on day one, meaning Jakub Smrz - pictured riding the spare un-liveried Effenbert Liberty Ducati - comes away with the best time overall, ahead of Jonathan Rea and Laverty.
