15:43
Lowes fastest
Bulega still lapping in the low-1m40s, but Sam Lowes on new tyres has just set the first 1m39s lap of the day to top the session by 0.247s over the Italian.
Ducati 1-2-3-4 now before the two Bimotas in fifth and Sixth.
Miguel Oliveira, 2026 Portuguese WorldSBK. Credit: Gold and Goose.
© Gold & Goose
2026 Portuguese WorldSBK Friday Practice Reaction: Sam Lowes tops FP1 & FP2
Live coverage of the 2026 Portuguese WorldSBK Friday practice sessions from the second round of the 2026 season at Portimao.
Live updates from the 2026 Portuguese WorldSBK at Portimao, the second round of the 2026 season. FP2 is due to start at 15:00 local time after Sam Lowes topped FP1.
It was a relatively uneventful session this morning with only one crash, for Stefano Manzi at turn 13. There were technical issues for Sam Lowes and Iker Lecuona, but Lowes topped the session and Lecuona finished fourth.
It was a strong showing from Bimota as well. Alex Lowes was the only rider to lap in the 1m40s for most of the session but got bumped back to third late on, while Axel Bassani was sixth at the end of the session.
Nicolo Bulega leads the World Superbike championship coming into the Portuguese Round by 20 points over Axel Bassani after he won all three races in Australia last month. Bulega has never won a WorldSBK race at Portimao, but did win here in World Supersport back in 2023, and finished second in all three races last year behind Toprak Razgatlioglu.
Bassani was one of a few riders to complete a day of dry testing at Portimao earlier in March on the 13th. The Italian's Bimota team stayed on for a third day in the Algarve after the two-day test on 9-10 March was hit by rain, but Bassani spent most of the test trying new items in the KB998's development plan. His teammate, Alex Lowes, was able to focus more specifically on his race setup for this weekend during that extra test day.
BMW won all three races here last year in the hands of Toprak Razgatlioglu, who is of course no longer with the team. Miguel Oliveira, though, has said before the weekend that he wants the team to be there challenging Bulega this weekend at what is the WorldSBK rookie's home round.
Three riders were declared fit to ride this weekend on Thursday after picking up injuries previously. Two for those were sustained in Australia, for Sam Lowes and Mattia Rato, and the third rider was Somkiat Chantra who missed Australia after breaking both his arms at Sepang in January.
Jake Dixon is one rider who will not be racing this weekend as he continues to recover from the wrist injuries he sustained in testing at Phillip Island. Dixon will be replaced in the factory Honda team by HRC test rider Jonathan Rea this weekend.
One new addition to the grid in Portugal is the Superbike Advocates team and 2023 BSB Champion Tommy Bridewell. Their arrival in WorldSBK for this season was confirmed before the Australian Round, but not in time for them to make the opener, which would've been the team's home round. But they were able to test in Portimao on 9-10 March, Bridewell one of the few riders who completed laps on the second day.
27 Mar 2026
18:39
Bulega looking for "another direction"
Despite finishing second in both sessions on Friday in Portugal, Nicolo Bulega says he wants to find "another feeling" with his bike tomorrow.
The Italian said he was riding at "90 per cent" because he could not find a setting with which he was comfortable.
Full story here.
Nicolo Bulega, 2026 Portuguese WorldSBK, leaving pit box. Credit: Gold and Goose.
© Gold & Goose
15:54
FP2 Result
2026 POrtuguese WorldSBK - FP2 Result
Sam Lowes, 2026 Portuguese WorldSBK. Credit: Gold and Goose.
© Gold & Goose
15:47
Sam Lowes sweeps Friday
Chequered flag is out in Portimao for FP2 and it's Sam Lowes who ends fastest .
Bulega second, then Montella, Lecuona, Bautista, and Bassani in the top-six.
Alex Lowes, seventh, then Oliveira, Baldassarri, and Vierge complete the top-10.
15:41
Crash for Lecuona at turn five. That's four at that corner in this session. His bike is back in the pits as well but seems like less damage than Bautista.
Five minutes remaining in the session.
15:40
Crash for Lecuona at turn five. That's four at that corner in this session. His bike is back in the pits as well but seems like less damage than Bautista.
Five minutes remaining in the session.
15:35
Bautista's bike is back in the Barni box and the work going on is fairly frantic with 10 minutes to go in the session.
15:30
Bautista down
Third crasher at turn five and it's Alvaro Bautista. Looks like the same crash, more or less, as Bridewell. Again, he's back on and riding back.
15:29
Bulega improves again: 1m40.188s now for him. Continuous lapping in those 1m40s, formidable pace from the championship leader.
15:26
Crash for Bridewell at turn five. A bit earlier in the corner than Sofuoglu earlier on. He's back up and on his way back to the pits.
15:26
Bulega improves his time at the top to a 1m40.255s so he now leads by 0.096s over Montella.
Bulega hasn't pitted yet and he set that lap on his 8th timed lap of this session.
15:23
Ducati 1-2-3 now as Montella goes second and splits the factory bikes.
15:16
Lecuona goes second on a 1m40.479s, 0.136s behind his teammate at the top of the times.
15:15
Manzi runs off into the gravel at turn one as he gets squeezed out by Petrucci in braking.
15:14
Rea down.
Crash for Rea at turns 10-11. He seems okay but he's going to lose some time in this session for that.
15:09
Lecuona now to the top and 0.010s ahead of Bassani. Top-five, back to Oliveira, now covered by 0.131s.
15:07
Bassani with the early benchmark on the Bimota, just under 0.05s in front of his teammate, Alex Lowes.
Bulega third, then Oliveira.
Bright start for Mackenzie in 7th and straight into the 1m40s.
15:06
Sofuoglu has gone down on his second flying lap. Looks like he's just lost the front in the middle of turn five.
He's back up and on his way back to the pits.
15:01
FP2 start
Pit lane is open in Portimao and we are underway for FP2.
14:40
Bridewell's moment
Tommy Bridewell had s solid start to life as a WorldSBK rider this morning, finishing 13th in FP1.
It wasn't without it's dramas, though, as this moment over the crest between turns eight and nine shows.
14:33
Chantra fit
Somkiat Chantra was declared fit ahead of the weekend yesterday.
He missed the opening round of the season in Australia due to arm fractures he picked up in Sepang in January, and so this morning's FP1 session was his first competitive outing of the year - his first in WorldSBK.
A condition of his passing of yesterday's medical test was that he would be reviewed again after FP1, and he was declared fit once again.
Chantra finished FP1 down in 19th, two places behind his teammate for this weekend, Jonathan Rea, who is standing in for the injured Jake Dixon.
14:23
FP1 recap
FP1 was a relatively uneventful session this morning. Conditions were more or less perfect with 19C of air temperature and 30C of track temperature.
Only one crash in the session, for Stefano Manzi at turn 13, with little consequence as he rode straight back to the pits.
There were technical problems for a couple of Ducati riders, Sam Lowes and Iker Lecuona. Lowes topped the session and Lecuona was fourth, so no huge dramas for either of them despite losing around 10 or 15 minutes of running each.
Nicolo Bulega had a reasonable start to the weekend, too, finishing second this morning, and Alex Lowes completed the top-three after being the first riders to lap in the 1m40s. His teammate, Axel Bassani was solid, too, in sixth.
14:12
FP2
Welcome back to live coverage of today's WorldSBK action from Portimao, where FP2 will be coming up in around 50 minutes at 15:00 local time.
11:14
FP1 Result
2026 Portuguese WorldSBK - FP1 Results
Sam Lowes, 2026 Australian WorldSBK. Credit: Gold and Goose.
© Gold & Goose
11:07
Sam Lowes tops FP1
Chequered flag is out in Portimao for FP1 and it's Sam Lowes who ends fastest despite his late start.
Nicolo Bulega takes second ahead of Alex Lowes in third with the 1m40.442s lap he set in his first run, then it's Lecuona and Montella ahead of Bassani in the top-six.
Gerloff, Vierge, Petrucci, and Bautista complete the top-10.
HRC fill-in Jonathan Rea ends his first competitive session on this generation Fireblade 17th, and 2026 first-timer Bridewell finishes 13th.