Milwaukee Aprilia delivered a strong showing in Free Practice on Friday at the Portimão circuit. Riders Eugene Laverty and Lorenzo Savadori finished a combined P6 and P8 respectively, and earned another Superpole 2 entry for the team.
With dry weather in both sessions the team were able to complete a full day of practice, gaining valuable data to build on their experience of the Portugese track in winter testing earlier this year.
As forward progress with the new generation Aprilia RSV4 RF continues, Eugene and Lorenzo were quickly into the top 12 positions in FP1 as they dialled into their machines.
The afternoon FP2 brought much improved lap times for the team, both riders taking nearly one second off their morning times to earn their deserved places in Saturday’s Superpole 2 shootout session.
With a season-best Superpole result of P3 for Lorenzo at the previous round in Lausitz, the team will be keen to continue their strong pace at Portimão.
The action continues for Milwaukee Aprilia on Saturday with Superpole 2 at 11:25 GMT
Eugene Laverty
“The first practice was really difficult; the bike did’t feel correct or as good as it did when we tested here in January. But, we knew the direction we had to go in and the afternoon practice was much better. We’re in that top 6 marker group, a step behind the front guys, and we need to keep pursuing the direction we found today. I really want to make that big next step as we’ve been building with this progress for a few rounds. We’ve been working hard to get the most out of the tyres since Pirelli changed them slightly after Laguna Seca, and that is a important area to focus on. The podium is certainly a target for Race One tomorrow, but it will be tough and we need to make sure we have a good qualifying first.”