Jonathon Rea fastest at Portimao

With only a couple of seats left to fill, the World Superbike field is ready to go for the 2010 contest, having completed its first group test of the season at the fabulous Portimao circuit in Portugal January 24. The top 10 riders were all within a second, which bodes well for the competition this season.

Fastest over the three days (which featured a mix of clear and viciously wet weather) was Irishman Jonathon Rea on his Hannspree Ten Kate Honda, recording a time faster than Ben Spies' pole time from 2009. Next up was Brit Leon Haslam, who picked up the cherry Suzuki Alstare GSX-R1000 ride after his Stiggy team from last year collapsed, and behind him was yet another U.K. rider, Shane Byrne on the Althea Racing Ducati 1098R.

Fourth was the first "rookie" in the series, Cal Crutchlow (also from the U.K.), who took Tom Sykes' spot on the Yamaha Sterilgarda team as a reward for winning the World Supersport (600) title in 2009. His team-mate James Toseland, who basically swapped his MotoGP seat with Ben Spies, was sixth. Toseland, who has two WSB titles to his credit (2004 with the Ducati factory and 2007 with the Ten Kate Honda team) will be looking to prove to himself and the world that his disastrous foray into Moto GP wasn't a permanent reflection on his abilities.

The factory Ducatis of Michel Fabrizio and Noriyuki Haga were fifth and eighth, both riders professing themselves pleased with the changes to the bikes that surely would have been the 2009 world champion if Ben Spies hadn't shown up to play. 

The Aprilias of Max Biaggi and Leon Camier were seventh and 12^th, posting the highest trap speeds of any of the bikes, unofficially 320+ km/h. Aprilia is being sponsored this season by the Italian airline Alitalia, which is amusing for two reasons: first, the airline is bankrupt, and Italy is already in trouble with the EU for supporting it; second, Roberto Colaninno, the head of the Piaggio group that owns Aprilia, also owns a big chunk of Alitalia and is a good friend of Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi. Pure coincidence, no doubt.

Kawasaki, which has vowed a serious factory effort in WSB this season with Chris Vermeulen (another Moto GP exile who has a great history in WSB) and Tom Sykes, who never really showed his abilities on the Yamaha team in 2009. Fourteenth and 15^th in the initial test on factory bikes was no big deal, but the team is starting from a long way back. Roger Lee Hayden, youngest of the Hayden brothers, has landed a Kawasaki ride in WSB as well on the Team Pedercini bike, and was 19^th in his first run on the bikes and first time at Portimao.

The BMWs of Troy Corser and Ruben Xaus were also well down the list, in 13^th and 16^th.

The first race weekend of the season is set for Philip Island in Australia, February 28.