Carlos Checa has topped the third World Superbike test session of the week at Portimao, though only eight competitors would make it out onto the wet track.
With the Superbikes first on track today [Thursday], not a single rider would venture onto the circuit until Eugene Laverty made a tentative first outing once an hour on the timing screens had passed.
The Irishman would prove the busiest rider of the session by completing 20 laps, though it would be Checa who would come out fastest with a 1min 56.162secs – almost 13secs slower than was achieved in the dry yesterday. Laverty was second quickest, a further two seconds down.
A flurry of activity in the final half hour brought a total of eight riders onto the circuit, with Noriyuki Haga proving third fastest, ahead of BMW Italia duo Ayrton Badovini and James Toseland.
Michel Fabrizio, Marco Melandri and Maxime Berger were the only other participants, as Aprilia, Kawasaki, Effenbert Ducati and Castrol Honda all deciding to stay dry in the pit garage.
Source: http://www.crash.net