Haslam from Laverty on day two at Portimao

Leon Haslam maintained his position at the top of the time sheets after posting a 1, 43.2s lap time – 0.4 faster than his day one best. The BMW Motorrad rider continued to work through chassis and electronic changes onboard his 2012 spec S1000RR.

“It’s been another good day, I was able to reduce my average time on the hard tyre and then when we used the softer tyre I went quicker even though I only got one lap on it because the session was red-flagged. I actually made a few mistakes on that lap and it was done in the afternoon when no one seemed to be going any faster so I’m happy with the time.”

Second position went to factory Aprilia rider Eugene Laverty who continued his impressive transition to life at Aprilia with a 1.43.3s lap time. The young Irishman’s day wasn’t without incident after he suffered a huge highside on the approach to turn ten this afternoon.

Laverty walked away from the crash albeit after he spent the first 30 seconds on his knees, severely winded from the impact.

Speaking to MCN, he said: “It was a big one alright! I lost the rear, saved it, lost the rear again, saved it again but the third time it threw me off in a big way. I just couldn’t catch my breath to start with but I’m basically alright.”

It was Laverty’s first crash on the Aprilia and his first crash since Misano in June.

BMW Motorrad Italia rider Ayrton Badovini continued to impress by slashing his lap time to end day two in third place just 0.1s behind Laverty with fellow Italian Max Biaggi fourth fastest on a 1.43.6.

Marco Melandri, who only had one bike at his disposal after his big crash yesterday, worked all day to resolve chatter issue and was subsequently unable to better his lap time from day one.

There was progress at Crescent Suzuki, with Leon Camier finally getting some laps in after resolving his front brake issues of yesterday. The former Aprilia rider was able to start making set-up changes and reduced his lap time by over one second.

Michel Fabrizio took 0.6s of his day one best but the biggest improver of the day was Alistair Seeley who slashed 1.1s off his day one best to end day two with a 1.45.1s lap.