Ten Kate Yamaha's Loris Baz found some more direction for the base setup of his R1 at the Portimao WorldSBK test and believes that, with some new parts, he can get closer to podium contention at the Portugese track.

Baz finished only six-tenths off fastest man Alex Lowes on the combined timesheets and this weekend will be back at a track he loves.

"For me the summer break was way too long, because we didn't have so many races before that, so I'm ready to get back to racing,' said Baz.

"We enjoyed a really strong test in Portimão at the end of August, where we were able to properly test some parts in the dry for the first time, and we made some improvements to the base set up as a result.

"I love racing in Portimao, it's one of my favourite tracks, and I'm really confident going into this weekend. Hopefully, with the work we did at the test, I'll be closer to challenging for the podium."