Three days of official pre-season testing at Portimao in Portugal from 22-24 January will mark the start of the 2010 Superbike World Championship, with the majority of the teams set to debut for the New Year.

The Portuguese track, the venue for the final round of the 2009 season three months ago, will once again be the location for the year’s first World Superbike and World Supersport action as all the top teams and riders prepare for the coming season.

A total of fourteen hours of testing for World Superbike and nine for World Supersport are scheduled on the program, with action starting at 8.30am and concluding at 4.40pm on all three days.

The full line-up of teams and riders will be released next week, although Australian Andrew Pitt made his debut on a BMW S 1000 RR production bike at Eastern Creek last weekend, quickly getting up to speed on the German machine. It’s not yet confirmed when the former double World Supersport Champion will make his debut on the race version.