Round 10 WSBK wrap up from Algarve International Circuit, Portimão, Portugal
Superpole
Rea Takes Superpole 21 And New Track Record
Four-time champion Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) secured a strong Superpole win at Portimao and a new lap record of 1’40.372, 0.111 seconds ahead of Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team).
Sandro Cortese (GRT Yamaha) put on an impressive performance to take third place, albeit 0.303 seconds from Rea. Leon Haslam (Kawasaki Racing Team) was fourth, 0.625 seconds down on Rea.
Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team) settled in just behind Haslam’s in fifth place, with early Superpole leader Alvaro Bautista placed sixth on his Aruba.it Ducati, 0.726 seconds down on Rea.
Jordi Torres (Team Pedercini Racing Kawasaki) placed seventh on his privateer machine. Marco Melandri (GRT Yamaha) was eighth, Markus Reiterberger (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) ninth and a late charge from Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team) put him tenth.
Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) was 12th, Toprak Razgatlioglu (Turkish Puccetti Racing) 13th and (Eugene Laverty (Team GoEleven Ducati) 14th.
Race 1
Rea Dominates as Bautista Finds Drama
Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) dominated the first 20-lap WorldSBK race at Portimao after his earlier Superpole success. His final margin of victory was 3.891 seconds, despite backing off to take the plaudits of his team on the final lap. He now has a 93-point advantage in the championship.
With Rea way out in front from the early laps
Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) and Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team) had a tough fight at times for second place but in the final laps Davies eased out an advantage of 2.2 seconds to allow him to score the runner-up spot.
Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) started sixth, but a first lap lunge from Teammate Chaz Davies caused Bautista to run off track, finally rejoining in 18th. Bautista fought back through the pack to take fourth, eight seconds behind Rea.
Leon Haslam (Kawasaki Racing Team) was fifth after Bautista finally got past him with a couple of laps to go.
Thirteenth in Superpole gave Toprak Razgatlioglu (Turkish Puccetti Racing) a tough challenge to overcome and he was in contention for fourth place with Razgatlioglu until Bautista blew past.
Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team) slowed at the end to finish seventh but he lost third place overall to VDM today.
Sandro Cortese (GRT Yamaha) beat his own team-mate Marco Melandri (GRT Yamaha) for eighth, with Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Barni Racing Team Ducati) tenth.
Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) was the confident second place rider for a while but was quickly swamped and then eventually crashed. He restarted to score a few points for 13th place.
Jonathan Rea, WorldSBK race1, Portuguese WorldSBK 2019
Superpole Race
Rea Impeccable As Bautista Takes Second Place
Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) lead from start-to-finish in the ten-lap sprint race at Portimao, winning his second race of the weekend and his 11th of the year.
Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) pushed through to finish second, overtaking Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team) near the end and hanging on with an advantage of 0.2 seconds over the Yamaha man across the line.
Toprak Razgatlioglu (Turkish Puccetti Racing) had an aggressive and fruitful run through from row five to to finish in fourth place, with Leon Haslam (Kawasaki Racing Team) fifth.
Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team) took sixth from seventh place finisher Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team).
Front row starter Sandro Cortese (GRT Yamaha) was eighth, Loris Baz (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) ninth and Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) was a disappointing tenth after his race 1 podium.
Jonathan Rea, WorldSBK Sprint race, Portuguese WorldSBK 2019
Race 2
Bautista Wins Tight Final Race In Portugal
The final race of the Portimao WorldSBK weekend, saw championship contenders Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) and Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) take turns leading in the first half of the 20-lap contest, with five riders making up a hard-charging front group.
Bautista took the lead and started to stretch the group out behind with Rea fighting to maintain his gap to Bautista. Rea eventually finished second ahead of Toprak Razgatlioglu (Turkish Puccetti Racing).
Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team) got the better of his old friend Leon Haslam (Kawasaki Racing Team) to take fourth. Sixth place was taken by Loris Baz, winning the sprint to the line from Van der Mark. Marco Melandri (GRT Yamaha) brought his Yamaha home in ninth, with Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) in tenth.
Rea leads Bautista by 91 points in the championship; Lowes is third, five points ahead of van der Mark in fifth.
Bautista, Portuguese WSBK 2019
Words Gordon Richie
Pics GnG