In Portimão, Rea takes Race 1 of the WorldSBK MOTUL Portuguese Round for his tenth win in Portugal, Pirelli standard range tyres confirm their outstanding performance

Less than a week after the action in Jerez de la Frontera, the first day of races for the MOTUL Portuguese Round have just come to an end, the third round of the MOTUL FIM World Superbike Championship at Autódromo Internacional Do Algarve of Portimão in Portugal where, for the occasion, the sport authorities allowed a restricted number of fans in the stands.

Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR) took the first spot on the starting grid for the second year in a row on this track, thereby setting the record for the highest number of pole positions (four) on the Portimão circuit. He went on to win Race 1 with a brilliant performance, finishing well ahead of Toprak Ragzatlioglu (PATA YAMAHA WorldSBK Official Team / Yamaha YZF R1) and his teammate Michael van Der Mark (PATA YAMAHA WorldSBK Official Team / Yamaha YZF R1). The Northern Irish five-time world champion is now the only rider in WorldSBK history to have won at least ten races on two different circuits, having taken his tenth victory in Portugal today and twelve wins in Assen.

In the WorldSSP class, Andrea Locatelli (BARDAHL Evan Bros. WorldSSP Team / Yamaha YZF R6) managed to come out on top after a long battle with Frenchman Jules Cluzel (GMT94 Yamaha / Yamaha YZF R6) to finish first ahead of Lucas Mahias (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing / Kawasaki ZX-6R) and Italian Raffaele De Rosa (MV Agusta Reparto Corse / MV Agusta F3 675).

As for the tyres, almost all the World Superbike riders chose the standard solutions made available by Pirelli, specifically the soft SC1 compounds on the front and the SC0 on the rear, further proof of the great reliability and outstanding performance achieved by the DIABLO^TM SUPERBIKE Slicks even on difficult tracks like Portimão, where outstanding handling are demanded of the tyres.

For Race 1, almost all the riders on the grid opted for the standard SC1 (option B) on the front, with the exception of Gabellini, who was on the Y1231 SC1 development solution (option A). For the rear, most of the riders relied on the standard soft SC0 solution (option B), with six riders preferring instead to race with the super soft standard SCX tyre (option A).

In the World Supersport class, the entire grid confirmed the choices from last weekend in Jerez de la Frontera, relying on the standard SC0 (option A) on the rear. For the front, this time 14 out of the 24 riders chose the soft standard SC1 (option A), whereas the remaining riders on the grid used the standard SC2 (option B).

WorldSBK Race 1:

It was pole man Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR) who gained the upper hand at the start, moving into the lead straight away on the first corner. Following close behind were Toprak Ragzatlioglu (PATA YAMAHA WorldSBK Official Team / Yamaha YZF R1), Frenchman Loris Baz (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha / Yamaha YZF R1) who had started from the sixth spot and Michael van der Mark (PATA YAMAHA WorldSBK Official Team / Yamaha YZF R1). Bringing up the rear for the lead group were Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR) and Ducati rider Scott Redding (ARUBA.IT Racing - Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4 R) who, after moving up two places with respect to his position on the grid, was a constant threat to the Kawasaki riding Brit, finally overtaking him on the third lap. As Rea was doing best lap of the race with a time of 1’42.075 and progressively widening the gap ahead of Ragzatlioglu, the Ducati riding Brit pressed on, attempting to overtake Michael van der Mark’s Yamaha several times and finally succeeding, partly because of a mistake by the Dutchman. Scott then got the best of Loris Baz as well at the start of the eighth lap, moving into third, but the Brit’s pace dropped during the second half of the race, so he was forced to yield his position to both van der Mark and Alex Lowes. Two laps from the end, a spectacular battle for fourth heated up between Redding, Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Team GOELEVEN / Ducati Panigale V4 R) and Loris Baz, with the Italian Ducati rider coming out on top, once again earning an outstanding finishing position in fourth place. At the front, the positions remained the same, with Jonathan Rea taking home his tenth victory in Portimão, the one-hundred-fiftieth for Kawasaki, followed by the factory Yamaha machines ridden by Ragzatlioglu and van der Mark.

WorldSBK Race 1 Standings:

1. J. Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR)
2. T. Razgatlioglu (PATA YAMAHA WorldSBK Official Team / Yamaha YZF R1)
3. M. van der Mark (PATA YAMAHA WorldSBK Official Team / Yamaha YZF R1)
4. A. Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR)
5. M. R. Rinaldi (Team GOELEVEN / Ducati Panigale V4 R)
6. L. Baz (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha / Yamaha YZF R1)
7. S. Redding (ARUBA.IT Racing - Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4 R)
8. T. Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team / BMWS1000 RR)
9. Á. Bautista (Team HRC / Honda CBR1000RR)
10. E. Laverty (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team / BMW S1000 RR)
11. C. Davies (ARUBA.IT Racing - Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4 R)
12. L. Haslam (Team HRC / Honda CBR1000RR)
13. X. Fores (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing / Kawasaki ZX-10RR)
14. C. Ponsson (Nuova M2 Racing / Aprilia RSV4 1000)
15. F. Caricasulo (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Junior Team / Yamaha YZF R1)
16. L. Mercado (Motocorsa Racing / Ducati Panigale V4 R)
17. M. Melandri (Barni Racing Team / Ducati Panigale V4 R)
18. S. Barrier (Brixx Performance / Ducati Panigale V4 R)
19. T. Takahashi (MIE Racing Althea HONDA Team / Honda CBR1000RR)
20. L. Gabellini (MIE Racing Althea HONDA Team / Honda CBR1000RR)
21. M. Scheib (ORELAC Racing VERDNATURA / Kawasaki ZX-10RR)
22. S. Cortese (OUTDO Kawasaki TPR / Kawasaki ZX-10RR)
23. G. Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Junior Team / Yamaha YZF R1)

WorldSSP Race 1:

At 4:31 in the afternoon, WorldSSP Race 1 got underway at the Autódromo Internacional Do Algarve of Portimão. Jules Cluzel (GMT94 Yamaha / Yamaha YZF R6) started very well from the second spot on the grid to move into the race lead straight away ahead of Lucas Mahias (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing / Kawasaki ZX-6R) e Andrea Locatelli (BARDAHL Evan Bros. WorldSSP Team / Yamaha YZF R6). However, the rookie from Bergamo wasted no time, snatching the lead from the Frenchman multiple times, albeit only briefly. The battle between the two leading riders in the overall standings heated up more and more until Jules Cluzel overtook on the fifth lap, maintaining the lead ahead of Locatelli for several laps. Following at a distance were Mahias and Corentin Perolari (GMT94 Yamaha / Yamaha YZF R6), the latter fending off attacks by Isaac Viñales (Kallio Racing / Yamaha YZF R6) first and then by Raffaele De Rosa (MV Agusta Reparto Corse / MV Agusta F3 675), who settled respectively into fifth and fourth place. Five laps from the end of the race, Jules took a slide behind Locatelli, but managed to get the bike upright immediately, re-entering the race and only falling back to sixth place. The final three laps were an exciting battle for the podium, with multiple attacks by Viñales on the MV Agusta. However, De Rosa defended well, finishing third just a few thousandths of a second behind the Spanish Yamaha rider. It was the umpteenth victory for Locatelli, more than eight seconds ahead of Frenchman Mahias and his Kawasaki.

WorldSBK Race 1 Standings:

1. A. Locatelli (BARDAHL Evan Bros. WorldSSP Team / Yamaha YZF R6)
2. L. Mahias (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing / Kawasaki ZX-6R)
3. R. De Rosa (MV Agusta Reparto Corse / MV Agusta F3 675)
4. C. Perolari (GMT94 Yamaha / Yamaha YZF R6)
5. I. Viñales (Kallio Racing / Yamaha YZF R6)
6. J. Cluzel (GMT94 Yamaha / Yamaha YZF R6)
7. P. Oettl (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing / Kawasaki ZX-6R)
8. S. Odendaal (EAB Ten Kate Racing / Yamaha YZF R6)
9. H. Soomer (Kallio Racing / Yamaha YZF R6)
10. M. Gonzalez (Kawasaki ParkinGO Team / Kawasaki ZX-6R)
11. D. Webb (WRP Wepol Racing / Yamaha YZF R6)
12. P. Sebestyen (OXXO Yamaha Team Toth / Yamaha YZF R6)
13. A. Bassani (Soradis Yamaha Motoxracing / Yamaha YZF R6)
14. M. Pons (H43 Team NOBBY / Yamaha YZF R6)
15. L. Cresson (OXXO Yamaha Team Toth / Yamaha YZF R6)
16. P. Hobelsberger (Dynavolt Honda / Honda CBR600RR)
17. M. Herrera (Dynavolt Honda / Honda CBR600RR)
18. L. Epis (MPM Routz Racing Team / Yamaha YZF R6)
19. G. Hendra Pratama (bLU cRU WorldSSP by MS Racing / Yamaha YZF R6)
20. L. Montella (DK MOTORSPORT / Yamaha YZF R6)
21. F. Fuligni (MV Agusta Reparto Corse / MV Agusta F3 675)
22. A. Verdoïa (bLU cRU WorldSSP by MS Racing / Yamaha YZF R6)
23. K. Manfredi (Altogoo Racing Team / Yamaha YZF R6)
24. C. Öncü (Turkish Racing Team / Kawasaki ZX-6R)

WorldSSP300 Race 1:

Race 1 of the FIM Supersport 300 World Championship closed out the first day of the weekend at Algarve. Taking the win was Ana Carrasco (Kawasaki Provec WorldSSP300 / Kawasaki Ninja 400) ahead of Jeffrey Buis (MTM Kawasaki MOTOPORT / Kawasaki Ninja 400) and Tom Booth-Amos (RT Motorsports by SKM - Kawasaki / Kawasaki Ninja 400), which was actually the race order with four laps left to go when the red flag came out due to a serious accident.

The Pirelli solutions chosen by the riders for WorldSBK Race 1 and WorldSSP Race 1:

In WorldSBK Race 1, the outstanding performance of the Pirelli standard tyres, already used by many of the riders last weekend in Jerez, was confirmed once again. Almost the entire grid chose to race with the standard SC1 soft compound (option B) on the front, with the exception of Gabellini, who was on the Y1231 SC1 development solution (option A). For the rear, the most used tyre was once again the standard SC0 soft blend (option B), whereas Lowes, Bautista, Fores, Scheib, Melandri and Takahashi chose the standard super soft SCX (option A).

In Race 1 of WorldSSP, all the riders chose the standard SC0 solution (option A) for the rear, whereas on the front, the standard SC1 (option A) was used by fourteen out of the twenty-four riders, although the standard SC2 (option B) was preferred by ten of the riders on the grid.

Pirelli statistics for WorldSBK Race 1:

• Winner of the PIRELLI BEST LAP AWARD: J. Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR) in 1'42.075 on the 4th lap

• Most used front solution: standard SC1 (22 out of 23 riders)

• Most used rear solution: standard SC0 (17 out of 23 riders)

• Number of solutions (dry, intermediate and wet) for the Superbike class: 5 front and 8 rear

Number of tyres available for each Superbike rider: 67, including 31 front and 36 rear

• Air temperature: 30° C

• Asphalt temperature: 49° C

Pirelli statistics for WorldSSP Race 1:

• Winner of the PIRELLI BEST LAP AWARD: A. Locatelli (BARDAHL Evan Bros. WorldSSP Team / Yamaha YZF R6) in 1’46.251 on the 6th lap

• Most used front solution: standard SC1 (14 out of 24 riders)

• Most used rear solution: standard SC0 (24 out of 24 riders)

• Number of solutions (dry, intermediate and wet) for the Supersport class: 4 front and 4 rear

• Number of tyres available for each Supersport rider: 43, including 21 front and 22 rear

• Air temperature: 31° C

• Asphalt temperature: 47° C