WSBK: Rea Storms to Commanding Win in Portimao Race 1 as Redding Struggles

Jonathan Rea secured his 10^th win at Portimao with a masterclass display in Race 1.

The Kawasaki rider took the lead from the start and never looked back to finish more than five seconds ahead of Toprak Razgatlioglu who was unchallenged in second. Michael van der Mark came out top of a battle for third and rounded out the podium.

Championship leader Scott Redding struggled in the 20-lap race at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve and had to settle for seventh – leaving the gap in the championship standings reduced to eight points.

Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) had a perfect start from pole and took the holeshot going into Turn 1. Behind him Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Official Team) stayed in second while Loris Baz (Ten Kate Racing) jumped to third and Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) dropped positions from the front row.

Two groups of three formed at the top of the race with Rea, Razgatlioglu and Baz running ahead of Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Official Team), Lowes and Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing Ducati).

While Rea swiftly built an advantage in the lead, Baz started to drop back into the clutches of the chasing group, leaving Razgatlioglu running lonely in second. Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Team GoEleven) had established himself in seventh, without reach of the frontrunners but with a considerable gap to the rest of the field.

Three laps into the race Redding started his hunt for a podium position and flew past Lowes on the start/finish straight. The championship leader however could not stop his Ducati and ran wide at Turn 1, allowing Lowes back through. Constant pressure eventually gave Redding the advantage though when Lowes left the door wide open at Turn 10 and he sweeped past on the inside.

The battle in the chasing group intensified with 15 laps to go. Van der Mark was right on the tail of Baz and about to attempt a move when a major scare at Turn 9 saw the front and rear of his Yamaha shaking and he had to settle back into fourth.

As the chasing group crossed the line for Lap 7 van der Mark pulled out of the slipstream and was virtually past Baz while Redding dived down the inside of both of them. Neither rider managed to make the move stick though and the order remained how it was. Going into Turn 14 van der Mark made an error and ran wide, waving both Redding and Lowes through.

The chasers were now closer than ever before and Redding started to line up a move on Baz in third. Behind them Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) was edging closer on Rinaldi in seventh and both riders gradually reduced the gap to the group in front.

With 12 laps to go Redding capitalised on the Ducati’s speed and overtook Baz on the start/finish straight. Although he yet again struggled under braking at Turn 1, he managed to stay in front and moved up into a podium position.

Shortly after crossing the line for Lap 10, Baz and Lowes both ran wide at Turn 2 and allowed van der Mark back through into third. The Dutchman swiftly caught up with Redding and the duo started to pull away. Rinaldi and Sykes were now running with the chasers while Baz was facing visible grip issues and lost fifth to Lowes on Lap 11.

Matters got worse for Baz with eight laps to go when Rinaldi also moved past him and he dropped down to seventh. Further ahead van der Mark was now ruffling the feathers of Redding who looked in trouble with his Ducati. Redding tried desperately to defend his position but ran wide at Turn 14 and allowed van der Mark through.

The Dutchman pulled away to consolidate his place on the podium while Redding was struggling and fell into the clutches of the group behind him. He lost another position on Lap 15 when Lowes dived down his inside, putting him fifth and under pressure from Rinaldi.

Redding and Rinaldi were exchanging punches and both ran wide on the penultimate lap. Baz pounced at the opportunity and dived down the inside, the order now seeing Rinaldi ahead of Baz and Redding with Sykes still right behind them.

Out front Jonathan was untroubled and crossed the line first just over five seconds ahead of Razgatlioglu who rode a controlled race in second. Van der Mark brought his advantage over the chasing group home to complete the podium.

Lowes hung on to fourth from Rinaldi while Baz fought off late attacks from Redding who had to settle for seventh ahead of Sykes. Alvaro Bautista (Team HRC) found some late race pace to finish in ninth and Eugene Laverty (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) rounded out the top 10.

Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing Ducati) just beat Leon Haslam (Team HRC) for 11^th ahead of Xavi Fores (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) and Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Junior Team) while Federico Caricasulo (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Junior Team) took the last point on offer in 15^th.

Just outside the points ranks Leandro Mercado (Motocorsa Racing) was 16^th from Marco Melandri (Barni Racing Team) and Sylvain Barrier (Brixx Performance). Takumi Takahashi (MIE Racing Althea Honda) finished 19^th ahead of his teammate Lorenzo Gabellini and Maximilian Scheib (Orelac Racing Verdnatura) was last to see the chequered flag.

Sandro Cortese (Outdo Kawasaki TPR) and Christophe Ponsson (Nuova M2 Racing) did not complete the race.

Redding continues to lead the championship, but his advantage over Rea is now reduced to eight points. Razgatlioglu sits third, a further 13 points behind.