WSBK: Rea Takes Second Win of the Weekend in Portimao Superpole Race

Jonathan Rea took another dominant win at Portimao in the Superpole Race and reduced his disadvantage in the championship standings to just one point.

Rea only briefly lost the lead at Turn 1 right after the start and headed the field for the majority of the 10-lap race at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve. Toprak Razgatlioglu rode to a controlled second place while Loris Baz claimed his first podium of the season.

Championship leader Scott Redding yet again struggled under braking and had to settle for fifth.

Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Official Team) had a great start from second on the grid and took the holeshot going into Turn 1 ahead of polesitter Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK). The Yamaha rider however ran wide at corner exit and allowed his Kawasaki rival to cut back at Turn 2 and claim the lead.

While the duo immediately started to break away at the front, the field bunched up behind them. Paint was being swapped in the fight for third place on Lap 1 and Loris Baz (Ten Kate Racing) led the chasing group over the line for the first time ahead of Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team), Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team), Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing Ducati) and Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Official Team).

Further back Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing Ducati), who suffered an electronic problem in Race 1, was making his way up the pack. On the second lap he overtook Eugene Laverty (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) at Turn 4 and moved up into ninth. His comeback however came to a premature end only a corner later when Laverty fought back, the riders collided and found themselves in the gravel.

Crossing the line for Lap 4, Redding utilised the raw speed of the Ducati to fly past Sykes and Lowes on the start finish straight. The championship leader yet again faced issues under braking though and ran wide at Turn 1. The door was open for Lowes to claim fourth while Redding rejoined the group in fifth ahead of Sykes.

Lowes swiftly started to build an advantage while punches were exchanged behind him. Struggling to stop his Ducati, Redding left a gap open for Sykes to move past, but Redding fought back and reclaimed fifth diving down the inside of Sykes at Turn 1 with five laps to go. Sykes found himself under attack from van der Mark and the Dutchman attempted a manoeuvre but could not make the move stick and lost momentum.

Out front the gap between Rea and Razgatlioglu was up to more than a second at the halfway point of the race. Both riders looked comfortable and were now racing against the clock rather than for positions.

The order in the former chasing group had settled as well. Lowes’ attempts to close the gap to Baz in the final podium position were fought off by the Frenchman who responded and maintained his advantage. Behind them Redding in fifth had broken away from Sykes who held off van der Mark untroubled.

Further back in the field Leon Haslam (Team HRC), who had been running lonely in eighth for the majority of the race, found himself under pressure from Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Team GoEleven) with three laps remaining.

Rinaldi was right on the tail of Haslam and it looked a question of when rather than if he would successfully execute a move. Engaged in a fight for position, the two riders held each other up and allowed Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Junior Team) and Alvaro Bautista (Team HRC) to close in on them.

Out front Rea completed another Portimao masterclass and took the chequered flag first just under three seconds ahead of Razgatlioglu. Baz brought home third for his first podium position of the season and returned to the WorldSBK rostrum for the first time since Qatar 2014.

Lowes finished in fourth ahead of Redding, Sykes and van der Mark. Rinaldi made his move on Haslam at the final corner and crossed the line ahead of him in eighth. Off the points ranks Gerloff was 10^th just ahead of Bautista.

Federico Caricasulo (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Junior Team) came in in 12^th from Xavi Fores (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing), Leandro Mercado (Motocorsa Racing) and Marco Melandri (Barni Racing Team) rounding out the top 15.

Sylvain Barrier (Brixx Performance) finished 16^th ahead of Christophe Ponsson (Nuova M2 Racing) and the MIE Racing Althea Honda riders Lorenzo Gabellini and Takumi Takahashi. Laverty, who had rejoined the track after his crash, was last to complete the race.

Davies and Maximilian Scheib (Orelac Racing Verdnatura) recorded DNFs.

The points gap between Redding and Rea in the championship standings is now reduced to just one point. Razgatlioglu remains in third, 16 points behind Rea.