Jonny Rea hot out of the blocks at Portimao

2021 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship
Round 11 – Portimao

Kawasaki Racing Team riders Jonathan Rea and Alex Lowes finished first and second fastest respectively after the first day of practice at the WorldSBK Championship round in Portimao.

In bright morning sunshine Rea and Lowes finished FP1 in first and third positions, riding on a new track surface from that used in the 2020 race weekend. The KRT duo recently tested at Portimao and used that prior knowledge to good effect in their early preparations for the three WorldSBK races that will take place this weekend.

In FP2 Alex moved up one place to second in the combined timesheets to complete a KRT 1-2, with Jonathan finally 0.191 seconds ahead of Lowes.

The conditions at Portimao have been universally warm and dry since the WorldSBK paddock arrived after the recent Jerez round, with the track temperatures almost reaching 50-degrees in FP2.

Rea and his crew made several set-up changes from FP1 to FP2 and as a consequence Rea was not only the fastest rider over a single lap but made real advances in his race pace on used tyres.

Rea, the most successful rider at Portimao in recent years, was 0.217 seconds ahead of the next best non-Kawasaki rider, with his main championship rival Toprak Razgatlioglu fifth overall today.

American Garrett Gerloff was this quickest ahead of Leon Haslam.

Jonathan Rea – P1

“I’m very happy with the bike and the work we did today. We made some quite significant changes to our set-up between session and I felt more comfortable on the bike; probably the most comfortable I have felt all season. I feel relieved in some ways and excited for tomorrow to see what it brings. I was able to keep quite a high-paced rhythm over a long run and just kept getting faster and faster. Normally when you keep the rhythm high in the beginning the tyre drop is quite significant, but I was able to keep the tyre and manage it. Especially at a track like this, where you put a lot of energy into the tyre around the long last corner, I have been quite strong. Great work from all the team and I am looking forward to seeing what happens tomorrow. I feel ready.”

Alex Lowes – P2

“It was not bad for the first day and I felt pretty good on the bike. We had a good test here, maybe a month-and-a-half ago. At this track on our bike it seems to be pretty good. The bike is stable and it is fun to ride it here. I still need to check of I can ride in the races here. We have made a good start to this weekend but now I am going to the Clinica for checks and then I will see how the hand feels in the morning. Today was good and my hand feels better than it did a week ago, but it has been very boring sitting for a few days with a cast on!”

Garrett Gerloff – P3

“It was a good day. I am really enjoying the track and the new surface they put down, as there is a lot more grip especially with high temperatures. Last year it was very hot during all the races, which made it very difficult to find grip. But this time, the Yamaha R1 feels good. I thought that, thanks to the new surface, there would be less bumps, but the track feels as bumpy as before to be honest. At least, there is more grip when you hit the bumps, and the bike is not as affected by them as before, which is positive. I feel good, and the goal is to have a solid qualifying session and a good start in both races in order to stay close to the top guys. I ran laps both on the Pirelli SC0 tyre and on the 415 tyre: they feel very similar and I believe that the difference between them will only show in the last laps.”

Leon Haslam – P4

“We went into this weekend with quite a different approach in terms of the chassis. So losing time this morning wasn’t ideal, but it was my fault, I was going that little bit too fast and hit the white line. The boys did a fantastic job to basically build a new bike for FP2. We stuck with the hard tyre throughout that session, and so I was really surprised we finished P3. To be honest, the times feel quite comfortable and although we have work to do in certain areas, I admit I was surprised to end up in that position today. As for tyres, I think I can make the harder solutions work better and I don’t seem to get the advantage that some riders find with the “X” solution. It’s a lot about the riding here too though, considering the kind of track it is, so a combination of things come into play. Hopefully with our new approach we can be a little bit more consistent both in practice and the races too.”

Toprak Razgatlıoğlu – P5

“It was difficult, because I have a little bit of a “cold” again, but we try a good set-up for the race. Not easy for me to try the long run, but result was not bad! We improved the bike again this afternoon, a big step compared to last year and new asphalt has more grip, but we will see what is possible in the race. Today we worked just for the race consistency, and not try to focus on the lap time this afternoon – we are not looking at the position today. I say again, not bad but we will see tomorrow.”

WSBK Portimao Friday Combined Times

WSSP

The last of the triple headers for the FIM Supersport World Championship got underway at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve for the Motul Portuguese Round, with Spanish rider Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha ParkinGo Team) breaking the all-time lap record for the Portuguese venue in the morning Free Practice 1 session, and that was good enough to set the fastest time of the day.

Jules Cluzel (GMT94 Yamaha) was second quickest after a strong day for the Frenchman; Cluzel topping Free Practice 2 in the afternoon while finishing second in FP1. Cluzel’s former team-mate, Federico Caricasulo (Biblion Iberica Yamaha Motoxracing) was third on Friday, his best time coming in the morning session.

Championship leader Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) was fourth after initially finishing eighth in the opening session, before responding in FP2 with the second fastest time in the afternoon. His nearest rival in the Championship, Steven Odendaal (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team), was directly behind him in fifth place with Niki Tuuli (MV Agusta Corse Clienti) rounding out the top six after bouncing back from technical issues in FP1.

Australian youngster Billy van Eerde was 30th on Friday, four-seconds off that new lap record set by Gonzalez.

WSSP Portimao Friday Combined Times

WSSP300

Tom Booth-Amos topped both timesheets for the 30-minute Friday practice sessions with a 1’56.273s, posted in the morning Free Practice 1 session, the fastest time of the day by just 0.009s ahead of Championship leader Adrian Huertas (MTM Kawasaki). Iñigo Iglesias (SMW Racing) was in third place, 0.010s off top spot, in a very tight top three after both sessions.

The top six times in the combined classification came from FP1 with Uruguayan rider Facundo Llambias (Machado CAME SBK) in fourth after another strong showing from the first rider from Uruguay to compete in WorldSSP300. Koen Meuffels (MTM Kawasaki) was the second MTM Kawasaki rider in the top six, with reigning Champion Jeffrey Buis (MTM Kawasaki) completing the top six.

Harry Khouri was 23rd on Friday and had a small crash in FP2.

WSSP300  Portimao Friday Combined Times

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