Rea delivers Portimao WSBK perfection on Sunday

Rea wins WorldSBK Race 2 from van der Mark and Melandri

Caricasulo takes the Supersport victory from Smith and De Rosa

Edwards sixth in Supersport 300 – Mahaffy 13th

Tamburini wins Superstock 1000 race

Jonathan Rea has followed up his Portimao Race 1 win at Portimao, Portugal, with another dominant win, showing composureto win his seventh consecutive race at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve and his sixth consecutive in this year’s Superbike World Championship. Rea was accompanied on the podium by Michael van der Mark and Marco Melandri.

Jonathan Rea – P1

“The run right now is incredible. It was a really tough race, as I had to fight a lot in the beginning. I made a very good start and had good track position early on. At turn five an opportunity opened up behind two riders and I found myself right behind Tom. He proved very hard to pass. I made a pass stick in T13, and chased Chaz down within a lap. Then it took me so many laps to go past him because he was braking so late, and his bike was so fast in the straight. Once I got past I just concentrated on making a couple of clean laps and setting my rhythm. The pace today was a little bit slower because the temperature had risen a bit and also I used the tyre a little bit more coming through the pack. I put everything into the race and managed to get 25 points, so I am really happy.”

A brilliant start from Rea pushed him straight up to third inside lap one, with Davies and Tom Sykes keeping their grid positions in one and two. Flying past his teammate on lap three, the Northern Irishman set up another stunning duel with the Welshman, one that we’ve seen repeated several times this year.

The battle quickly heated up, and fans were treated to a sensational battle. A first strike at the beginning of lap eight saw Davies defend his position on the exit of turn 1; two laps later, Rea dashed into the slipstream again, this time successfully, but the Ducati found the space to counterattack at the braking point of turn 5. Meanwhile, Melandri closed into a mere few tenths of a second of the squabbling pair, with van der Mark also moving near.

The pressure eventually got to the Welshman however, on lap 12: Davies went wide at turn 10, being comfortably passed by the Kawasaki with no chance to respond. Melandri tried a move on his teammate for second on the return through the main straight, but both went in too hot, leaving the door open for the trailing Yamaha to swoop in and climb to second in one smooth move.

With the memory of their stunning battles at Assen and Donington Park fresh in the minds of all WorldSBK fans, Rea and van der Mark set out for another thriller. The reigning champion’s pace was however just too strong for the Dutchman to surpass at this point, and he remains undefeated since Laguna Seca.

Melandri secured third place at the flag, joining Rea and van der Mark on the podium for the third consecutive race. While Davies’ pace faded off after his mid-race battles, the Welshman did manage to hold off Sykes for fourth position and complete a sensational weekend as he was hindered by a collarbone injury.

Lorenzo Savadori made amends for his mistake in Race One by rising to sixth in Sunday’s race, one position ahead of his teammate Eugene Laverty. Michael Ruben Rinaldi was the best independent rider on track at Portimao, crossing the line in eighth.

Loris Baz couldn’t keep hold of his front row start and finishes Race Two in ninth position, just ahead of Xavi Fores and Alex Lowes in tenth and eleventh, respectively.

That’s a wrap from Portugal! Join WSBK in two weeks’ time for the last European round of 2018 at Magny-Cours, from 28-30 September.

Michael van der Mark – P2

“I didn’t get the best of starts, but I stayed calm because I knew the grip levels would be low with the track temperature going up a lot. We’d changed the bike a little bit to compensate for this and it felt quite good from the start. Step-by-step I made my way through to the front and I was able to run pretty much the same pace as Johnny, Chaz and Marco. But then Marco and Chaz got into a battle with each other and I was able to take advantage of them both running wide out of turn one to pass them for second place. I tried to catch Johnny, but he just had a little bit more pace than me in the closing stages of the race. Anyway, another podium is an amazing way to end what has been a great weekend for me and my team, and we will keep pushing next time in France.”

Marco Melandri – P3

“It was another tough race, though probably a bit more fun than the first one. I had a strong start but I struggled to make a few passes early on and I lost a bit of ground. Then I cut the gap from the front, but I had to ask a lot to the tires and eventually they dropped. In some corners I was struggling, while in others I was fast, but it wasn’t enough to pass VD Mark or Rea because we were all lapping with a similar pace. In the end I’m very happy, we achieved the best possible results, obtaining the most from both the bike and myself. Hopefully this is a good sign for the future.”

Chaz Davies – P4

“This was one of the most challenging rounds in my career, for sure. Portimão is one of the most physical tracks on the calendar and I haven’t been able to train properly for a long time, not to mention the pain in the right shoulder. Honestly, if somebody would have told me that I would get P4 twice here, I wouldn’t have believed it. Big thanks to my guys because we’ve made strides with the package through the weekend and we ended up actually quite close to the winners. Now we’ve got a few days to train and rehab ahead of Magny Cours to kickstart the final part of the season. I’m looking forward to the next race.”

Tom Sykes – P5

“We made a massive step with the bike today. We had good speed all weekend but suffered over 20 laps. We did not have the information, so yesterday we struggled with the front and finished about 13 seconds back. Today, we took nearly ten seconds off of that. We came a lot closer and basically we had a lot more information, and learned from it. We had consistent speed in race two and the bike gave me a lot of warning and feedback. I want to thank my team for this. I suffered a little bit on those last two laps and I think Davies also dug a little deeper with his pace. I tried a few little things to pass but almost losing the front three times in two laps is probably enough. I was just trying to create an opening but he defended well on the last lap.”

Portimao WorldSBK Race 2 Result

1. J. REA GBR Kawasaki
2. M. VAN DER MARK NED Yamaha +1.189
3. M. MELANDRI ITA Ducati +2.813
4. C. DAVIES GBR Ducati +4.594
5. T. SYKES GBR Kawasaki +4.834
6. L. SAVADORI ITA Aprilia +11.417
7. E. LAVERTY IRL Aprilia +11.732
8. M. RINALDI ITA Ducati +12.507
9. L. BAZ FRA BMW +12.741
10. X. FORES ESP Ducati +18.973
11. A. LOWES GBR Yamaha +20.244
12. J. GAGNE USA Honda +20.943
13. J. TORRES ESP MV Agusta +23.395
14. L. CAMIER GBR Honda +31.216
15. L. MERCADO ARG Kawasaki +32.183
16. Y. HERNANDEZ COL Kawasaki +33.076
17. P. JACOBSEN USA Honda +45.173

Championship Standings after Race 2, Round 10

1. Jonathan Rea 420 Kawasaki
2. Chaz Davies 304 Ducati
3. Michael Van Der Mark 284 Yamaha
4. Tom Sykes 240 Kawasaki
5. Marco Melandri 229 Ducati
6. Alex Lowes 204 Yamaha
7. Xavi Fores 170 Ducati
8. Eugene Laverty 122 Aprilia
9. Toprak Razgatlioglu 108 Kawasaki
10. Loris Baz 103 BMW
11. Lorenzo Savadori 102 Aprilia
12. Jordi Torres 92 MV Agusta
13. Leon Camier 90 Honda
14. Michael Ruben Rinaldi 74 Ducati
15. Leandro Mercado 59 Kawasaki

WorldSSP

Federico Caricasulo has scored an important win at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve ahead of the impressive Kyle Smith and Raffaele De Rosa, in perhaps the most extraordinary end to a race in FIM Supersport World Championship history, after Lucas Mahias was denied a return to the top of the rostrum twice in the space of five minutes.

A lightning start from Jules Cluzel at the lights moved him immediately into first place. It lasted just one lap however, as Mahias made good use of slipstream to move back in front at the exit from the main straight.

Then disaster struck as championship leader Sandro Cortese attempted a move into second at turn five, another in a series of stunning battles that both men have held this year. But this was one move too many: the German slipped, taking both him and Cluzel out. A racing incident that nonetheless harmed the Frenchman the most, as he was unable to rejoin whilst Cortese was able to hold the clutch in and managed to recover and head back in pursuit of some points.

With their two strongest rivals out of action, this ninth race of the season quickly turned into a GRT battle. Separated by just a point in the standings and with both riders in search of their second race win of 2018, Mahias rapidly opened a one second gap with Caricasulo, taking the fastest lap of the race along the way, and entered the final lap with a comfortable lead.

In a dramatic twist to the end of the race, Mahias suffered tyre issues as he crossed the line for the final lap, which put an end to his hopes of securing a second win this season.

But then the red flags came out: Rob Hartog and Borja Quero Martínez had crashed together at turn 11 in the previous lap, meaning that the results going into the penultimate lap of 18 would be final… As long as every rider makes it back to the pits within five minutes of the official race end.

With his machine still rolling, Mahias set out around the Portuguese track without a rear tyre, for perhaps the longest lap of his career. In incredible conditions and crashing twice along the way, Mahias made it to the pits in what he initially thought was within the time limit – but it was not. As such, everyone moved up a place, with Caricasulo taking an unlikely yet incredibly valuable second consecutive win, and an exhausted Mahias was left with no points for his efforts.

British rider Kyle Smith managed to move up to second with this, taking his first podium of the season and the first for a Honda bike, after overtaking De Rosa – who has now strung six consecutive podium finishes together – for third in the late stages of the race.

Randy Krummenacher takes fourth in the final results, a good result for the Swiss rider after a poor start. Hidden beneath all the late drama, Cortese made it to the flag in an incredible fifth position despite that lap two crash and increases his championship lead against all odds.

Hannes Soomer concluded a fantastic weekend for the Estonian with sixth place, ahead of Ayrton Badovini in seventh and Thomas Gradinger in eighth, with Hikari Okubo in ninth and Hector Barberà tenth in his WorldSSP debut.

Federico Caricasulo

“It was a lucky race today for me. I was strong in the race, as we have been all weekend, but I didn’t quite have the pace to close the gap to Lucas, as he was pushing so hard at the front. I was happy with second, the victory was for Lucas, but then he had the problem with the tyre and that allowed me to take the lead. Sometimes it is like this; I have been unlucky in the past and he was unlucky today. I’m sorry for him, but I’m happy for the championship, as I’m a lot closer to the top of the standings now.”

Portimao WorldSSP Race Results

1. Caricasulo ITA Yamaha
2. Smith GBR Honda 5.784
3. De Rosa ITA Mv Agusta +6.199
4. Krummenacher SUI Yamaha +9.581
5. Cortese GER Yamaha +20.419
6. Soomer EST Honda +22.605
7. Badovini ITA Mv Agusta +23.787
8. Gradinger AUT Yamaha +25.004
9. Okubo JPN Kawasaki +25.009
10. Barbera ESP Kawasaki +29.862
11. Stapleford GBR Yamaha +31.630
12. Pons ESP Kawasaki +40.423
13. Van Sikkelerus NED Honda +44.207
14. Stange GER Kawasaki +45.273
15. Hornsey GBR Triumph +53.436
16. Iturrioz ARG Kawasaki +57.876
17. Nagao JPN Kawasaki +58.096
18. Coppola ITA Yamaha +58.113

WorldSSP Championship Standings after Round 9

1. Sandro Cortese 149 Yamaha
2. Jules Cluzel 133 Yamaha
3. Federico Caricasulo 129 Yamaha
4. Randy Krummenacher 129 Yamaha
5. Raffaele De Rosa 119 MV Agusta
6. Lucas Mahias 103 Yamaha
7. Kyle Smith 59 Honda
8. Luke Stapleford 52 Yamaha
9. Anthony West 51 Kawasaki
10. Thomas Gradinger 48 Yamaha
11. Niki Tuuli 38 Honda
12. Ayrton Badovini 36 MV Agusta
13. Loris Cresson 30 Yamaha
14. Rob Hartog 27 Kawasaki
15. Hikari Okubo 25 Kawasaki
    …39. Tom Toparis 1 Kawasaki

WorldSSP300

If the stakes were high here at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve, they just increased tenfold for Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours. Scott Deroue was able to win his first FIM Supersport 300 World Championship race since Assen 2017 and moves to just ten points behind championship leader Ana Carrasco, who couldn’t finish higher than tenth.

Mika Perez and Manuel Gonzalez completed the podium at Portimao in second and third, respectively.

As usual this was a tight, electric affair in WorldSSP300, with the front riders on the grid keeping strong and battling it out from the early stages. Deroue picked his way through the front after a slow start, moving to P1 and taking a controlled lead, but never quite pulling away, while an army of Spanish riders behind pushed through around Portimao, including Perez, Gonzalez, Daniel Valle and Maria Herrera, who was close to securing her first WorldSSP300 podium before a technical issue forced her out with one lap remaining.

None of these was the championship leader however, who struggled at Portimao one year on from her famous first race win. Carrasco fell to 17th at the start and could only make it to 11th at the flag – eventually 10th, after Borja Sánchez was handed a post race penalty due to irresponsible riding. She makes her way to Magny-Cours now with up to three other riders threatening her title chase: Deroue, Perez and Luca Grunwald, who crashed at Portimao.

The returning Robert Schotman finished an impressive fourth at Portimao, ahead of Enzo De La Vega in fifth and the polesitter Tom Edwards in sixth, his best WorldSSP300 result. Valle was seventh, with wildcard Ferran Hernandez Moyano in eighth and Dorren Loureiro ninth.

Who will leave Magny-Cours as the second WorldSSP300 champion? Find out from 28-30 September as the circus heads to France for the final installment of a thriller.

Scott Deroue – P1

“I am really happy with this win, we have worked so hard from the beginning of the year. We worked hard in our tests and everytime in the race it hasn’t happened and now finally it happened. So a big thanks to the team and to Kawasaki who helped me to do this.”

Portimao WorldSSP300 Race Results

1. S. DEROUE NED Kawasaki
2. M. PEREZ ESP Kawasaki +1.243
3. M. GONZALEZ ESP Yamaha +1.364
4. R. SCHOTMAN NED Kawasaki +1.389
5. E. DE LA VEGA FRA Kawasaki +1.558
6. T. EDWARDS AUS Kawasaki +1.598
7. D. VALLE ESP Yamaha +2.292
8. F. HERNANDEZ MOYANO ESP Kawasaki +4.268
9. D. LOUREIRO RSA Kawasaki +4.271
10. A. CARRASCO ESP Kawasaki +4.436
11. A. BÖRNER GER Kawasaki +9.516
12. G. ERILL ESP Kawasaki +9.761
13. J. MAHAFFY AUS Yamaha +9.829
14. J. JÄHNIG GER Freudenberg KTM +9.954
15. V. STEEMAN NED KTM +17.612

WorldSSP300 Championship Standings after Round 7

1. Ana Carrasco 90 Kawasaki
2. Scott Deroue 80 Kawasaki
3. Mika Perez 72 Kawasaki
4. Luca Grunwald 68 KTM
5. Dorren Loureiro 60 Kawasaki
6. Borja Sanchez 58 Kawasaki
7. Galang Hendra Pratama 52 Yamaha
8. Koen Meuffels 49 KTM
9. Glenn Van Straalen 47 KTM
10. Manuel Gonzalez 43 Yamaha
11. Walid Khan 42 Kawasaki
12. Jan-Ole Jähnig 40 KTM
13. Enzo De La Vega 34 Kawasaki
14. Nick Kalinin 33 Kawasaki
15. Maria Herrera 32 Yamaha
16. Daniel Valle 30 Yamaha
17. Manuel Bastianelli 25 Kawasaki
18. Robert Schotman 24 Kawasaki
19. Luca Bernardi 19 Yamaha
20. Kevin Sabatucci 16 Yamaha
21. Tom Edwards 11kawasaki
22. Ferran Hernandez Moyano 8 Kawasaki
23. Ali Adriansyah Rusmiputro 6 Yamaha
24. Alex Börner 5 Kawasaki
25. Imanuel Putra Pratna 5 Yamaha
26. Maximilian Kappler 5 KTM
27. Guillem Erill 4 Kawasaki
28. Jack Micheal Mahaffy 3 Yamaha

Superstock 1000

The European Superstock 1000 Championship title hunt will go down to the wire: Roberto Tamburini has taken a stunning win at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve in the penultimate race of the season and opened up a three-way battle for the championship at Magny-Cours in two weeks’ time, as Markus Reiterberger could just finish third.

A brilliant start by Reiterberger pushed the championship leader into the front in a matter of seconds, but this time the German was unable to pull away. Quite the opposite: the BMW quickly struggled in the rising heat at Portimao and was passed swiftly by polesitter Federico Sandi in lap four and Tamburini one lap later, with Florian Marino also battling for the podium. Reiterberger managed to re-pass the Frenchman in the closing stages for the podium, but this was still not enough to clinch the title.

With Reiterberger out of contention, Tamburini managed to keep his title options alive against all odds. The Italian needed a first ever STK1000 win to go to France with any hope and that’s exactly what he did, passing Sandi halfway through the Portimao race and moving 18 points away from the championship lead.

Maximilian Scheib will also go to Magny-Cours with options, but these became slimmer after the Nolan Portuguese Round as the Chilean could only finish fifth, dropping to third in the standings and 19 points behind Reiterberger. It could have been even worse for Scheib, as he squabbled for his position in the final laps with teammate Luca Vitali; the Italian however crashed one turn before meeting the chequered flag, handing sixth place to Alessandro Delbianco.

Portimao STK1000 Race Results

1. Tamburini ITA BMW
2. Sandi ITA Ducati +2.584
3. Reiterberger GER BMW +3.443
4. Marino FRA Yamaha +4.127
5. Scheib CHI Aprilia +11.763
6. Delbianco ITA BMW +20.807
7. Salvadori ITA BMW +22.381
8. Ruiu ITA Kawasaki +22.390
9. Buehn GER BMW +33.626
10. Schacht DEN Ducati +37.570
11. Alberto PHI Ducati +37.704
12. Pusceddu Ita BMW +49.938
13. Cudeville FRA Kawasaki +1’00.748
14. Yudhistira INA Kawasaki +1’00.843
15. De Ulacia ESP Kawasaki +1’14.680

STK1000 Championship Standings after Portimap

1. Markus Reiterberger 140 BMW
2. Roberto Tamburini 122 BMW
3. Maximilian Scheib 121 Aprilia
4. Federico Sandi 92 Ducati
5. Florian Marino 80 Yamaha
6. Luca Vitali 59 Aprilia
7. Riccardo Russo 46 Ducati
8. Alessandro Delbianco 45 BMW
9. Gabriele Ruiu 42 Kawasaki
10. Luca Salvadori 35 BMW
11. Jan Buehn 28 BMW
12. Matteo Ferrari 25 Ducati
13. Andrea Mantovani 19 Aprilia
14. Timothy Joseph Cua Alberto 19 Ducati
15. Samuele Cavalieri 14 Ducati