In an extremely competitive day of action, only one second separated the top 12 riders around the 4.6 kilometre long Portimao circuit on combined times with Camier and Gagne finishing in twelfth and thirteenth place respectively.
Camier’s best time of 1’42.883 saw him miss out on a top ten position by just one tenth of a second, while Gagne’s best time of 1’42.921 also saw him narrowly miss out on a first Superpole 2 berth of the season. Both riders will now focus on finishing in the top two in tomorrow’s Superpole 1 session.
Despite neither rider finishing inside the top ten, there were positives to take away from the day as each rider showed promising pace in different parts of the circuit. Gagne was the second quickest rider through the final sector, while Camier exhibited strong pace in sectors one and two.
Drawing on the data from both riders today, the team are confident of unlocking more performance from the CBR1000RR Fireblade SP2 for qualifying and race 1 tomorrow.
The next session at Portimão is Free Practice 4 tomorrow at 0845 local time (GMT +1), with the Superpole sessions starting at 1030 before Race 1 commences at 1300.
Leon Camier 2
The first two sessions today were a bit of a struggle, but we finally found a better direction for the bike setting in the final session and I was able to improve. Unfortunately though, I couldn’t put together the perfect lap in FP3 so we have to go through Superpole 1. We just need to refine our settings overnight and continue the direction we found in FP3 and I need to find some time in the last two sectors. If we can do that I think we’ll be able to do much better in qualifying and the race tomorrow.
Jake Gagne 45
It was a pretty good start for me and definitely having done all those laps in testing meant that I had a good setting from the start. The times are really close so I hope that I can make a small jump tomorrow to help me get to my first Superpole 2 session. The Fireblade is really liking the two fast right hand corners in the final sector, I just now need to work now on the stop and go sections of the track. Overall though I feel in really good shape for the race tomorrow.
Kervin Bos
It’s a mixed day for the team as on the one hand, Jake had perhaps his strongest Friday of the season so far but for Leon it was a bit of a challenge. However, we made more progress than the timesheet suggests, as both riders are just a few tenths off where we hoped to be and we know the areas we need to improve. Jake was second quickest in the final sector, which is where Leon struggled, while Leon was quick in the first two sectors where Jake wasn’t strong so we should be able to identify how to help both riders tomorrow. We know where we need to improve and will be aiming for a much better performance in qualifying and the race.
Portuguese RoundAutodromo Internacional do Algarve, Portugal
WorldSBK 2018, Round 10
- Air Temp: 26°C
- Humidity: 61%
- Ground Temp: 39°C
| # | Rider | Num | Nationality Nat. | Team | Constructor Constr. | Time/Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jonathan Rea | 65 | GBR | Kawasaki Racing Team | Kawasaki | 1’41.817 |
| 2 | Marco Melandri | 33 | ITA | Aruba.it Racing | Ducati | +0.186 |
| 3 | Jordi Torres | 81 | SPA | MV Agusta Reparto Corse | MV Agusta | +0.516 |
| 4 | Toprak Razgatlioglu | 54 | TUR | Grillini Racing Team | Kawasaki | +0.566 |
| 5 | Eugene Laverty | 50 | GBR | Milwaukee Aprilia | Aprilia | +0.606 |
| 6 | Xavi Fores | 12 | SPA | BARNI Racing Team | Ducati | +0.624 |
| 7 | Tom Sykes | 66 | GBR | Kawasaki Racing Team | Kawasaki | +0.642 |
| 8 | Michael van der Mark | 60 | NDL | Pata Yamaha | Yamaha | +0.740 |
| 9 | Alex Lowes | 22 | GBR | Pata Yamaha | Yamaha | +0.852 |
| 10 | Michael Rinaldi | 21 | ITA | Aruba.it Racing | Ducati | +0.961 |
| 11 | Loris Baz | 76 | FRA | Althea BMW Racing Team | BMW | +0.970 |
| 12 | Leon Camier | 2 | GBR | Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team | Honda | +1.066 |
| 13 | Jake Gagne | 45 | USA | Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team | Honda | +1.104 |
| 14 | Lorenzo Savadori | 32 | ITA | Milwaukee Aprilia | Aprilia | +1.152 |
| 15 | Chaz Davies | 7 | GBR | Aruba.it Racing | Ducati | +1.508 |
| 16 | Leandro Mercado | 36 | ARG | IodaRacing Team | Aprilia | +1.752 |
| 17 | PJ Jacobsen | 99 | USA | Triple M Honda World Superbike Team | Honda | +2.059 |
| 18 | Yonny Hernandez | 68 | COL | Team Pedercini | Kawasaki | +2.211 |
| 19 | Román Ramos | 40 | SPA | Team Go Eleven | Kawasaki | +2.526 |
| 20 | Jakub Smrz | 96 | CZE | Guandalini Racing | Yamaha | +3.899 |
