Hard luck hits Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team in Portimão Race 1

The Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team fought hard but ultimately reaped little reward in Race 1 at Portimão, as an ill Jake Gagne battled to a brave thirteenth place while his teammate Leon Camier retired due to a technical issue.

For Race 1, both Camier and Gagne lined up on Row 5 of the grid in thirteenth and fifteenth place respectively but a good start saw both riders improve their positions in the opening laps. With the race approaching the halfway mark, Camier was circulating in tenth place with his teammate Gagne just behind him in P11.

However, misfortune struck as first Camier’s motorcycle experienced a technical issue which ultimately saw the British rider return to the box on lap 10. Meanwhile, Gagne suffered from stomach problems while on the grid and although he fought his way into a top ten position, the physical discomfort meant the American rookie fell down the order, eventually finishing in thirteenth position.

Today’s results sees Gagne move up to 44 championship points and he stays in seventeenth place in the overall standings, while Camier remains on 88 championship points in thirteenth overall.

The team now look to Race 2 tomorrow which gets underway at 1515 local time (GMT +1) but before then they’ll be on track for the morning Warm Up session at 1010.

Leon Camier

Leon Camier 2

I had a really good start and was able to make up a lot of places, but the collision between Eugene and Xavi at turn 3 meant I had to stand the bike up which lost me quite a few places. After that I was able to get back into a good rhythm and felt I could have a decent result. Unfortunately halfway through the race I suffered a problem with my bike – I tried to push on for a couple of laps, but there was no way I could continue so I had to return to the box. The team are looking into it now and we’ll regroup and try again tomorrow in race 2.

Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team

Jake Gagne

Jake Gagne 45

I felt I’ve had a good weekend so far, qualifying wasn’t the best but I knew my race pace was good. Unfortunately I had some stomach discomfort heading into the race which got worse and worse. Although I could run at a strong pace for the first few laps, as the race went on I was struggling a lot. I’ll rest up and aim to be recovered for race 2 tomorrow where I’m sure I can grab a better result.

Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team

Kervin Bos

Kervin Bos

Team Manager

We worked hard overnight and made some progress with our setting, but unfortunately we’ve experienced some bad luck on both sides of the garage. Qualifying wasn’t the best for us, but in Race 1 Leon had a fantastic start and got into a good rhythm but halfway through the race he felt something wasn’t right with the bike and he had to retire. We’re now investigating what the problem could be. For Jake he also had some really bad luck, just before the start of the race he felt some stomach pain but was able to start and was having an excellent race getting into the top ten. However, as the race went on his physical condition got worse and although he finished the race in the points he was on for a much better result. We’ll be hoping for better luck and a better result in race 2 tomorrow.

Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team

Portuguese Round

Autodromo Internacional do Algarve, Portugal

WorldSBK 2018, Round 10

Saturday 15 Sep 2018, 12:37 UTC

# Rider Num Nationality Nat. Points Pts. Team Constructor Constr. Time/Gap
1 Jonathan Rea 65 GBR 25 Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki 34’22.331
2 Marco Melandri 33 ITA 20 Aruba.it Racing Ducati +1.575
3 Michael van der Mark 60 NDL 16 Pata Yamaha Yamaha +4.215
4 Chaz Davies 7 GBR 13 Aruba.it Racing Ducati +10.760
5 Tom Sykes 66 GBR 11 Kawasaki Racing Team Kawasaki +12.911
6 Loris Baz 76 FRA 10 Althea BMW Racing Team BMW +19.685
7 Jordi Torres 81 SPA 9 MV Agusta Reparto Corse MV Agusta +21.974
8 Toprak Razgatlioglu 54 TUR 8 Grillini Racing Team Kawasaki +24.855
9 Michael Rinaldi 21 ITA 7 Aruba.it Racing Ducati +30.302
10 Alex Lowes 22 GBR 6 Pata Yamaha Yamaha +32.408
11 Leandro Mercado 36 ARG 5 IodaRacing Team Aprilia +32.875
12 Yonny Hernandez 68 COL 4 Team Pedercini Kawasaki +39.178
13 Jake Gagne 45 USA 3 Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team Honda +44.028
14 Román Ramos 40 SPA 2 Team Go Eleven Kawasaki +56.896
NC PJ Jacobsen 99 USA 0 Triple M Honda World Superbike Team Honda DNF
NC Lorenzo Savadori 32 ITA 0 Milwaukee Aprilia Aprilia DNF
NC Jakub Smrz 96 CZE 0 Guandalini Racing Yamaha DNF
NC Leon Camier 2 GBR 0 Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team Honda DNF
NC Xavi Fores 12 SPA 0 BARNI Racing Team Ducati DNF
NC Eugene Laverty 50 GBR 0 Milwaukee Aprilia

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