FOCUS ON SUPERPOLE
WorldSBK (asphalt: 36° C / air: 27° C)
After being fastest in the free practice sessions on Friday, in qualifying Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) seemed to be well on his way to taking pole position in the Pirelli Portuguese Round of the FIM World Superbike Championship but it was six-time world champion Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) who managed to gain the upper hand, snatching the top time from the Turkish rider by less than two tenths of a second and setting the new track record. Rounding out the front row was the Northern Irishman’s teammate, Alex Lowes, with the third best time. Qualifying fourth was Championship leader Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati). In Superpole, Rea, like all the riders, used the SCX rear solution which allowed him to do more than one second better than the record Razgatlioglu had set in 2021 on the SCQ compound, one step softer than the SCX.
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| Jonathan Rea |
WorldSSP (asphalt: 32° C / air: 25° C)
Defending World Champion Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) took pole position on the Portuguese circuit with a time of 1’43.065 – the new track record, almost one second faster than the previous record set by Jules Cluzel (GMT94 Yamaha) in 2021. This is the Swiss rider’s tenth pole position of the year and his 30th in WorldSSP, whereas the Frenchman will start from the front row of the grid after qualifying with the third best time. Aegerter will start ahead of Federico Caricasulo (Althea Racing). All the riders used standard SC0 tyres at the rear and SC1 at the front.
WorldSSP300 (asphalt: 28° C / air: 23° C)
Dirk Geiger (Fusport-RT Motorsports by SKM-Kawasaki) took his first pole position in WorldSSP300, snatching the top spot from current championship leader, Alvaro Diaz (Arco Motor University Team), by just 9 thousandths of a second. With a time of 1’55.008, the German Kawasaki rider also set the new Portimão record for the 300 class.
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| Alvaro Diaz |
TYRES IN ACTION IN RACE 1
WorldSBK (asphalt: 41° C / air: 27° C)
The race was reduced to 14 laps because of delays due to a grave accident in WorldSSP300. Tyre choice was rather balanced: at the front, 17 riders chose the A0674 development SC1 (option C) and 9 went with the standard SC1 (option B). As for the rear, 17 were on the standard SC0 (option B) and 9 were on the B0624 development SC0 solution (option A). Worth a mention is that on the front two rows, only pole man Jonathan Rea mounted the SC0 B0624 on the rear. The Northern Irishman started well from pole position and managed to hold onto the race lead until the 5th lap but Toprak Razgatlioglu had a bit more, managing to overtake him for the race win. Álvaro Bautista, starting from the fourth spot on the grid, first successfully fended off attacks by teammate Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) to defend third place and then, in the finale, he launched his own attack against the Northern Irishman, overtaking him on the xx lap. This relegated Rea to third place and the bottom step of the podium. Fourth place went to Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing), the best of the private team riders. Using a standard SC0 tyre at the rear and a standard SC1 at the front, the same that any rider can purchase, Razgatlioglu also set the new race lap record with a time of 1’40.328 on the third lap.
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| WorldSBK Race 1 start |
WorldSSP (asphalt: 43° C / air: 27° C)
In Race 1 it was a historic victory for Stefano Manzi (Dynavolt Triumph) who gave Triumph their first ever win in the WorldSSP category. It was an all-Italian podium with Lorenzo Baldassarri (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team) finishing second and Federico Caricasulo (Althea Racing) on the third step. Pole man and current championship leader Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) only managed fourth. In this race, all the riders used standard tyres – SC0 at the rear and SC1 at the front.
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| Stefano Manzi |
For more details on the tyres used in the race by the individual riders in the WorldSBK and WorldSSP classes, please see the sheets attached to this press release.
WorldSSP300 (asphalt: 38° C / air: 25° C)
WorldSSP300 had everyone on the edge of their seats with a serious accident involving Dutchman Victor Steeman, air lifted to hospital via helicopter. As the only potential title contender, Steeman’s crash left the world championship title to Spaniard Alvaro Diaz. After stopping the race, the organisers decided to reduce the distance to 8 laps to be held at the end of the day. The race was won by pole man Dirk Geiger (Fusport-RT Motorsports by SKM-Kawasaki) whereas Diaz, finishing seventh, celebrated the world championship title.
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| Alvaro DIaz WorldSSP300 World Champion |
GIORGIO BARBIER, MOTORCYCLE RACING DIRECTOR
“From a technical point of view we are satisfied with the results we say on the track today. The lap records were broken in all the categories. Razgatlioglu managed to improve on his own record from last year in Superpole with the SCQ qualifying tyre, already in the FP3 session this morning with the standard SC0 which is two steps harder than the SCQ. Then, in Superpole, he was even faster on the SCX, beating last year’s record by more than half a second. The cherry on top came in the race – once again from Toprak – with the new fast lap record and, even more significant, he did it with standard tyres, which is to say, the exact same DIABLO Superbike tyres, in SC0 compound at the rear and SC1 at the front, that any rider can purchase for use on the track. Congratulations to Alvaro Diaz for winning the WorldSSP300 championship title.”
