The stunning Autódromo Internacional do Algarve was the venue for the seventh round of the 2024 Superbike World Championship this weekend. With temperatures soaring, organisers had opted for a later race schedule which saw the WorldSBK class hit the undulating Portimão circuit at 18:00 local time.
It proved to be a challenging weekend for Yamaha’s teams and riders, who, despite a number of positives, were unable to match the podium-fighting capability seen last time out in Most. Six-time World Champion Jonathan Rea scored Yamaha’s best result of sixth place in Race 2.
In the Supersport World Championship Stefano Manzi managed to notch up another double podium, with fellow R6 rider Valentin Debise joining him on the rostrum in Race 2. Here’s what Yamaha Motor Europe Road Racing and R&D Manager Andrea Dosoli had to say about the weekend:
“Overall, it has been a tough weekend for us as a whole, although there have been some positives including the podium finishes in Supersport and Jonathan Rea’s overall feeling with the R1 improving. However, it is clear we have been struggling and for sure we cannot be satisfied with the performance achieved.”
Rea scored a best result of sixth in Race 2
“In Superbike, our strongest result was sixth place with Jonathan Rea in Race 2. In the first race, he was unlucky as he got a very strong start and had the chance to stay with the top group fighting for the podium. Unfortunately, he almost crashed but managed to save it, which lost him a couple of positions and then a couple of laps later an issue developed with the quickshifter which compromised his race. In the Superpole race, he was unlucky in the first laps and this left him 11th on the grid for Race 2 – which was a tough race as he was fighting the whole race long, but without a single mistake, so this was a very good effort.
“There is no doubt that our competitors have done a better job in Portimao, so we need to improve to close this gap. Despite the gap from the winner, and the fact the track was slower this year due to conditions, Jonathan was the only top rider to improve his 2023 race time – he has taken a step forward and his feeling with the R1 is getting better and better, so there are positives to take away from the tough weekend.
“I was glad to see a turn in fortune for Dominique Aegerter, who was the best Yamaha rider in two races out of three and has shown what he is capable of doing in terms of fighting. If we could improve the performance in the first laps, I am sure he could have better results.
“It was not such a good weekend for Andrea Locatelli, clearly he did not gel with the bike in Potimao and despite the effort from his crew and everyone on the technical side, we could not offer him an improvement in set-up in order to exploit his talent and the R1’s strengths.
“Remy Gardner also had a tough weekend, which did not reflect his capability and talent after a good weekend in Most. For sure, coming back from the MotoGP experience takes time to adapt back to the Superbike and the Pirelli tyres. We saw this in Donington too, where he retuned from the Sachsenring and struggled, and again here in Portimao so we need to keep this in mind for the future as it does not help jumping from one bike to another.”
Bradley Ray made a marked improvement
“One thing I will say regarding WorldSBK is it is amazing to see the level of the championship improving race by race. Portimao is a tough track and for there to be so many riders within one second in terms of lap time is great for the series.
“On that note, we need to praise the improvement seen from Bradley Ray this weekend as he made a step with the MotoXRacing team. His qualifying performance was a big improvement as he was only just over a second behind pole position. Clearly both he and the team are on the right path.
“Remaining on the R1, there have been some very impressive results recently in the various national championships including Alessandro Delbianco’s victory in the CIV at Misano last week, plus the OMG Racing team took another triple victory at Thruxton in the British Superbike too with Kyle Ryde and Ryan Vickers, so congratulations to them.”
Manzi scored two podiums
“In Supersport, Stefano Manzi worked hard across the weekend showing good speed. He has been very consistent and the results are there to show this. Unfortunately it is clear that, despite improving our perfomance this year, we are not as competitive as we were in 2023. The gap between the manufacturers is wider and the reality is our podium positions were a result of our rival’s mistakes, especially in Race 2.
“This is frustrating for our riders and teams, especially when they are starting the weekend knowing it will be difficult to fight in the race. Despite this, we won’t give up – we need to work on all possible areas in order to improve our performance and competitiveness.
“In Supersport 300 we could have benefitted much more from the difficulties of the championship leader. Unfortunately, Aldi, our title contender, did not have a smooth weekend with a penalty on Saturday making things tough for him in the races. He is still only 11 points off the championship lead, so they are still in the fight but he and his team need to sit down and work out how they can get the best possible result each weekend and find the consistency to fight for the title.It was nice to see Elia Bartolini fighting for the podium in his strongest weekend to date, clearly he and the MotoXRacing team have made a step.
“Overall, the weekend presented its challenges for Yamaha but there are positives we can take away from the weekend. There are five rounds left now and four of them are back-to-back races, so the end of the season will come round quite quickly. We now have a bit of a short summer break, but our engineers will continue to look for ways in which to improve our performance.”
