KUCIAR666
Registered User
Portimao Preview
The seventh round of the eni FIM Superbike World Championship will take place next weekend in Portugal at the Autodr?mo Internacional do Algarve.
The beautiful Portuguese track has been a part of the series calendar since 2008, the year in which it hosted World Superbikes as its first international event after opening. Team Althea Racing will arrive in Portugal with the aim of putting the difficult Donington Park weekend behind them, a weekend in which Nico Terol was not at 100% and Matteo Baiocco had to deal with a few technical limitations that he had not expected.
The track is fast but at the same time tough, with changes in elevation and blind turns that guarantee spectacular racing. Nico Terol was able to try the track during winter testing but due to bad weather he did not ride a lot so he still has a lot to learn, also because temperatures can be very high in June. Having almost put behind him the accident that affected his performance at Donington Park, Nico will work hard to find the right feeling with which to face Sunday?s races.
Nico Terol: ?I go to Portimao in the hope of being at 100%. I am almost fully recovered and must concentrate on doing my best. I know I can be strong and fast and I also know that, having only experience of the track, it will be important to work well right from Friday in order to get to Sunday in the best condition to be able to complete two great races.?
Matteo Baiocco also wants to put the British round behind him. Though he demonstrated improvement during the qualifying sessions and completed a great Superpole, unfortunately he was unable to consolidate those results during the races. The growth and good work completed during the sessions nevertheless bodes well for the Portuguese round, where Matteo will strive to continue what he started at Donington Park, to be able to make another step forward on the grid and in the championship.
Matteo Baiocco: ?The Donington weekend saw an improvement in our performance compared to previous races and I would like to continue this positive trend at Portimao. The track is definitely tough, but with my bike I?ll be able to have fun. I can?t wait to get back on my Ducati.?
The FIM Superstock 1000 Cup, in which Raffaele De Rosa and Luca Salvadori, is proving to be an exciting and difficult category with some high level riders. Raffaele De Rosa, having just missed out on the podium at Donington Park, now aims for victory with his Ducati Panigale R, at a track where he finished in fourth place in the Supersport category last season. The fight for the title is still open and despite his unlucky crash at Imola, Raffaele is not giving up and will do his best to close the gap between himself and the championship leader.
Luca Salvadori has surprised with his rapid growth in what is a new category for him. He has proved to be fast and is not intimidated by the more experienced riders, having reached the top ten twice in just four races. So he will be looking to repeat, or even improve on, the positive results achieved up until now.
The Portuguese track was designed by architect Ricardo Pina and is 4592 metres long with a start/finish straight of 835 metres, 9 right-hand corners and 6 left-hand corners. It has a maximum decline of 57 metres and corners ranging from 23 to 207 metres. The rider in pole starts from the right side of the track. The track hosted its first race on 2 November 2008, with the final round of the season?s World Superbikes, at which champion Troy Bayliss retired.
The circuit is located close to the city of Portimao, a tourist port in the beautiful Algarve region. The closest airport is at Faro, though the airports of Lisbon and Seville, Spain offer more flights and are a little over two hours away. Portugal is one hour behind Central European Time.