WSBK-Portimao

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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.

 

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Pata Honda riders head to Portimao

Round seven of the 2015 World Superbike championship takes place at Portimao in Portugal this weekend (5-7 June) with Pata Honda riders Sylvain Guintoli and Michael van der Mark aiming to produce strong performances.

Guintoli is positive about the potential for further development of his Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP machine after a revised chassis configuration tested last time out at Donington Park in the UK gave him a better feeling on the bike.

The 32-year-old Frenchman has been on the Portimao podium five times in previous visits and is looking forward to pushing the CBR to the maximum in an effort to add to the machine?s own tally of nine podium finishes at the 4.592km Autodromo Internacional do Algarve.

Guintoli?s Pata Honda team-mate Michael van der Mark won at Portimao on his way to last season?s World Supersport championship but already has Superbike experience of the demanding and undulating circuit, albeit from a damp and cold pre-season test earlier this year.

Despite scoring two podium finishes at Assen in this, his rookie WSBK season, van der Mark has retired from the last three outings and is targeting strong finishes in Sunday?s two 20-lap races, which mark the halfway point in the 2015 World Superbike championship.

The weekend?s race event will be followed on Monday 8 June by an official World Superbike test at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve at which both Pata Honda riders will test new chassis components and electronics updates.



2015 World Superbike championship, round seven

Autodromo Internacional do Algarve ? Portimao, Portugal

Event schedule (local times GMT +1):


Friday 5 June

11.15-12.00 ? Free practice 1

15.00-15.45 ? Free practice 2


Saturday 6 June

09.45-10.30 ? Free practice 3

12.30-13.00 ? Free practice 4

15.00-15.15 ? Superpole 1

15.25-15.40 ? Superpole 2


Sunday 7 June

08.40-08.55 ? Warm-up

10.30 ? Race 1 (20 Laps, 91.840km)

13.10 ? Race 1 (20 Laps, 91.840km)


Sylvain Guintoli

It was clear from Donington that the new components and strategies that we tested were definitely a step in the right direction, so I?m looking forward to this weekend in Portugal to continue that development process. At Donington I felt that I was riding the bike well and I felt more comfortable on it. There was still a gap to the front that is larger than we would want but all we can do is keep working in the way we have been to try to close it. It?s not going to be easy but we?ll just keep our heads down and continue the hard work. I had a good weekend at Portimao last year and I really like the track which has been good to me in the years we?ve been going there, so we?re hoping for more positive progress this weekend.


Michael van der Mark

Last year was good with the win in World Supersport, even though it came with the rain. But I?m really looking forward to the weekend because I love this place. We had a test earlier this year so I?ve ridden the CBR Superbike at Portimao and even though it was really cold and often wet I was able to make some laps. I love the roller-coaster ride with all the fast corners and blind crests. Some parts are quite different on the Superbike but that also makes it more fun! But after too many DNFs already this season I really need some good strong results, so I?ll be working hard with the team this weekend to get me and the bike ready for Sunday?s two races.


Pieter Breddels - technical co-ordinator

We?re bringing some more chassis parts with us to Portimao although we?re not sure yet whether we will test them during the weekend sessions or wait until Monday?s test, when we?ll also be trying out new software updates. Sylvain had a better, more positive feeling during the Donington event and said that the CBR felt more like his own race bike so we?re looking forward to developing that feeling this weekend. Michael had some bad luck at Donington but he likes the Portimao track where the rider needs a lot of confidence. I think the layout should suit him and the CBR better than other circuits.

 

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Portimao (Portugal) 5 June 2015

The seventh round of the eni FIM Superbike World Championship got underway today for Team Althea Racing, with the Italian squad participating in the first day of qualifying at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve.

A tough track, high temperatures that reached 54?C and a fitness level that is still not 100% created some problems for Nico Terol who is racing at this track for the first time this weekend. The Spaniard worked with his team to test some different set-up solutions for his Ducati 1199 Panigale R and will work in tomorrow?s qualifying to improve his times that today prevented him from doing better than eighteenth.

Matteo Baiocco also had a lot of work to do, closing the afternoon?s session in tenth place, less than a second from the leader. The Italian has further room for improvement and having used today?s sessions to find good feeling with the bike and the track, tomorrow Matteo will strive to complete a solid qualifying that will allow him to enter Superpole 2.

The riders over in the Superstock 1000 category concluded the sessions with a positive second place finish for Raffaele De Rosa; thirteenth place for Luca Salvadori.

Raffaele, consistently placed at the top of the timesheets in today?s sessions, will aim to score the fastest overall time tomorrow in order to start Sunday?s race from pole. The podiums he has already achieved are not enough and the Italian is aiming for the top step of the rostrum, in order to gain important points for the championship standings.

Luca Salvadori, a 'rookie' in this category, is improving race after race, and also here in Portugal he has been consistent during today?s opening sessions. Tomorrow he too will try to lower his lap times to see if he can close inside the top ten.

Tomorrow will begin with Superstock 1000 free practice at 9:00 (local time), followed by the final Superbike qualifying, which will establish entry to the Superpole.

 

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Front Row For Sykes After Portim?o Superpole

Tom Sykes (KRT) came within 0.116 seconds of taking pole at Portimao but he starts Sunday?s two 20-lap WSB races from the front row in any case, having qualified in second place. Jonathan Rea (KRT) was eighth in Superpole, after setting one flying lap on race tyres and then falling at turn three shortly after.

Sykes and Rea had made it thought to Superpole 2 automatically because of their strong practice performances on race rubber and each is confident of their race pace for Sunday?s races.
Sykes looked to be heading for pole position near the end of the 15-minute second Superpole session but Davide Giugliano had used Tom as a gauge on his fastest lap and flashed over the line just behind the Kawasaki rider on track, but 0.116 seconds in front in the times.
The unlucky Rea had just put in a fast first lap early in Superpole 2 and in falling at turn three next time around he was unable to restart, having to rely on his opening lap to give him his final Superpole time. He is now starting off the third row for Sunday?s races, but has strong race pace to rely on at one of his favourite circuits.
There has been a contrast in track conditions between the morning and afternoon sessions at Portimao, with a significant increase in track temperature in the afternoons, so the KRT riders expect to have two slightly different challenges on Sunday 7th June.
In the organiser?s Superpole Award rankings, for best performance pre-race, Sykes and Rea are now joint top of the table, each with 127 points.
Tom Sykes: ?Most importantly I am on the front row and we have also evaluated a couple of minor set-up things in Superpole. There is a new qualifying rear tyre for Superpole at this round and it seems good. We will speak again tonight and work on a couple of more aspects in time for raceday. I think overall we have a good bike, a good package and the consistency is there. I was nearly there to win Superpole but Davide Giugliano was just behind me and on some parts of the track that helps, so maybe I helped give him pole position - but that is racing. I have to accept that and he is a good guy, so no worries. I am relaxed and ready to go racing.?
Jonathan Rea: ?I felt really confident for Superpole and maybe too much. I pushed over the limit and was quite a bit faster at the braking point, with 4 degrees more lean angle, and I lost the front. It was a fast crash but I am OK. In the afternoon practice session before Superpole we had a very good rhythm. My race pace is really good the only problem is starting from the third row and the guys with good pace are on the front row. For me tomorrow will be about the start and the first laps. I just have to make sure the opening laps are clean and that I can get through traffic. I think the race will be decided from the middle to the end but I have to make sure I am there at the middle point.?
David Salom (Kawasaki Team Pedercini) made it through to Superpole 2 automatically but had to settle for 12th place on the grid. For his Spanish countryman Roman Ramos (Team Go Eleven Kawasaki) 15th will be his starting position after Superpole. Christophe Ponsson (Kawasaki Team Pedercini) was 18th today.

 

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Guintoli seventh for Portuguese encounter

Sylvain Guintoli will start tomorrow?s two seventh-round World Superbike championship races from the third row of the grid after setting the seventh fastest time in this afternoon?s Superpole at Portimao in Portugal.

The 32-year-old Pata Honda rider and his technical crew found further improvements to his Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP in this morning?s two free practice sessions and qualified directly for Superpole 2 this afternoon.

After two laps on a race tyre, the French rider went out on his Pirelli qualifier and was able to set his best lap of the weekend, 0.8s off the pole time of Italian Davide Giugliano.

Guintoli?s Pata Honda team-mate, Michael van der Mark, will start tomorrow?s two 20-lap races at the 4.592km Autodromo Internacional do Algarve from the fifth row after being unable to graduate from Superpole 1 this afternoon.

The Dutch rider, 22, is still looking for more stability with his CBR under heavy braking and, despite improving his lap time in each session, the rookie SBK rider was 13th fastest in this afternoon?s Superpole sessions.

Sylvain Guintoli ? P7, 1m42.641s

Well, we?ve confirmed that the weekend is going in the right direction and we?ve been able to improve the pace on race tyres and then, on the qualifier, I was able to do a couple of good laps as well. I think it?s my best qualifying performance of the year so far, so I?m happy enough with that but realistic enough to know that there?s still plenty of work to do. It?s really good to see all the hard work we?ve done start to pay off though, and we?re looking forward to carrying this momentum into tomorrow?s races and turn it into two decent results.



Michael van der Mark ? P13, 1m43.272s

We didn?t have an easy day today for sure and we changed the bike a lot, but it didn?t really bring us much in terms of a lap time so we?ve definitely got some more work to do. In Superpole on race tyres I was second fastest and quite confident that I could improve. But I?ve had some problems with the front all weekend and putting the qualifier in seemed to make the problem worse. Anyway, it?s not a great position to be in but we?ll look at everything tonight and I?m sure the guys can come up with a good plan. Hopefully, if I can get good starts tomorrow, I can make up some places in the two races.



Championship standings
1 Jonathan Rea 280 pts GBR KAWASAKI Kawasaki Racing Team
2 Leon Haslam 179 pts GBR APRILIA Aprilia Racing Team - Red Devils
3 Tom Sykes 178 pts GBR KAWASAKI Kawasaki Racing Team
4 Chaz Davies 155 pts GBR DUCATI Aruba.it Racing-Ducati Superbike Team
5 Jordi Torres 117 pts ESP APRILIA Aprilia Racing Team - Red Devils
6 Sylvain Guintoli 92 pts FRA HONDA Pata Honda
7 Alex Lowes 72 pts GBR SUZUKI Voltcom Crescent Suzuki
8 Matteo Baiocco 71 pts DUCATI Althea Racing
9 Leandro Mercado 70 pts DUCATI BARNI Racing Team
10 Michael van der Mark 67 pts NED HONDA Pata Honda
11 Nicolas Terol 52 pts ESP DUCATI Althea Racing
12 Ayrton Badovini 50 pts ITA BMW JR Racing Team
13 Roman Ramos 42 pts ESP KAWASAKI Team Go Eleven
14 Davide Giugliano 40 pts ITA DUCATI Aruba.it Racing-Ducati Superbike Team
15 Leon Camier 40 pts GBR MV AGUSTA MV Agusta Repart Corse
16 David Salom 39 pts ESP KAWASAKI Team Pedercini
17 Xavi Fores 38 pts DUCATI Aruba.it Racing-Ducati Superbike Team
18 Randy de Puniet 19 pts FRA SUZUKI Voltcom Crescent Suzuki
19 Santiago Barragan 17 pts KAWASAKI Grillini SBK Team
20 Troy Bayliss 16 pts DUCATI Aruba.it Racing-Ducati Superbike Team
21 Michel Fabrizio 13 pts ITA DUCATI Althea Racing
22 Sylvain Barrier 10 pts FRA BMW BMW Motorrad Italia Superbike Team
23 Christophe Ponsson 5 pts KAWASAKI Grillini SBK Team
24 Imre Toth 5 pts HUN BMW BMW Team Toth
25 Gabor Rizmayer 3 pts HUN BMW BMW Team Toth
26 Niccolo Canepa 3 pts ITA KAWASAKI Grillini SBK Team
27 Jed Metcher 2 pts KAWASAKI Race Center - Demolition Plus
28 Larry Pegram 2 pts EBR Team Hero EBR
29 Anucha Nakcharoensri 0 pts HONDA YSS TS Racing
30 Javier Alviz 0 pts KAWASAKI Team Pedercini
31 Ireneusz Sikora 0 pts BMW BMW Team Toth
32 Greg Gildenhuys 0 pts KAWASAKI Team Pedercini
33 Chanon Chumjai 0 pts BMW RAC Oil Racing Team

 

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LOWES & VOLTCOM CRESCENT SUZUKI HEAD PORTIMAO 2ND ROW

A ?rollercoaster? Saturday at the Portimao Circuit saw Alex Lowes overcome a challenging morning to claim a spectacular fourth in the afternoon?s World Superbike Superpole.

Lowes? positive start to the Portuguese event ? sitting third in Friday morning?s first practice ? took a difficult turn as the weekend developed with the British racer struggling with set-up on his Yoshimura-powered GSX-R. Saturday morning saw him fail to qualify immediately for the top-10, concluding the final timed free practice in 13th, with similar frustrations in FP4.

Regrouping for the opening Superpole, Lowes? determination was evident, a 1?42.499 saw him top the session and secure his promotion into Superpole 2. He continued his consistent pace before heading back-out on the Pirelli qualifier ? and his 1?42.198 lap was enough to take fourth in the times and will see him lead the second row for tomorrow?s race grid.

Randy de Puniet continued his progression and development both with the Algarve circuit and his Suzuki GSX-R1000, improving his lap times by a second-per -session throughout the two days. The afternoon heat amplifying yesterday?s engine brake issue on a 52?C track surface, his 1?44.273 qualifying lap finds him in 16th for Sunday?s races.

Ducati?s Davide Giugliano proved his Imola return was far from a one-off, claiming the pole position with a 1?41.764 under the powerful Portuguese sun.

Sunday?s two races see Lowes and de Puniet on track at 10:30BST and 13:10 respectively for 20 laps of the rollercoaster Autodromo International do Algarve.

Alex Lowes:

?We had a difficult day until qualifying! We had a few issues this morning and I was really struggling for confidence but we got our heads down in Superpole, made some changes, got a bit of confidence back and did a good job to be fourth. We need to keep improving for tomorrow - it?s going to be two hard races ? and we still need to be realistic and hopefully we can do a solid job. Two top-sixes is the aim for me, and if I can keep riding well, keep consistent, then we should be alright. Thanks to the lads over the difficult weekend, it sounds like a broken record but yet again we dug deep, tried to keep plugging-away and got a bit of a reward in qualifying, but obviously it?s tomorrow that counts in the races!?

Randy de Puniet:

?Today we improved the bike regarding the engine brake this morning and it was feeling good. This afternoon we struggled with the actual brake power so it?s an issue when it?s hot, and I have a problem stopping the bike. We are trying to fix the problem for tomorrow afternoon, because the morning is fine. We are also looking to improve my confidence with the traction control, because the bike is a bit aggressive at the moment, and also the chassis. Tomorrow I am hoping we can follow the guys a bit, improve the lap-times and be more consistent.?

Paul Denning - Team Manager:

?A strange weekend so-far in that we started quite strongly, especially with Alex, and then suffered a number of issues which really hurt the overall performance of the bike ? ending up with Alex?s 13th position in pre-qualifying. To jump from the rhythm of mid-44?s to make a high ?42?s on the race tyre and near-enough a ?42 flat on the qualifier was an incredible job by him but also respect to PJ, Davide and Alex?s crew for not overreacting to the problems and concentrating on improving the priorities. We haven?t had the pace of the front guys all weekend until qualifying so the race will certainly hold some challenges, but the grid position will help a huge amount and if we can improve further tomorrow morning let?s see what race day can bring.

?The result from Randy doesn?t look very special, but in fact the gap to the fastest riders and the qualifying position is an improvement to the last events. Randy is working hard, putting in the laps, putting in the effort in the debriefs, but struggling to find full confidence and understanding still, to go to the limits with the Pirelli tyres and the Superbike. It?s a pity because as his career has shown, he has plenty of speed; we just need to keep working together to adapt that speed to the Superbike.?

Portimao ? eni FIM Superbike World Championship ? Superpole: 1. Davide Giugliano (Ducati) 1?41.764: 2. Tom Sykes (Kawasaki) +0.116: 3. Chaz Davies (Ducati) +0.359: 4. Alex Lowes (Voltcom Crescent Suzuki) +0.434: 5. Leon Haslam (Aprilia) +0.453. 16. Randy de Puniet (Voltcom Crescent Suzuki) SP1.

 

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Pata Honda happy with further progress in Portugal

Pata Honda riders Sylvain Guintoli and Michael van der Mark produce four solid results between them in today?s two seventh-round World Superbike championship races at Portimao in Portugal, both of which were won by Jonathan Rea.

Race one was interrupted by rain with just six laps remaining as Guintoli battled in a group for fifth place. Van der Mark, meanwhile, was recovering from an earlier electronics glitch and an off-track excursion that had left the 22-year-old Dutch rider down in 19th place.

Both riders pitted their Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP machines for wet tyres and resumed the race in strong positions with Guintoli, 32, taking fifth place at the flag and van der Mark a hard-earned ninth.

The second 20-lap race at the 4.592km Autodromo Internacional do Algarve was run in dry conditions with both Pata Honda riders enjoying good starts. Van der Mark fought his way through the field from 13th place on the grid to join his team-mate who was once more fighting for fifth place.

Van der Mark settled in behind Guintoli as both riders passed Tom Sykes and Jordi Torres with the Dutch rider taking the honours with fifth place at the flag after a last corner pass on his French team-mate.

The Pata Honda World Superbike team will remain at Portimao tomorrow for an official one-day test ahead of round eight of the championship which takes place at Misano in Italy on 19-21 June.


Sylvain Guintoli ? 5th and 6th

It?s been a good couple of races for us with solid finishes, so a positive weekend really. In race one I was in a group with a lot of fighting and overtaking going on and then, when the rain came, the team did a fantastic job with the pitstop. I had three or four quite fast laps fighting with Giugliano so that was quite a good performance for us. Race two was good, too ? it was a fight all the way to the flag. Near the end of the race we were closing on Sykes and Torres and I managed to gain two places by overtaking them both but then lost one place back to Mikey. Overall it was a very close race but we?ll carry on the good work trying to develop the CBR package continue to close the gap. We?ve got some more things to test tomorrow - it?ll be a long day so I hope the conditions are good.



Michael van der Mark ? 9th and 5th

I was a bit held up at the beginning of race one and I was not really fast enough, but it was getting better and better. I closed the gap to the group in front of me but then I had an electrical problem and after a couple of laps I had to switch the bike off and on again to re-set it. It worked OK after that but then I made a mistake and went off the track and then it started raining! The pitstop was quite OK and the last couple of laps was just about surviving because the grip was not there, but I was happy to get some points. I had a better start in race two and then there was a gap to Sylvain which I was able to close quite fast. I had quite good pace and just stayed behind him because I wanted to take some more points. Then we both came to Tom [Sykes] and Jordi [Torres] who had some problems and we passed them at the same time. Then in the last corner I did a big overtake on Sylvain and got some more points!





Championship standings
1 Jonathan Rea 280 pts GBR KAWASAKI Kawasaki Racing Team
2 Leon Haslam 179 pts GBR APRILIA Aprilia Racing Team - Red Devils
3 Tom Sykes 178 pts GBR KAWASAKI Kawasaki Racing Team
4 Chaz Davies 155 pts GBR DUCATI Aruba.it Racing-Ducati Superbike Team
5 Jordi Torres 117 pts ESP APRILIA Aprilia Racing Team - Red Devils
6 Sylvain Guintoli 92 pts FRA HONDA Pata Honda
7 Alex Lowes 72 pts GBR SUZUKI Voltcom Crescent Suzuki
8 Matteo Baiocco 71 pts DUCATI Althea Racing
9 Leandro Mercado 70 pts DUCATI BARNI Racing Team
10 Michael van der Mark 67 pts NED HONDA Pata Honda
11 Nicolas Terol 52 pts ESP DUCATI Althea Racing
12 Ayrton Badovini 50 pts ITA BMW JR Racing Team
13 Roman Ramos 42 pts ESP KAWASAKI Team Go Eleven
14 Davide Giugliano 40 pts ITA DUCATI Aruba.it Racing-Ducati Superbike Team
15 Leon Camier 40 pts GBR MV AGUSTA MV Agusta Repart Corse
16 David Salom 39 pts ESP KAWASAKI Team Pedercini
17 Xavi Fores 38 pts DUCATI Aruba.it Racing-Ducati Superbike Team
18 Randy de Puniet 19 pts FRA SUZUKI Voltcom Crescent Suzuki
19 Santiago Barragan 17 pts KAWASAKI Grillini SBK Team
20 Troy Bayliss 16 pts DUCATI Aruba.it Racing-Ducati Superbike Team
21 Michel Fabrizio 13 pts ITA DUCATI Althea Racing
22 Sylvain Barrier 10 pts FRA BMW BMW Motorrad Italia Superbike Team
23 Christophe Ponsson 5 pts KAWASAKI Grillini SBK Team
24 Imre Toth 5 pts HUN BMW BMW Team Toth
25 Gabor Rizmayer 3 pts HUN BMW BMW Team Toth
26 Niccolo Canepa 3 pts ITA KAWASAKI Grillini SBK Team
27 Jed Metcher 2 pts KAWASAKI Race Center - Demolition Plus
28 Larry Pegram 2 pts EBR Team Hero EBR
29 Anucha Nakcharoensri 0 pts HONDA YSS TS Racing
30 Javier Alviz 0 pts KAWASAKI Team Pedercini
31 Ireneusz Sikora 0 pts BMW BMW Team Toth
32 Greg Gildenhuys 0 pts KAWASAKI Team Pedercini
33 Chanon Chumjai 0 pts BMW RAC Oil Racing Team

 

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Portuguese Double For Rea And Sykes On The Race One Podium

Jonathan Rea confidently secured his fourth double race win of the 2015 season on his Kawasaki Racing Team Ninja ZX-10R in the seventh round of the FIM Superbike World Championship at Portimao. Tom Sykes (KRT) battled through adversity to take second in a dry-and-wet first 20-lap race, but was forced to finish eighth in race two after a drop in rear tyre pressure all through the 20-laps.


In winning his 24th and 25th career WSB race victories Rea showed his versatility and the Ninja ZX-10R its adaptability after two very different races. Rea and Sykes were battling it out together in race one in dry conditions but with the arrival of a sudden heavy shower and high winds they opted to come in for wet tyres at different times. When Sykes came back out from pitlane, just behind Rea, it looked like a close fight again in the wet. A sudden electronic problem lost Sykes some revs, and therefore pace, until his machine cleared again and he secured second place, nine seconds from Rea. It was Sykes? seventh podium of the year.
In race two, held in dry conditions, Rea took the lead at half race distance and ran away to record his second win of the day, and his tenth victory since joining Kawasaki this year.
For Sykes a promising race for a podium ended in a struggle with a deflating rear tyre, due to a damaged wheel rim, that dropped his pace significantly on the last few laps and put him in eighth place.
Despite starting off the third row of the grid after a fast crash in Superpole on Saturday, Rea maintained his remarkable record of scoring either first or second in every race this year. He has 330 championship points, only 20 from perfection.
Rea also set the fastest lap of each 20-lap race and took his championship advantage to 124 points over new second place rider Sykes, 330 to 206. Despite his issues today Sykes improved his championship position and he is now seven points ahead of third place man Leon Haslam.
There will be a one-day official test session at Portimao tomorrow and Misano hosts the next round of the championship, on Sunday 21st June.
Jonathan Rea: ?I have a great bike, a great team around me and great strategy for every weekend. My crew chief Pere and I sit down and work out a good set-up, evaluating our tyres. We learned from some mistakes in Donington that made us stronger here and I am riding well, but I have the tools to do it. So it is massive credit to all my mechanics for working so hard and KHI in Japan, who are continuing to develop. In tomorrow?s test we have some new material to try. We know now where the limit is and we rode two good races today. The points gap is a lot after this round but I will try not change the way I am riding.?
Tom Sykes: ?It has not been a great day for us and it was such a shame that we had a small technical issue in race one and the a flat rear tyre in race two. In race one the revs dropped for a while and then it cleared again, so I could finish second. The tyre had started to go down in pressure from the beginning of race two and it is such a shame because I think we had a good bike set-up today. I really wanted to evaluate the bike in race two so we will never truly know the real race performance. We have a test tomorrow so we will use that as a good opportunity to try a few more things. We have had a consistent weekend in many way so it was shame to have this bad luck as Jonathan was on form, and we needed to capitalise.?
David Salom (Kawasaki Team Pedercini) had a difficult raceday and was 14th in race one, and a retiree in race two. Roman Ramos (Team Go Eleven Kawasaki) missed out on a point in race one but scored strongly with 11th in the second race. In the championship standings Salom is 15th and Ramos 14th.

 

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Portimao (Portugal), 7 June 2015 ? Great races for Matteo Baiocco, and another good podium for Raffaele De Rosa in the Superstock 1000 category.

With the first two days having taken place in extremely hot conditions, this morning brought a surprise in the shape of rain during race 1 of this seventh round of the 2015 eni FIM Superbike World Championship which took place today at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve in Portugal.

Having been fast all weekend, Matteo Baiocco completed a fantastic race 1 that saw him quick and consistent despite the onset of rain five laps from the end. Fast in the dry, after the team performed a perfect pit-stop to change the tyres, Baiocco also proved to be fast in the wet, crossing the line in sixth position. In race 2 some technical set-up solutions were implemented in order to try and improve performance but unfortunately they did were not effective. Despite the change in feeling with his Ducati Panigale R, the Italian rider closed in final tenth position. Overall, he completed a great weekend?s work, consolidating seventh position in the general standings. Now he will go to Misano, a track he knows very well and where he should be able to fully express himself.

Matteo Baiocco: ?In general I?m pleased with how the whole weekend went because we were constantly fast and in race 1, despite the changes in weather, we did a great job and were able to bring home a strong sixth place finish. In race 2 we made some different set-up choices which didn?t bring the expected results, and so I chose to avoid mistakes and bring home additional points. We are taking a step forward each weekend and I?m pleased because together with the team we are doing a good job.?

Tough races for Nico Terol on the other hand. The Spaniard had already shown that he was in difficulty finding the right rhythm on this track during the timed practice sessions. Conditioned by previous crashes and despite the work carried out with the team, Terol was unable to do more than 15th place in each race. The Spaniard, contrary to what one expected at the start of the season, seems to be having trouble adapting to the Superbike.

Nico Terol: ?

A very difficult weekend. I?ve really struggled and didn?t expect to be so far back here at Portimao. The track does not suit my riding style and after two crashes it was not easy for me to try and push. I?m really angry because the Team is doing so much for me, working hard to help me find the right rhythm and I?m unable to repay them. Now I just want to concentrate on tomorrow?s test and try to regain the right level of confidence and feeling in order to go to Misano with better sensations and the right mentality.?

 

[KUCIAR666]

LOWES FIGHTS TO 10TH AT RAIN-HIT PORTIMAO

A dramatic flag-to-flag race one saw Alex Lowes finish in 10th position on his Voltcom Crescent Suzuki at round seven of the eni FIM World Superbike Championship at Portimao today as an unexpected downpour saw the first mid-race pit stop of 2015.

Starting from the head of row two, after his impressive qualifying performance yesterday, Lowes continued his strong form with his Yoshimura-powered GSX-R in the early laps of the day?s opening race, holding fifth position. A mistake at turn five saw the British racer leave the track, relegating him to 11th and amplifying his challenge. An unexpected deluge of rain sent the entire field into the pits for wet tyres with five laps to go but as ever Lowes? determination was evident, heading back out to cross the line in the top-10. With bad luck returning for the second race, Lowes ran wide at the first corner, demoting his strong start to 14th. His race pace proving consistent enough to defend but not to advance and he concluded the afternoon in 13th, his day?s haul of 9 Championship points bringing his overall total to 80.

The challenging weekend continued for Randy de Puniet as he struggled with his Suzuki Superbike?s power delivery. Advancing from his starting position of 16th on the grid, the Frenchman finished race one in 13th place. However, a change in settings for the second outing saw him battle to consolidate rather than improve, finishing the afternoon?s contest as it began.

Kawasaki?s Jonathan Rea returned to the top step of the podium for both of the day?s celebrations as the conditions fluctuated between warm and cloudy to wet, before reverting to the 30?C norm of the previous days.
Voltcom Crescent Suzuki will continue on at the Portuguese track for a further day tomorrow to participate in the official Championship test.

Alex Lowes:

?Our qualifying position yesterday flattered us and was really a case of holding my breath and doing the best laps I could. I knew I had the race pace for around eighth today, but I had some bad luck with a software fault causing the bike to push me and I ran off the track in both races. So, we?re still unfortunately having issues with the electronics. Hopefully the test tomorrow will allow us to find out why it is being inconsistent and move forward in the right direction.?

Randy de Puniet:

?It was a tough day today. I was struggling with a connection problem this morning which we were trying to work on but the bike was very aggressive. I have never felt this problem before for the whole weekend so it was strange. We made some adjustments for the afternoon but during the second race it was worse and I had big vibration on the brakes so I could not brake hard. I am really hoping that we will find a solution during the test tomorrow so we can make a step before Misano.?

Paul Denning - Team Manager:

?Performance and results wise, a very disappointing day here in Portimao. Alex?s qualifying performance yesterday both on race and qualifying tyres possibly created some unrealistic expectation but in race conditions we simply struggled with outright performance and consistency with the bike. Alex committed and gave his absolute best but really for him the only positive today was the performance of the bike in wet conditions where we were properly competitive and the GSX-R felt nice.

?Randy also suffered with similar problems and the only good thing is that we have a full day?s testing tomorrow to try to work out where we needed to be in terms of overall bike performance ? not just the electronic control strategies but also chassis balance and the overall settings of the bike ? so we can take some steps forward before we get to Misano.?

Portimao ? eni FIM Superbike World Championship ? Race One: 1. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki) 37?10.092: 2. Tom Sykes (Kawasaki) +9.384: 3. Chaz Davies (Ducati) +13.753: 4. Davide Giugliano (Ducati) +27.818: 5. Sylvain Guintoli (Honda) +28.141: 10. Alex Lowes (Voltcom Crescent Suzuki) +1?01.388. 13. Randy de Puniet (Voltcom Crescent Suzuki) +1?39.537.

Portimao ? eni FIM Superbike World Championship ? Race Two: 1. Rea 34?33.783: 2. Giugliano +5.416: 3. Leon Haslam (Aprilia) +6.689: 4. Davies +10.445: 5. Michael vd Mark (Honda) +14.122. 13. Alex Lowes (Voltcom Crescent Suzuki) +34.252. 16. Randy de Puniet (Voltcom Crescent Suzuki) +1?03.200.

World Championship Classification: 1. Rea 330: 2. Sykes 206: 3. Haslam 199: 4. Davies 184: 5. Torres 131: 10. Alex Lowes (Voltcom Crescent Suzuki) 80. Randy de Puniet (Voltcom Crescent Suzuki) 22.