Subscribe

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Motorsport prime

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Edition

Australia
Race report

Portimao WSBK: Rea closes on title with sixth successive win

Jonathan Rea battled hard to secure the World Superbike double in Portugal to put one hand on the title, while Michael van der Mark and Marco Melandri completed the podium.

Podium: race winner Jonathan Rea, Kawasaki Racing, second place Michael van der Mark, Pata Yamaha, third place Marco Melandri, Aruba.it Racing-Ducati SBK Team

Podium: race winner Jonathan Rea, Kawasaki Racing, second place Michael van der Mark, Pata Yamaha, third place Marco Melandri, Aruba.it Racing-Ducati SBK Team

Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

Poleman Chaz Davies held onto the lead into Turn 1 at the start, with Tom Sykes heading Kawasaki stablemate Toprak Razgatlioglu and the Ducati of Michael Ruben Rinaldi.

Rinaldi dispatched his former Superstock rival Razgatlioglu at the Turn 5 hairpin, though race one winner Rea stormed through from ninth to seize third from the pair at the end of lap one.

Davies held a 0.6s advantage over Sykes, who repelled an attack from teammate Rea at Turn 5 on lap three, with this squabble allowing Melandri to close in.

Rea carved up the inside of Sykes at Turn 13 for second, with Melandri following suit at Turn 5 two laps later.

Once clear of his teammate, Rea demolished Davies' 1.2s lead and made his first attempt at the lead on lap eight at the first corner, but ran wide on exit and let Davies back through.

Rea made a pass stick on lap 10 at the first corner, but Davies mounted a successful counter-assault at Turn 5, while the sister Ducati of Melandri homed in.

Davies lost out to Rea two tours later, however, and soon came under attack from Melandri, who moved up the inside at Turn 1 a lap later.

Both Ducatis ran wide, though, and Yamaha's van der Mark grabbed swooped through to take second, where he began has charge on Rea's lead.

Van der Mark got Rea to within 0.6s, but could do nothing to further reduce it, giving Rea a relatively comfortable run to the chequered flag for his sixth straight win and to extend his points lead to 116.

Melandri eased away from Davies in the latter stages to complete the podium, with his teammate – still suffering the after effects of his double left collarbone break – just holding Sykes at bay to seal fourth.

Lorenzo Savadori headed Milwaukee Aprilia teammate Eugene Laverty in sixth, with Rinaldi, Loris Baz (Althea BMW) and Xavi Fores (Althea Ducati) completing the top 10.

Early podium contender Razgatlioglu crashed at Turn 10 on lap 13, joining Jakub Smrz and Roman Ramos on the sidelines.

Race results:

Pos. # Rider Bike Time/Gap
1 1 United Kingdom Jonathan Rea  Kawasaki 34'25.661
2 60 Netherlands Michael van der Mark  Yamaha 1.189
3 33 Italy Marco Melandri  Ducati 2.813
4 7 United Kingdom Chaz Davies  Ducati 4.594
5 66 United Kingdom Tom Sykes  Kawasaki 4.834
6 32 Italy Lorenzo Savadori  Aprilia 11.417
7 50 Ireland Eugene Laverty  Aprilia 11.732
8 21 Italy Michael Ruben Rinaldi Ducati 12.507
9 76 France Loris Baz  BMW 12.741
10 12 Spain Xavi Fores  Ducati 18.973
11 22 United Kingdom Alex Lowes  Yamaha 20.244
12 45 United States Jake Gagne  Honda 20.943
13 81 Spain Jordi Torres  MV Agusta 23.395
14 2 United Kingdom Leon Camier  Honda 31.216
15 36 Argentina Leandro Mercado  Kawasaki 32.183
16 68 Colombia Yonny Hernandez  Kawasaki 33.076
17 99 United States PJ Jacobsen  Honda 45.173
18 96 Czech Republic Jakub Smrz  Yamaha 7 Laps
19 54 Turkey Toprak Razgatlioglu  Kawasaki 8 Laps
20 40 Spain Roman Ramos  Kawasaki 11 Laps

Be part of Motorsport community

Join the conversation
Previous article Portimao WSBK: Rea romps to 11th win of 2018
Next article Rea's lack of charisma harming WSBK popularity - Lavilla

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Motorsport prime

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Edition

Australia