Superbike – Championship: Rea triples his lead, Razgatlioglu second

The Kawasaki rider can leave Portugal with a feeling of accomplishment. He is in fact still at the top of the driver rankings, now with a comfortable margin over his closest opponent.

And say that Jonathan Rea had never won a single race on the Estoril track. Worse, he had never finished on the podium before this weekend! And even if the Northern Irishman quickly entered the top 3 for the first time during Race 1, the situation was not so good on Saturday evening, when Scott Redding had halved his delay on him thanks to a first victory full of panache.

But number 1 had not said his last word, far from it. In fact, several signals should have alerted us to his true level of performance in this second round: especially obtaining the Superpole, coupled with a new lap record.

The number 1 therefore honored his status this Sunday by winning in each of the two races contested, while Redding made a mistake during Race 2, leading to a balance sheet largely in favor of the reigning Champion at the end. end of the weekend.

 

 

Razgatlioglu rewarded for his consistency

If Rea has therefore consolidated his leadership in Portugal, in fact the latter is no longer exercised precisely on Redding, but on Toprak Razgatlioglu. The Turkish driver certainly did not shine as much as last year on the Lusitanian circuit, when he won twice, but he did the essentials by appearing on all the podiums. His second place in the standings is deserved, and the Yamaha rider is now a small unit ahead of his rival from Ducati.

Another driver who pays dearly for his crash in the race is alex lowes. The Englishman made several mistakes this weekend, firstly by being penalized several places back on the grid after not respecting the yellow flags during the Superpole.

 

 

A first error which was followed by a second during Race 1, when the Kawasaki rider lost control of his Ninja. Without a podium finish in the two other events contested this Sunday, he now finds himself behind with 62 points, or 48 units behind his teammate.

We then find Chaz Davies, who really could have done better this weekend if only the Welshman had done better in qualifying, from which he emerged in 15th position. Forced to make comebacks – which he did, notably during Race 2 with a remarkable second place – number 7 may still regret having shot himself in the foot like this during the Superpole.

Status quo for Rinaldi

A notch lower is Garrett gerloff. The American could undoubtedly have aimed much better this weekend given his peak speed displayed during the sessions. But as in Aragon where he clashed with Rea during Race 2, this time he came into contact with Michael Ruben Rinaldi, depriving him of valuable points.

The Italian, for his part, occupies tenth place in the ranking, a status quo compared to the outcome of the first round. Too bad, because he also showed a solid pace, and seemed destined for a result at the front this Sunday afternoon before paying the price for Gerloff's temerity.

 

 

In seventh and eighth row, we find the BMWs of Michael van der Mark and Tom Sykes. The two men had a negative weekend, the first city completely missing its Superpole before showing its advantage in the races, while the course of the weekend was the exact opposite for the 2013 Champion of the category.

Finally, on the French side, it is Lucas Mahias best placed. The Montois had real flashes of genius in certain sessions, but also suffered a retirement during the Superpole Race and only obtained 13th place (during Race 1) as his best result this weekend.

The riders now meet in Misano in two weeks for the third round of the Superbike championship. On Ducati's land, Redding would be well advised to make up part of his gap on Rea, if he does not already want to see his British rival take a definitive lead in the standings.

 

Ranking – Drivers’ Championship:

Ranking – Constructors’ Championship:

Ranking – Team Championship:

Credit classification and photos: WorldSBK.com