In its press release, Pirelli looks back on Sunday's races at Estoril, with some information regarding the track conditions and the tires used.
Sunday's WorldSBK features the signature of Rea and the Pirelli SCX rear tire
In Portugal, the Irishman won both races of the day, in WorldSSP, Aegerter did the double. WorldSSP300 victory goes to Di Sora.
FOCUS ON THE SUPER POLE RACE
(asphalt: 23°C / air: 18°C)
After a wet warm up, the choice of tires for the Superpole race is not easy due to the asphalt which gradually dries. The front row drivers confirmed the slicks used in Race 1, while the remaining drivers were split between slicks and intermediate tires. At the beginning, Toprak Razgatlioğlu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) took the lead but halfway through the race, Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) managed to overtake him. However, the Turkish driver reacted, regaining the lost position and increasing the gap to more than a second. The surprise came a few seconds before the checkered flag: Razgatlioğlu momentarily lost control of his bike and Rea took the opportunity to take the lead and win the race. Third place went to Álvaro Bautista (Aruba.It Racing – Ducati).
WorldSBK Superpole Race – WorldSBK Superpole Race
TIRES IN ACTION: RACE 2
WorldSBK (asphalt: 29°C / air: 18°C)
In the second race, all riders chose the super soft SCX solution for the rear, including Rea and Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) who were on the soft SC0 in race 1, while most riders confirmed their Saturday picks ahead. In the first laps, Razgatlioğlu and Rea were once again the protagonists, followed by Lowes and Bautista. The Ducati rider managed to take the lead in the race, but his rivals quickly reacted, resulting in an increasingly fierce fight. Following an error, Razgatlioğlu lost ground but maintained the pace needed to secure third place, while Rea continued to put pressure on Bautista and, during the final lap, got the better of the Spaniard , managing to finish on the first step of the podium, which was completed by Bautista, second, and Razgatlioğlu, third.
WorldSBK Race 2
WorldSSP Race 2
(asphalt: 24°C / air: 18°C)
For Race 2, all drivers opted for slicks. At the front, the unanimous choice fell on the soft SC1, while at the rear, the pilots' preference was divided in two between the super soft SCX option and the soft SC0. At the beginning, it's Can Öncü (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing), Federico Caricasulo (Althea Racing), Nicolò Bulega (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team) and Lorenzo Baldassarri (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team) who form the leading quartet with a constant coming and going of positions. A few drops of rain threatened a pit stop to change tires but the pace did not slow down and Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) caught up with the leading group in fourth position. Yamaha riders Baldassarri and Aegerter put on a spectacular show, with the leadership continually changing hands. In the end, Aegerter finished first, taking his fifth consecutive victory, with second place going to Kyle Smith (VFT Racing) who had caught up with the leading group in the meantime after starting from seventeenth place on the grid. Baldassarri finished third. Fourth place went to Oli Bayliss.
WorldSSP Race 2
WorldSSP300 Race 2
(asphalt: 18°C / air: 32°C)
The final event of the weekend at Estoril was race 2 of the FIM Supersport 300 World Championship. The top step of the podium was taken by Samuel Di Sora (Leader Team Flembbo), protagonist of an incredible comeback after starting from the last row of the grid due to an irregularity in tire pressure. Second place went to Inigo Iglesias (SMW Racing) et Mirko Gennai (Team BrCorse) finished third.
WorldSSP300 Race 2
George Barbier, Director of Motorcycle Racing at Pirelli:
(SATURDAY)
« I am extremely satisfied with the performance of the tires on a circuit as demanding as Estoril. During the qualifying session for all three categories, track records were broken, with Rea bettering the old record by over half a second with the new SCQ rear tire. In WorldSBK and WorldSSP300 we saw two extremely competitive races today with breathtaking finals. The protagonists fought to the limit, making small mistakes that influenced the final result. The super soft SCX solution proves to be very versatile and has been chosen by four out of five riders on the Superbike and Supersport starting grids. This is considerable progress if we consider that a year ago, on the same circuit and with these temperatures, the choice would have automatically fallen on the SC0 solution. »
(Sunday)
« It was a fantastic weekend with passionate racing from start to finish. Imagine that today, on the final lap of Superbike Race 2, we saw five overtakes in eight corners, with the fastest lap of the race taken on the penultimate lap. The tires we chose for this weekend were popular with the riders, as evidenced by the choices made, but in WorldSBK the rear SCX was undoubtedly the real star of Estoril. In Supersport, we saw an extremely lively race despite some intermittent raindrops, with exceptional performances from the rear SC0. Congratulations to Rea, Bautista, and Razgatlioğlu who have made us vibrate since the start of the season, always under the sign of sportsmanship and fair play. »
