WSBK Portimão Superbike Superpole: A scary all-or-nothing ride for Jonathan Rea. What a pilot!

Jonathan Rhea signs the 43rd Superpole of his career, Alvaro Bautista will only start fifth behind Toprak Razgatlioglu! Race 1 at 15 p.m.

About Paolo Gozzi / Corsedimoto.com

Jonathan Rhea is still the king of all or nothing in Superbike. In Portimão, he made everyone agree, achieving the qualifying feat for the 43rd time in his career, the sixth on the Portuguese roller coaster.

After dominating the tests, Alvaro Bautista blocks and will only start fifth, on the second line. The Ducati rider also has his pursuer in front of him Toprak Razgatlioglu, an unexpected result after he had dominated the two previous sessions, including the morning session. Jonathan Rhea will have his teammate Alex Lowes by his side on the first row, for a Kawasaki double that will make you happy Axel Bassani, who has just acquired a '24'. The third fastest time was achieved by Andrea Locatelli, who, however, in race 1, will leave his position on the first row to Toprak Razgtalioglu, due to the penalty that you can read below. The Bergamo driver will regain his third place tomorrow in the Superpole Race.

Ducati in great shape
With the new tire, Alvaro Bautista lost the shine it had shown over long distances and on hotter asphalt. We will see in the afternoon if this lower than expected ranking is just an accident or a warning sign. Toprak Razgatlioglu is on the lookout, ready to take advantage of all the opportunities that his opponent will leave: Alvaro Bautista can count on 47 points ahead in the world championship to manage. The qualification went even worse for Michael Rinaldi, who saw his good lap canceled because of the yellow flags, sinking to thirteenth position: he will gain a row (he starts fourth) thanks to the relegation of Locatelli. Third line for Danilo Petrucci, who stopped in eighth place, but who has a race pace that could allow him to get on the podium. It's still a race 1 full of variables: who will benefit?

Andrea Locatelli will start from the back
We remind you thatAndrea Locatelli will have to start from the last place on the grid. This is the sanction imposed on him for not having respected the signals (black flag with yellow disc) displayed in Portimao while the Yamaha was visibly smoking. Yamaha did not file a protest, believing that Andrea had made an error of judgment and deserved the sanction. A very appropriate position.

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Paolo Gozzi