At the end of a weekend on the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve, near Portimão in PortugalWhere Soil Razgatlioson et Alvaro Bautista shared the three victories, the main tenors of the Superbike world spoke.
Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati): “ A very good result. I am very happy. We encountered a little more difficulty than last weekend in Barcelona, also because we knew that Toprak and Johnny would be very strong on this circuit. As always, we came with no expectations, but clearly I would have signed to go home with two second places and a victory. Classification ? I've been saying it since the start of the season: My goal is to have fun riding this bike. Then, in Australia, we will do the accounts. »
Toprak Razgatlioğlu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK): “Let's talk about this morning first, because I'm really enjoying the Superpole race! Bautista overtook me in the straight, then I passed him several times, but in the afternoon, in the second race, Álvaro improved and he came back very strong, and I couldn't to easily surpass it. I continued to fight for the victory and I realized that in the last three laps the front tire was locking up, so I told myself that second position was enough because every lap I was catching it, and coming out of the last corner he was going again, you know, the straight is crazy because his bike is very fast. I'm happy, we are in second position and we take good points for the championship, I also thank my team who did an incredible job this weekend. We started very strong with two victories and a second position today, it's not good enough but we are still happy. My strategy works perfectly for the Superpole race, but in the second race it wasn't enough! Another podium, and we continue to fight for victory, and now I look at Argentina. It won't be easy, we know Ducati is very strong there, but I will do my best. »
Jonathan Rhea (Kawasaki Racing Team): “ I was really at the limit today. In the second race, when I was in the lead, I tried to slow down a little to manage the tire and not take too many risks. But when Álvaro passed and took the lead, his pace was fast. I also saw Toprak's urgency in trying to disrupt Álvaro's rhythm a little. That kept me in the fight, but as soon as he had a clear runway, he disappeared. Then I thought Toprak might come back on me, so I kept my pace, but it wasn't enough. I really struggled in the T14, getting in and out, and when the tire went bad it was even worse. I have no regrets, I did my best but I was beaten by better guys today. I was frustrated to be so far behind but that's our reality. »
Michael Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati): “ I'm happy with today's race also because we managed to overcome the problems we encountered yesterday, after completely skipping FP3. There was only a little bit of regret left for the last six laps, as the tire drop was very noticeable. Compared to last year, however, on this track we have taken an important step which confirms the good work we are doing. »
alex lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team): “ It was good today. From the morning warm up, I made a slight change with the fork and it went well. In the Superpole race, I came back on Jonathan and I felt a little stronger than him. In the second race, I kept the same bike but with a full tank of fuel, I had big front axle lockups right away, which put me out of the race for five or six laps. This didn't allow me to go with the guys in front. From the middle of the race, if I was in the lead, I had the same pace as Jonathan for the second part. Other than that, I must be happy. I pushed until the end, I caught Rinaldi, and that's all I could do. I feel good on the bike, we just have to keep trying to improve. »
Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK): “ The pace of Race 2 was again very fast and I think I lost the chance to stay with Alex and the lead group after the second or third lap when Bassani crashed. All in all, it's another positive weekend, we're confident with the bike and we know what we have to do. We have more information now and here we were stronger and we brought home a few more points, so now we are looking forward to preparing for next week. This year the level of WorldSBK is getting higher and higher, we are riding really fast in every race. For me it's not easy to be honest, I want more and we have to keep working. For sure I don't have as much experience in Superbike, it's just my second year, but we have a good base and the goal is to keep pushing to get the maximum results. »
Xavi Verge (Team HRC): “ This weekend was positive for us in many ways, even if the results did not fully reflect our potential. We were able to significantly improve our feeling compared to yesterday and it's just a shame that we missed P9 in the sprint race by a fraction of a second, because starting from the third row, rather than the fifth, would have made things easier in race 2. Anyway, that's how it was. In any case, I didn't get a bad start and I was able to maintain a good, regular pace to finally obtain a solid result. I really think we've done a good job overall because we've gathered a lot of information and we're heading in the right direction for the future. In the short term, we need to improve in qualifying in order to have more cards to play in the race. As always, thanks to the team for their hard work and total commitment. »
Garrett gerloff (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK): “The fall in the Superpole race is a real shame. I had a good feeling on the bike and I firmly believe that we could have had a good result, which would have meant a better starting position for Race 2. Regardless, I had a good start in the second race, but someone forced me to widen and I had to come up from 17th place. We had a really good pace and at least we scored a decent number of points, which isn't too bad. I'm a little disappointed because I think we could have done more, but we will remember the positives. I would like to say a big thank you to the guys for rebuilding the bike after the sprint race, they did a great job once again. »
Iker Lecuona (Team HRC): “ It was a tough weekend for us, but I'm happy and appreciative of how HRC and the team responded and found a solution to some issues we were facing. Yesterday we struggled a lot in the hot conditions, so we changed the bike settings before today's races. I felt really good during the warm up. The pace was there, and I was able to do a few good laps. Then I got a terrible start in the sprint race and found myself around 2th position at the end of the first lap and lost all my chances at that point. We later figured out what had happened, but at that point all I could do was try to climb back up as much as possible. I finished twelfth at the end, which is not a great result but acceptable all things considered. The team and Japan did a great job providing different mapping for launch control, as it worked surprisingly well in race 14. I was able to gain four places on the first lap and felt good with the bike, electronics and everything else during the race. I was chasing Redding and waiting for the best moment to attack him on the last lap and then, I don't really know how, but I had a little crash at turn XNUMX. I got back on the bike and I was far behind with no chance of reaching the points zone, but I finished the race out of respect for the team and to thank them for their hard work and the fact that they never stop giving their all and tackling positively every difficulty we encounter. Now we will focus on Argentina. »
Results of the WorldSBK Superbike Superpole Race in Portimão:
Results from WorldSBK Superbike Race 2 in Portimão:
Classification credit: WorldSBK.com
