Following the nearly two-month summer break, the 2019 World Superbike Championship continued at Portugal’s Portimao this past weekend for round 10 of 13 in the final stretch of racing.The four-time reigning WorldSBK Champion Jonathan Rea was the favorite, the Northern Irishman having doubled at the Portuguese SBK round the past two years.
The Kawasaki Racing Team rider immediately set the pace Friday and followed that up with claiming the top qualifying spot Saturday in Superpole. He capitalized on this position to take the race one win on Saturday after dominating 20 laps, and the Superpole Race win on Sunday.Kawasaki’s Jonathan ReaThough he fought hard in race two, Rea was beat the line by a mere 0.111 of a second by rival Alvaro Bautista on the Aruba.it Racing Ducati V4 R, who claimed his 15th race win of the season Sunday.Regardless, Rea still has a stronghold over Bautista in the points battle. As he chases his fifth-straight title, the ZX-10RR pilot has 490 points, 91 ahead of Bautista with three rounds remaining.Joining Rea on the race-one podium was Aruba.it Racing Ducati’s Chaz Davies (-3.891) and Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team’s Michael van der Mark (-6.168). In race two, Bautista was joined on the podium by Rea (-0.111) and Turkish Puccetti Racing Kawasaki’s Toprak Razgatlioglu.Round 11 of 13 of 2019 WSBK is slated for September 27-29 at the historic Magny-Cours circuit in France.2019 Portuguese WorldSBK Winner Quotes:Jonathan Rea (1/2 finish): “I felt strong with the bike. I was pushing in Race Two and where Alvaro was gaining time on the front straight and the top straight, coming out of T5 I almost felt that he was increasing the gap. But when we went into T14 I had already eaten up that advantage he had in the first sector.“It was enough motivation to keep pushing. He was making a few mistakes and it was enough for me to keep the pressure on. You never know what can happen and I could see the gap to Toprak was increasing in those last six laps. Yesterday I ate too much tyre in the beginning but today on lap 19 I could set a 1’43.2. I enjoyed that final race; we had a fight. I am proud of myself because I had fight in me.”Ducati’s Alvaro BautistaÁlvaro Bautista (2/1 finish): “It has been a very tough weekend for me, especially physically because my shoulder is still not at 100%. I felt worse this morning after yesterday’s race so I tried to start well in the Superpole Race.“Unfortunately, I lost a lot of positions and used up most of my energy, but I finished second which meant that I could start from the front row in race 2. In the afternoon I again made a bad start, lifting the front of the bike up and losing some positions but I was still in the leading group so was not too worried. Mid-race I felt my pace was stronger so I decided to go for the lead and push hard until the end.“I could manage the advantage but in the last two laps I felt every drop of energy leave me, luckily it was the last lap because I didn’t have anything left. It was my first time here in Portimão and I’m happy to get a win again after more than two months.”
2019 Portugal WSBK Results, Race 1
Pos.
Rider
Manufacturer
Nationality
Time
1
Jonathan Rea
Kawasaki
GBR
34’19.341
2
Chaz Davies
Ducati
GBR
00’03.891
3
Michael van der Mark
Yamaha
NLD
00’06.168
4
Alvaro Bautista
Ducati
ESP
00’08.564
5
Leon Haslam
Kawasaki
GBR
00’08.877
6
Toprak Razgatlioglu
Kawasaki
TUR
00’10.404
7
Alex Lowes
Yamaha
GBR
00’13.495
8
Sandro Cortese
Yamaha
DEU
00’21.345
9
Marco Melandri
Yamaha
ITA
00’21.582
10
Michael Ruben Rinaldi
Ducati
ITA
00’22.486
11
Jordi Torres
Kawasaki
ESP
00’22.701
12
Markus Reiterberger
BMW
DEU
00’27.132
13
Tom Sykes
BMW
GBR
00’34.484
14
Leandro Mercado
Kawasaki
ARG
00’36.612
2019 Portugal WSBK Results, Race 2
Pos.
Rider
Manufacturer
Nationality
Time
1
Alvaro Bautista
Ducati
ESP
34’18.077
2
Jonathan Rea
Kawasaki
GBR
00’00.111
3
Toprak Razgatlioglu
Kawasaki
TUR
00’04.465
4
Alex Lowes
Yamaha
GBR
00’08.119
5
Leon Haslam
Kawasaki
GBR
00’08.185
6
Loris Baz
Yamaha
FRA
00’11.187
7
Michael van der Mark
Yamaha
NLD
00’11.217
8
Marco Melandri
Yamaha
ITA
00’16.488
9
Tom Sykes
BMW
GBR
00’17.188
10
Sandro Cortese
Yamaha
DEU
00’18.352
11
Jordi Torres
Kawasaki
ESP
00’20.888
12
Michael Ruben Rinaldi
Ducati
ITA
00’26.491
13
Markus Reiterberger
BMW
DEU
00’28.061
14
Eugene Laverty
Ducati
GBR
00’30.993
15
Leandro Mercado
Kawasaki
ARG
00’33.331
2019 World Superbike Point Standings (after 10 of 13 rounds)
Associate Editor Teejay Adams recently attended the Yamaha Champions Riding School in Las Vegas, and she took with her the Yamaha XSR900 that she’s been riding for a while. This is the retro-style version of the MT-09, and Teejay gives us her impressions of the bike, including her thoughts versus the XSR700 that she rode previously.
The guest segment of Motos and Friends is brought to you by the faster and most technologically advanced, 2023 Suzuki Hayabusa—one of the most iconic sportbikes ever. Check it out in person at your local Suzuki dealer now, or visit suzukicycles.com to learn more.
In our second segment, Teejay chats with Cait Maher, a contributing journalist at motorcycle.com and owner of a Yamaha TW200. The two ladies met at the recent launch of Kawasaki’s dual sport KLX230s. Teejay is a total novice off-road. Cait however, although quite experienced in the dirt including her recent venture on the District 37 Barstow to Las Vegas dual-sport ride, still doesn’t consider herself an expert. Both of these girls have a positive, upbeat attitude, and their fun, energetic outlook shines through. Cait is definitely a give-it-a-go type of personality. Her take on the various challenges, experiences and adventures that she’s had make for fun listening.