2019 Portugal World Superbike Results: Rea/Bautista Split Wins

2019 Portugal World Superbike Results

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.

Though 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.”

Álvaro 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

2019 Portugal WSBK Results, Race 2

2019 World Superbike Point Standings (after 10 of 13 rounds)