Jonathan Rea’s hopes of a podium in the Superpole race at the penultimate round of the World Superbike Championship at Estoril in Portugal were dashed by a crash on Sunday.

The six-time champion was holding fifth place behind his Pata Maxus Yamaha team-mate Andrea Locatelli when he went down at Turn 7 with four laps of the 10-lap race remaining.

It was a bitter blow for the 38-year-old in what may have been his best opportunity this weekend of securing his 265th rostrum result in the shorter format Superpole race.

Rea finished sixth in Saturday’s 20-lap opening race at Estoril after challenging Spain’s Alvaro Bautista for third before slipping back in the final stages.

placeholder image — Yamaha World Superbike rider Jonathan Rea crashed out of the Superpole race at Estoril in Portugal on Sunday. (www.timfritzsch.com)

Toprak Razgatlioglu, Saturday’s race winner, wrapped up a double as he won the Superpole race by half-a-second from nearest title rival Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Ducati) and has now increased his championship lead to 44 points with four races of the 2025 season remaining, including today’s second 20-lap race at Estoril (14:00 BST).

Bautista finished third in the Superpole role with Locatelli in fourth.

Rea will retire from full-time racing after the final race of the season at Jerez in Spain next weekend.