Jonathan Rea optimistic over Portimao prospects as World Superbike champion bids to cut deficit at top

Reigning champion Rea won the Superpole race at Jerez in Spain last Sunday on his Kawasaki ZX-10RR as the championship resumed following the coronavirus lockdown.

However, series newcomer Redding claimed his first-ever WSBK victories as he bagged a double and finished as the runner-up in the Superpole race to move into a 24-point lead at the top of the standings after two rounds.

Rea, though, will be optimistic he can reduce the deficit at the undulating Portimao circuit, where he has won eight races since joining Kawasaki in 2015.

His record 90th career victory in World Superbikes last weekend was the high point of the weekend for Rea and the Kawasaki Racing Team, but the 33-year-old Ulsterman is targeting even more success in the Algarve, where free practice gets underway on Friday.

Rea said: “Portimao is a circuit that has been kind to us in the past and it suits the nature of our bike. There are a lot of areas where we can exploit the strengths of our Ninja ZX-10RR.

“I enjoy the challenge of the circuit as it is very undulating and it is the closest thing you get to a motocross track. The changes of elevation and blind corners; it really takes a lot of rider input and set-up to make a perfect lap,” he added.

“I am looking forward to starting on Friday with the team again and the emphasis will be on understanding how our base set-up works there, especially in the heat.

“We will possibly face hot temperatures like we have just had this past weekend. We will confirm everything because it was working pretty OK in Jerez,” said Rea.

“Our goal is to improve the feeling, work toward the races and at the end the target is to win.”

Fellow Northern Ireland racer Eugene Laverty will be hoping to put a disappointing weekend at Jerez behind him after he failed to break into the top ten.

The factory BMW Motorrad rider finished 15th in race one and 13th in the Superpole race, and pulled out of the second full-distance race after hitting a false neutral and running off the track.

The Toome man and Tom Sykes are fighting to keep their place in the team next year after Shaun Muir signed Dutchman Michael van der Mark for 2021, leaving one seat available.

Meanwhile, young prospect Eunan McGlinchey will compete in only his second-ever World Supersport 300 event this weekend after making his debut at Jerez.

The Team 109 Kawasaki rider narrowly missed out on qualifying for the feature race by only 0.2 seconds after finishing seventh in the Last Chance qualifier race.

McGlinchey said: “We were happy with our progress from where we started to where we finished. Now we know what needs to be done for Portimao and hopefully we won’t be too far away in the early stages of the weekend, which really are so important.

“So… hopefully we can continue to improve and make a step further and make it into the feature race.”

After the Portuguese World Superbike round, there will be a two-week break until round the championship moves to Motorland Aragon in Spain, which will host two rounds on successive weekends, with the first taking place from August 28-30.

* A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our advertisers - and consequently the revenue we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription.

Subscribe to newsletter.co.uk and enjoy unlimited access to the best Northern Irish and UK news and information online and on our app. With a digital subscription, you can read more than five articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. To subscribe, click here.

Our journalism costs money and we rely on advertising, print and digital revenues to help to support them. By supporting us, we are able to support you in providing trusted, fact-checked content for this website.

Thank you,

Alistair Bushe

Editor