Jonathan Rea 'very positive' after posting third fastest time on day one at Portimao | World Superbike title leader Scott Redding fifth

The Ulster rider was troubled by grip issues last weekend at Jerez in Spain, where he won the Superpole sprint race for his second victory of 2020, and his 90th career WSBK success.

Rea finished third overall on the timesheets on Friday, 0.4s down on Pata Yamaha’s Toprak Razgatlioglu, while championship leader Scott Redding – a double winner at Jerez – was fifth on the Aruba.it Ducati. Frenchman Loris Baz was third on the Pata Yamaha.

“Today has been interesting because there is a lot less grip on the track than there was last season when we were able to be super-fast from the early laps,” said Rea.

“This race weekend it took a little bit of time for the track to get some rubber down and we were able to go faster in the afternoon, even with hotter temperatures. That means that the track is getting better and better.

“We have been understanding the tyre options that are available to us,” added Rea.

“I made a longer run in the second session to understand how the bike is behaving and to set-up the electronics a little bit better for the end of the race. We have our front tyre choice all set for tomorrow and there is still a question mark over which rear tyre to use. We have some more time in the morning to understand.

“But the bike is working well over race distance already and I am feeling a lot better than I did at Jerez. The bike is ‘talking’ to me a little bit more and I understand what is happening when the grip drops. It has been pretty positive.”

Eugene Laverty was 10th fastest on the factory BMW.

World Supersport 300 newcomer Eunan McGlinchey is also in action on the Team 109 Kawasaki. The Aghadowey man narrowly missed out on qualifying for the feature race at Jerez on his debut by only 0.2s.

The first WSBK race is scheduled for 14:00 BST on Saturday, with the Superpole and second full-distance races on Sunday at 11:00 BST and 14:00 BST respectively.

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