World Superbikes: Jonathan Rea suffers huge crash in race one at Portimao

The Northern Ireland rider was leading the race from Scott Redding (Aruba.it Ducati) and Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha) when he came off at the end of lap five.

Rea was thankfully soon up on his feet after the high-speed crash, when he appeared to lose the front of his Kawasaki at the long final right-hander leading onto the main straight. He was taken to the medical centre after the incident.

An update later said Rea sustained ‘multiple contusions and an abrasion to his elbow’. He will be assessed on Sunday prior to morning warm-up.

The 34-year-old trailed Turkish rider Razgatlioglu by 20 points going into the 11th round of the championship.

Rea and Razgatlioglu had been involved in a frenetic battle on the first five laps, trading blows at the front and making contact as they battled for the lead.

The reigning six-time champion’s crash has handed the title initiative to Razgatlioglu, who is bidding to become Turkey’s first World Superbike champion.

Razgatlioglu came out on top of a fierce batle with Redding to take the win, increasing his lead over Rea to 45 points with two rounds remaining after this weekend.

The Superpole race on Sunday is at 11:00 BST with race two at 14:00 BST.