WorldSBK riders reflect on Portimao R1 + WorldSSP/300/WCR reports/results

WorldSBK 2024 – Round Seven
Portimao – Saturday

Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) took victory at Portimao on Saturday after a tough battle, the Turk crossing the line to win just under eight-tenths.

Razgatlioglu claimed his 11th straight win this season, matching the all-time winning streak in WorldSBK.

Razgatlioglu claimed his 52nd win, equalling Troy Bayliss at the fourth all-time spot after he took victory from Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati), who had an eventful Race 1 – battling through the field after a bad start. Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) rounded out the podium.

WorldSBK riders reflect on Race One

Toprak Razgatlioglu – P1

“I’m really happy about this race. At the beginning we were fighting with Petrucci. In the last ten laps I just tried to push as hard as I could for a good lap time. We won again today and I’m really happy. It hasn’t been an easy weekend because everyone was pushing harder and the hot conditions also made it tough. We did a very good job. I need one more win for the new consecutive wins record and we’ll see tomorrow if I can do it!”

Alvaro Bautista – P2

“We’ve struggled a lot this year in the Superpole but today we weren’t bad. I made my worst start of the season and lost a lot of positions on lap one so I had to push throughout the entire race. I couldn’t relax at any point during the race so I’m happy because, in the end, I managed to keep a good pace and catch up with the leading riders. I still need to do more to be at 100% but this is my 100th podium and I’m really happy about that. It’s always nice to celebrate these milestones with a win but this year has been difficult. The good thing is that we’re making progress, and I’m starting to feel much better on the bike. So I hope that tomorrow I can fight again for the podium and maybe even for the victory!”

Danilo Petrucci – P3

“For the first time, I led a Superbike race. It had been a few years since that happened (laughs). I knew that breaking away from Toprak would be difficult, but I wanted to be in front to have some margin over the others. I also knew that Bautista and the others were there, so I pushed hard. In the second half of the race, I started to struggle with the front tire, and when Toprak and Bautista passed me, I had no weapons to defend myself. In any case, I’m very happy with the podium, especially because racing in such hot conditions isn’t ideal for me. My arm held up well too, and I want to thank everyone who helped me during this period. The guys in the box did a great job and gave me a fantastic bike. I’m thrilled for the team, and this podium is for them too.”

Alex Lowes – P5

“I was happy to get a good start to the first race. We were in between the choice of an SC1 or SC2 front tyre and we chose the SC1. After the good start I was not sure how fast to go, so I was trying to be a bit smooth on the front tyre. When Toprak came past me I felt OK but I was being passed on the straight by some others and it was hard to get a rhythm then. When Michael van der Mark passed me I was struggling to get back past him and lost the gap to the front three guys. It was quite a difficult race but the bike was good, the weekend has been good and Axel made a step compared to the last couple of rounds. He is doing a good job and I think we are both getting a lot from the bike.”

Nicolò Bulega – P7

“I gave it my all. Unfortunately, my condition wasn’t the best, as I felt quite debilitated, but I still wanted to finish the race even though it was tough. I hope to feel a little better tomorrow and try doing something more”.

Axel Bassani – P8

“The start was positive for the first race of the weekend and I took some risks to try and recover some positions. The first half of the race was good and the pace was really fast but after the last five or six laps I started to struggle to keep that fast pace. We have to try to understand that now. Race One was not bad, a good result, and we were not so far from the first positions. I think we can continue to improve and try to do an even better job tomorrow.”

Dominique Aegerter – P9

“Unfortunately a yellow flag denied us a better starting grid position, but overall Race 1 was not too bad. Of course this is not where we want to be, but we are making progress and I hope we’ll be able to make one more step forward tomorrow for the remaining races. It’ll be also very important to recover now as the heat takes a lot of energy out of your body, but we’ll be ready for the action on Sunday.”

Remy Gardner – P10

“That’s a challenging day for sure, overall I’m happy let’s say with the race I’ve done, but the result is not fantastic. Hopefully we’ll be able to improve tomorrow, looking for a good sprint race and Race 2. We’ll keep working pushing very hard to find more pace, let’s stay positive for tomorrow.”

Andrea Locatelli – P11

“Honestly, it was a strange race – it was difficult to fight to stay with the front group, I struggled a lot and my feeling was not the best. We are focused on looking forward, the feeling was good in FP3 and Superpole but in the race the performance didn’t come. It’s difficult to say anything more, but we will work to make another step to be ready for tomorrow and fight again. P7 in Superpole was not bad for us, so we have a good position to start strong in the Superpole Race!”

Iker Lecuona – P12

“A black and white day today. FP3 went really well – I was very fast on my own and finished P6, close to the front in terms of lap times. My first run in Superpole was a bit of a disaster. And then we put in the ‘SCX’ tyres and I made a mistake through Turn 14. I hit a bump, crashed, and ended the session without setting a single fast lap. It was 100% my mistake. Things couldn’t have gone worse, so the race was only going to be an improvement. I made a good enough start, overtook a few riders quickly, and then worked to close the gap to another group ahead. I managed to do that and was feeling good on the bike, pushing hard. I took a massive risk in Turn 15 at one point, but I managed to avoid a crash and finish the race. From last to P12, but it could have been better given the pace we had, even at the end. Let’s work for tomorrow anyway. If we can improve some minor front-end issues, maybe we can find something more for Race 2.”

Xavi Vierge – P13

“A solid day. We had good speed, but around lap six, I started to struggle with the front tyre so my approach into the corners wasn’t ideal, something I had to deal with until the end of the race. The pace was the fastest we’ve ever had at this track, but everyone else was also very quick, so our final position is what it is. Anyway, we have an idea for tomorrow, a solution that we were considering trying today but then didn’t in the end. So, I believe we have a chance to make a step forward tomorrow and be more consistent in the second part of the race.”

Jonathan Rea – P15

“We definitely found a step forward today, but unfortunately quite early in the race we had an issue with the quick shifter so I couldn’t shift up or down with the electronics, and had to go back to manual shifting. The lap time obviously dropped a lot but I didn’t want to give up on the race – before this problem, my R1 was the strongest package I’ve ridden all season. Even without an amazing start, I made a good Turn 1, was able to pass some riders and felt like I could potentially catch the group in front. More positives than negatives to take from today, but it’s frustrating that we had a technical problem that kind of kicks us when we’re doing our best to keep the recent upward trend going and the confidence high! I definitely feel like we’ve turned a corner, I can ride on the limit and take liberties with the R1 to exploit its strengths and tomorrow in the Superpole Race I still get to start from my qualifying position in eighth – it gives me a good chance to get a good result and try to finish the weekend strongly in Race 2.”

Andrea Iannone – DNF

“In qualifying we weren’t able to get a good lap, but Superpole and Race 1 were useful to get some references. Despite the complexity of the track in the race I was having fun and our pace was good, it’s a shame about the crash. We’re definitely missing something to get to the podium level. Tomorrow we’ll try to do our best, hoping to recover some positions from the start.”

WorldSBK Race One Report

Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) got off the line well to take the early lead and stretched out a strong gap over the course of the opening lap.

Polesitter Razgatlioglu started to put down the hammer on the second lap, closing in on Lowes.

Further back, Bautista had a tough start to the race, dropping outside of the top 10 as team-mate Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) dropped to fifth and was under early pressure from Jonathan Rea (Pata Prometeon Yamaha), who passed the Italian with 18 laps remaining.

Petrucci took the lead with 16 laps to go and Razgatlioglu ran wide – dropping to third. The BMW rider worked hard to reclaim second before entering the lead briefly with 11 laps remaining as he began to battle with Petrucci. Razgatlioglu had another unsuccessful attempt with nine laps remaining before making the move stick on Lap 12. Meanwhile, Bautista continued an incredible recovery ride, soon entering the podium places before passing Petrucci for P2.

Heading into the final lap Razgatlioglu stretched his lead to over one second. Petrucci was still locked onto the rear tyre of Bautista as the Italian continued to put pressure on the reigning Champion for second place. However, the order would stay as it was over the line, with Razgatlioglu taking a hard-fought victory.

Garrett Gerloff (Bonovo Action BMW) missed out on the podium, finishing fourth at the line after pipping Lowes by just under four-tenths at the flag. The British rider rounded out the top five, finishing in front of Michael van der Mark (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team), who had a confidence-inspiring result, making it six riders from six countries inside the top six.

Seventh went the way of the Bulega, who crossed the line ahead of Axel Bassani (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) as the final spots inside the top 10 went the way of GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team’s Dominique Aegerter and Remy Gardner.

Andrea Locatelli missed out on a spot inside the top 10, finishing eleventh and ahead of Team HRC’s Iker Lecuona and Xavi Vierge. Meanwhile, the final point-scoring positions were occupied by Tito Rabat (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) and Rea, who dropped down the order in the latter stages after running as high as fifth early on.

Andrea Iannone (Team GoEleven) crashed out with nine laps remaining. The Italian was not the only crasher as Scott Redding (Bonovo Action BMW) fell at Turn 5.

WorldSBK Race One Results

WorldSBK Superpole Results

WorldSBK Championship Points

WorldSSP Race One

Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) secured his third victory of the season, after a dominant ride to finish 3.241s ahead of his rivals. Adrian Huertas’ finished on the podium for the ninth consecutive race this season ahead of Stefano Manzi (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing) who took the final spot on the podium after an intense battle in the closing stages.

It was a fantastic launch off the line from Montella, who secured the holeshot on the run down to Turn 1. As Montella started strong, so did Manzi, who was able to charge into P2 in the early stages of Race 1. However, Huertas struggled in the early stages, battling for the P3 at the end of the opening lap, before running wide at Turn 1 on Lap 2. The #99 would reclaim his cool, beginning to string together strong laps to overtake Can Oncu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) for third before pulling off a brave move at Turn 9 on Manzi.

Meanwhile, Montella extended his margin to 3.662s at the front, setting the fastest lap of the race in the process. This left Huertas on his own on the circuit, trying to find time where he could as the race progressed. Meanwhile, Manzi was beginning to be put under intense pressure from Jorge Navarro (Orelac Racing Verdnatura) for the final position on the podium.

On the entry to Turn 1, Navarro snatched P3 from Manzi, with nothing separating the riders on the circuit. Navarro almost made contact with Manzi at Turn 8, losing time and losing an opportunity to finish on the podium. Soon after, Montella crossed the line to claim victory at Portimao ahead of Huertas, with Manzi taking the important third place finish.

Navarro missed out on the podium, crossing the line in fourth after pushing hard on the final lap but finished ahead of Federico Caricasulo (Motozoo ME AIR Racing), who rounded out the top five and secured a solid point-scoring finish.

Valentin Debise (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team) crossed the line in sixth after an eventful day for the Frenchman, who crashed on the sighting lap and had his bike repaired on the grid.

Marcel Schroetter (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) took seventh ahead of fellow Frenchman Lucas Mahias (GMT94 Yamaha) in eighth.

The final spots inside the top 10 went the way of Glenn van Straalen (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing) and Niki Tuuli (EAB Racing Team).

Luke Power was unfortunately the only of the Aussie competitors to finish the opening race, crossing the line in 18th position.

Oli Bayliss had run as high as ninth early on before suffering a bike failure on lap seven.

It was an even tougher day at the office for Tom Edwards, the 23-year-old was held back in qualifying due to technical drams which put him on the last row on the grid.  Edwards ran as high as 20th over the opening 13 laps of the race before going out of the contest.

It was a disappointing Saturday for Nicolo Antonelli (Ecosantagata Althea Racing Team), who crashed at Turn 5 twice during the race. The Italian was not the only rider to crash with Tom Booth-Amos (PTR Triumph) also suffering an early end to Saturday after the British rider fell out of contention at Turn 1.

WorldSSP Race One Results

WorldSSP Championship Points

WorldSSP300 Race One

Mirko Gennai (MTM Kawasaki) took the WorldSSP300 glory after a dramatic finish on Saturday. Joining Gennai on the podium was Carter Thompson (Fusport-RT Motorsport by SKM-Kawasaki), who put together a stunning end to the race to claim his second podium in his second weekend in WorldSSP300. Meanwhile, Marc Garcia (KOVE Racing Team) took the final spot on the podium, his second of the season.

It was a perfect launch from Loris Veneman (MTM Kawasaki), who claimed the holeshot as the 33 bike field filtered through Turn 1 for the first time. There was action everywhere you looked on the opening lap as Marco Gaggi (Team BrCorse) and Inigo Iglesias (Fusport-RT Motorsport by SKM-Kawasaki) had a moment at Turn 1 as Veneman created a gap worth six-tenths as the field crossed the line for the first time.

There would soon be a change of order at the front as Marc Garcia closed in on the #7, eventually catching and passing Veneman to take the lead. The lead group soon turned into three riders, with Gennai joining the party as the battle and pace began to heat up. Iglesias showed great pace throughout, clawing back time on the lead group and entering the battle with three laps remaining.

Entering the final lap, it was Iglesias who led, before Veneman used the slipstream to snatch P1 on the run to Turn 1 with eight riders now in the lead group. However, everything soon unfolded for the #58, who tried to make a move stick at Turn 8, touching the rear tyre of Veneman and crashing out of the race. It was a huge moment in the Championship but all attention soon turned to the front as Gennai stormed to take the glory in Race 1, with Thompson charging through to claim a podium finish in front of Marc Garcia in P3.

Meanwhile, Veneman took fourth, narrowly missing out on a podium finish – claiming his 15th consecutive race inside the points. Veneman crossed the line ahead of Elia Bartolini (Yamaha Motoxracing WorldSSP300 Team), who rounded out the top five – a further 0.005s behind. Aldi Satya Mahendra (Team BrCorse) was sixth after starting from P21 on the grid after receiving a grid penalty.

Jeffrey Buis took seventh in another solid ride ahead of Galang Hendra Pratama (ProGP NitiRacing) as the final spots inside the top 10 went the way of Julio Garcia (KOVE Racing Team) and Gaggi.

WorldSSP300 Race One Results

WorldSSP300 Championship Points

World WCR Race One

The first of the WorldWCR races making up the third Portuguese round ultimately rewarded championship leader Maria Herrera (Klint Forward Factory Team) but she had to work hard for her prize today, beating fellow Spaniard Sara Sanchez (511 Terra&Vita Racing Team) to the line by just 0.060 of a second.

The eleven-lap race, which ran in torrid conditions, quickly turned into a four-way battle for victory, with Herrera, Sanchez, Ana Carrasco (Evan Bros Racing Yamaha Team) and Beatriz Neila (Ampito / Pata Prometeon Yamaha) breaking away from the rest of the field and continuously exchanging positions as they exploited the slip stream.

Carrasco ultimately got the better of Neila in the battle for third, the pair separated by just 0.009 of a second across the line.

The fastest lap time, a 1’53.691, was set by Sanchez on the very last lap as she went all out in an attempt to catch Herrera. Her Race 1 lap time means that Sara will start from pole in Sunday’s Race 2. The top four were in a class of their own, taking the flag 25-seconds ahead of the next group of riders at the end of the 11-lap race distance.

Pakita Ruiz (PS Racing Team 46+1) rounded out the top five, despite the best efforts of Roberta Ponziani (Yamaha Motoxracing WCR Team) and Jessica Howden (Team Trasimeno), who ultimately had to settle for sixth and seventh respectively while Australia’s Tayla Relph collected good points in eighth.

The points scored today see Herrera extend her championship lead, leaving her closest rivals with everything to play for in Sunday’s Race 2.

Hanks-Elliott (Sekhmet Motorcycle Racing Team), Kemmer (Bertl K. Racing Team), Bondi (YART Zelos Black Knights Team), Dobbs (Sekhmet Motorcycle Racing Team) and Nadieieva (MPS.RT) all suffered crashes and were unable to complete the race.

Maria Herrera- P1

“I expected this kind of close racing to be honest. Sara was very quick already in qualifying and so I knew we’d have a real battle on our hands today. The temperatures were high, so the grip dropped a little at the end of the race and I was losing a little time through the fast corners, but I was able to manage the situation. We’ll see what we can do tomorrow; I’ll be second on the grid which is a good position because there’s an opportunity to pass through the first corner if I can get away well. I want to analyse the data because I think I can do more in terms of my rhythm. If there’s a little less wind for Race 2, we can perhaps do a little better.”

Sara Sanchez – P2

“I’m really happy, also because I made a really bad start that put me down in fourth. I knew I had to react fast and push so that the leaders didn’t get away. I was able to get back into second and then fight hard all the way to the line. I made a couple of mistakes on the very last lap as I pushed to try and reach Maria; it was close, but I couldn’t quite take the win. I was still able to set the fastest time on the last lap though, and we’re pleased to be on the podium again of course. Tomorrow I’ll start in pole, so let’s see if we can do a little more, especially if I can make a better start.”

Ana Carrasco – P3

“Another great fight between the four of us. The pace was so fast compared to the times we were seeing yesterday, and I had to push really hard. I don’t know if I could have won today but I was in a good position up until about two laps from the end, after which I had a few gearing issues that caused me to lose a little. I really wanted to be on the podium and so I pushed hard to make up the ground and then hold off Neila to secure third. I’m pleased because despite the technical problem I was able to fight for victory and finish top three. Hopefully we can find a solution for tomorrow’s Race 2, which I imagine will see us involved in a similar battle.”

World WCR Race One Results

World WCR Championship Standings