After the usual, and rather long Summer break, the World Superbike championship returned to action with the Portuguese round at Portimão circuit. Great weather and lots of fans greeted the Superbike riders that will face a grueling end of season, but at the moment, and after two more wins to add to his record, Jonathan Rea has his fourth World Superbike title almost secured.
The Kawasaki Racing Team rider managed to secure two race wins in Portimão, and since the US round in Laguna Seca, Rea hasn’t known any other result other than victory! Also, the British rider managed to maintain his winning record at the Portuguese track, and now has 7 consecutive wins at the Portuguese rollercoaster.
Jonathan Rea has opened a championship gap of 116 points to his biggest rival Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Ducati), who raced this weekend still recovering from an injury suffered while training supermoto a few weeks back. This advantage will allow Rea to control what happens until the end of the season, but the title is almost guaranteed.
In Race1 the Northern Irishman was stunningly dominant at Portimao, taking the lead inside the first lap and crossing the line comfortably ahead of Marco Melandri (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) in second and Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) in third.
In Race 2, Rea was involved in a thrilling battle through two thirds of the race with Chaz Davies. He eventually was accompanied on the podium by Michael van der Mark and Marco Melandri, while Davies fell behind to finish fourth.
The championship will resume in two weeks’ time, with the last European round of the season at Magny Cours.