World Superbike Portimao, Portugal - Free Practice Results (2)

Jonathan Rea has completed a Friday free practice clean-sweep at Portimao, while title rival Toprak Razgatlioglu finished P4 for the second consecutive session. 

Alex Lowes was the early pace setter from team-mate Rea before Razgatlioglu took over top spot with a 1:42.151s - half a tenth ahead of Lowes.

The championship leader’s spell at the top was short-lived though, as a quick final sector from Lowes put him back atop the leaderboard. 

The top four of Lowes, Razgatlioglu, Rea and Leon Haslam all pitted with just under 12 minutes gone, while the top Ducati of Michael Rinaldi continued to circulate. 

The Italian was often quickest through sector one before losing that time in two and four. 

With Haslam in fourth, team-mate Alvaro Bautista added to Honda’s impressive opening day performance by going sixth - a couple of tenths away from Lowes. 

Rea then went quickest with a first sub 1m 42s lap of the afternoon session. The six-time world champion looked set to go even quicker on his next lap before choosing to head down pit lane. 

While Rea looked fast in both sessions and has thoroughly dominated Portimao in recent years, there’s no doubt pressure will come from Razgatlioglu this weekend. 

The Yamaha rider was able to match Rea at different times in both practices, including midway through FP2 when track temperatures were at their hottest. The Turkish rider’s best time put him just +0.022s behind Rea. 

As Razgatlioglu’s second stint went on, the 24 year-old continued to produce lap times that would have been good enough for second, which could be vital come Saturday and Sunday’s races as Razgatlioglu has often favoured the softer Pirelli compound this year. 

With 15 minutes remaining, Lowes and Haslam set impressive laps to go 1-2. Rea then regained top spot by just -0.019s a few minutes later, before another late effort saw him improve by nearly two tenths.

There were no more changes inside the top four as Rea ended the day quickest from Lowes, Haslam and Razgatlioglu. 

Free Practice One

12 time race winner at Portimao, Jonathan Rea, finishes the opening World Superbike practice fastest at the Algarve International Circuit. Toprak Razgatlioglu P4 after losing his and the session's quickest lap due to setting it under yellow flags. 

After completing just three laps at the beginning of FP1, Rea immediately returned to pit lane, while championship leader Razgatlioglu posted the first sub 1m 42s lap to go quickest from Rea. Razgatlioglu soon followed the Kawasaki rider in heading back to his garage.

Loris Baz, who is once again replacing the injured Chaz Davies went second quickest early on as he continues to impress on his WorldSBK return. 

Scott Redding then made it two Ducati’s inside the top three as he split Razgatlioglu and Baz.

With 20 minutes gone, Rea improved to go fastest overall - four tenths better than Razgatlioglu, while team-mate Alex Lowes went P2 - two tenths back. 

Samuele Cavalieri became the first rider to crash, however, the Italian was able to quickly remount his Barni Racing Ducati machine. Leon Haslam then went down just a few minutes later at turn eight which completely destroyed his CBR1000RR-R.

Razgatlioglu regained top spot from Rea by just half a tenth with 19 minutes to go, but the Yamaha rider then lost that time due keeping up his speed at turn eight when yellow flags were being waved- meaning Rea went back to P1 and Razgatlioglu P3. 

Eugene Laverty became the second rider to fall at turn eight in what was a similar crash to Haslam. 

Garrett Gerloff moved into second spot late on after setting an identical lap time on back-to-back laps - just +0.009s off of Rea, before the Kawasaki man improved by a slender margin of -0.012s. Like Razgatlioglu, Gerloff lost his best time but was able to improve again and ultimately keep P2.