Jonathan Rea (1), who is the championship leader with 70 points ahead of his main rival and teammate, took by storm the first position in the training sessions for the Superbike World Championship, which took place yesterday at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve, in Portimão.
Rea set his fastest lap, with a lap of 1m42.621 around the windy 4.592 meters of the circuit, and at the end of the day, secured the first place with more than half a second ahead of Marco Melandri (1mm43.207s).
It is up to the Italian driver to lead the opposition to the Irish, who won here in the last three races (1 in 2014 and two in 2015).
Melandri was out for much of the first session due to a problem with his bike.
The Ducati showed speed and consistency, with third place for Chaz Davies, the winner of the two previous races at Lausitzring in Germany, finishing this one ahead of Leon Camier and Tom Sykes, who did not improve his record in the afternoon, he who is the track record holder.
“For moments throughout the day, the wind was last intense, more in the afternoon session than in the morning,” commented Jonathan Rea.
“We didn't make any big changes to the bike, because I can still change a lot in terms of riding style in the face of a very challenging track. Where you put your weight, where you brake, how you accelerate, everything is important here, and so, after a few laps, we put on new tires and made a longer exit to learn even better about the circuit, which has a very big bump at the exit of the Turn 9 requires a lot of balance in the set-up,” added the Irish driver.
In Supersport, the fastest in the morning session was Sheridan Morais, the South African with Portuguese blood who now resides in the Algarve city of Lagos.
Buoyed by the victory in the previous race in Germany, he scored a time of 1'45.829 in the morning session, being then beaten in the afternoon by Kenan Sofuoglu, the defending champion, who is trying to climb to the first place in the championship here.
Jules Cluzel was third fastest in the category, with championship leader Lucas Mahias fourth ahead of PJ Jacobsen.
In the very competitive Superstock 300, the new class of the championship that makes its debut in Portimão, the fastest was Scott Deroue, the Dutchman who lost command of the championship in the previous round, being imitated by Federico Sandi in the European Superstock 1000. the only class that can be decided here in Portimão.
Friday, the first day of action, was reserved for the first two free practice sessions for each of the categories. In these sessions, the drivers of the three categories with a world stamp also discussed direct access to Superpole 2, where only the top ten enter after the two free sessions on Friday.
Today, Saturday, the action has already started at 9 am, with the start of the third free practice sessions, followed by the Superpole from 11 am and the first race of the World Superbike at 15 pm.
Closing the program, between 16:00 and 16:30, will be the Superstock 1000 on track for their qualification.
This Saturday is, therefore, a day that promises to be very lively and with an even greater turnout of the public to the Algarve circuit, which already yesterday registered a good human frame.
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