Riders from WorldSBK went swapped their bikes for a boat ahead of racing action getting underway at Portimao

Source: WorldSBK.com

Bulega and Buis head into the weekend as favourites for the WorldSSP and WorldSSP300 titles respectively

Source: WorldSBK.com

Moto3™ race winner Andrea Migno will stand in for Adam Norrodin for Honda at Portimao, with the team fielding three riders this weekend

Source: WorldSBK.com

WorldSBK commentator Steve English analyses the title fight and why it’s absolutely not guaranteed that the title will be a done deal come the end of the Pirelli Portuguese Round

Source: WorldSBK.com

At Portimao in 2008, Rea made his WorldSBK debut and stunned to put his Honda on the front row as well as taking fourth in Race 1

Source: WorldSBK.com

The 2023 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship heads for the penultimate round of the season with the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve playing host to the Pirelli Portuguese Round. Always a classic, the rollercoaster will welcome the usual unpredictability but with the 2023 title on the line, does the form guide point towards a Prosecco DOC being sprayed or being put on ice?

181 – The next race for Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) will be the 181^st with Ducati. That will equal the 4^th highest value for a manufacturer.

116/119 – Yamaha missed out at Aragon so now it’s the second match ball to equal Honda for wins. Yamaha are on 116, Honda at 119, the latter occupying the third all-time place.

56 – With 53 wins, all for Ducati, Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) could equal the rider with the most Ducati wins, Carl Fogarty, on 55 wins this weekend, whilst a hat-trick will surpass him.

32 – Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) is the only rider who has raced in all the 32 WorldSBK races held at Portimao since the track entered the WorldSBK Championship in 2008.

29-28 – Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) climbed on the podium 28 times out of 30 this season. This is just one short of his best seasons, 2021 and 2022.

28-28 – Ducati this season has led at least one lap in 28 races: this is the best-known value for a Championship, matching last year’s value by Yamaha. I

24 – It’s been 24 years since Ducati won back-to-back WorldSBK titles with the same rider; Carl Fogarty won in 1998 and 1999, with Alvaro Bautista able to repeat that on Sunday at Portimao if results go his way.

22/24 – Ducati is just two wins short of the best ever value recorded by a manufacturer in a single season. It’s themselves: they won 24 times in 2003 and 23 in 1991; this year they’ve won 22 races.

24 – Rea is the record holder for podium finishes here: no less than 24 out of 32 races contested. Rea has also competed in every single WorldSBK race to be held at Portimao.

24 – A front row start has great importance at Portimao as 24 wins out of 32 came from there.

15/13 – The UK is the most successful country at Portimao, with 15 wins to Italy’s five. Rea has 13 wins, the second-best value for any rider on any track in WorldSBK after his own 17 wins at Assen.

12 – So far, there have been no less than 12 different winners at Portimao. The last two added to this list are Michael van der Mark and Toprak Razgatlioglu in 2021.

8/9 – The longest winning streak for a manufacturer here is eight by Kawasaki, all by Rea from 2015’s Race 1 to 2019’s Tissot Superpole Race. He has a win for Honda from Race 2, 2014, making the longest streak for a rider here at nine races long. That is an all-time record streak for WorldSBK.

6/7 – Seven manufacturers have been able to record at least a podium placement at Portimao: (Ducati, Honda, Aprilia, Kawasaki, Yamaha, Suzuki, BMW). Of them, only Suzuki didn’t win.

5 – Jonathan Rea is the record holder also for poles here, five, followed by Tom Sykes at three.

2 – Yamaha is the only manufacturer to have recorded pole in consecutive years with two different riders at Portimao: 2009 with Ben Spies and 2010 with Cal Crutchlow. That’s two nationalities too.

1 –Jonathan Rea debuted in WorldSBK in 2008 at Portimao, the last weekend of the season. He came from the World Supersport Championship, and recorded the third-best time in Superpole, finishing 4th in Race 1. In Race 2, he was 15th after an off-track excursion whilst running 5th.

SHORTHAND NOTEBOOK

2022 race winners:

• Toprak Razgatlioglu (Yamaha, Race 1 and Superpole Race)
• Alvaro Bautista (Ducati, Race 2)

Last three pole-sitters at Portimao:

• 2022: Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki) 1’39.610
• 2021: Toprak Razgatlioglu (Yamaha) 1’40.219
• 2020: Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki) 1’40.676

Manufacturer podium places (and wins) from all WorldSBK races at Portimao:

• Ducati: 30 (6)
• Kawasaki: 22 (14)
• Yamaha: 20 (5)
• Honda: 10 (1)
• Aprilia: 10 (4)
• Suzuki: 2
• BMW: 2 (2)

Key gaps from Portimao in 2022:

• Front row covered by: 0.249s
• 1 second in Superpole covered… the top 12: 0.916s
• Closest race gap between 1^st and 2^nd: 0.123s (Razgatlioglu 1^st, Bautista 2^nd, Race 1)
• Closest race podium: 1.434s (Razgatlioglu 1^st, Bautista 2^nd, Rea 3^rd, Superpole Race)
• Closest race podium of all time: 0.658s (Biaggi 1^st, Haslam 2^nd, Crutchlow 3^rd, Race 2 2010)

Manufacturer top speeds at Portimao in 2020:

• Honda: Xavi Vierge – 324.4 km/h, Superpole
• Ducati: Michael Ruben Rinaldi – 316.8 km/h, Superpole
• Yamaha: Toprak Razgatlioglu – 317.7 km/h, Race 2
• Kawasaki: Jonathan Rea – 315.9 km/h, Superpole
• BMW: Loris Baz – 317.7 km/h, FP2

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Source: WorldSBK.com

The FIM Supersport 300 World Championship arrives at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve for the final round of the 2023 season. The Pirelli Portuguese Round will host a thrilling title decider with history on the line as three riders go in search of their own record. Jeffrey Buis (MTM Kawasaki) aspires to be the first two-time Champion in WorldSSP300, but his rivals won’t make it easy. Jose Perez Luis Gonzalez (Accolade Smrz Racing BGR) wants to follow in the footsteps of other Spanish Champions, while Dirk Geiger (Freudenberg KTM – Paligo Racing) aims to become the first KTM rider to be crowned Champion.

BUIS CLOSES IN ON HISTORY: but it won’t be easy…

After scoring 45 points out of a possible 50 at Aragon, a circuit he loves so dearly, he heads into Portugal as the big favourite. He’s hit form at the right time, with three wins in the last four races, and has a 30-point advantage over Perez Gonzalez. Despite the big margin he has, the unpredictable nature of WorldSSP300 means nothing can be taken for granted. Perez Gonzalez will aim for his first class win and needs to outscore Buis by at least six points on Saturday to take the fight to Sunday. For Geiger, he’s 47 points behind Buis and will need everything to go his way to win the title.

THE FIGHT FOR THE TOP 4: nine riders within 50 points

Although without chances to win the title, there’s a long list of riders who are no strangers to the podium and fighting for fourth overall. Matteo Vannucci (AG Motorsport Italia Yamaha) has one victory this season and was second in Race 2 at Aragon but is only a single point ahead of Mirko Gennai (Team BrCorse). The Italian won in Barcelona but since then he has had problems staying at the top, with four non-scores in the last eight races. Petr Svoboda (Fusport – RT Motorsport by SKM – Kawasaki) is 10 points behind Vannucci, but heads to Portugal on the back of a non-scoring Aragon Round. Still with a chance, but more than a race worth of points behind, are Humberto Maier (Yamaha MS Racing/AD Latin America Team), Loris Veneman (MTM Kawasaki) – fresh from his first win – Daniel Mogeda (Kawasaki GP Project), Marco Gaggi (Team BrCorse), Samiel Di Sora (Prodina Kawasaki Racing) and Kevin Sabatucci (Team Flembbo – PI Performances). If the gap to Vannucci isn’t reduced, this group would fight for places eight to 12.

WHAT HAPPENED IN 2022? The action on track matters little

Portimao last year hosted the season finale with Alvaro Diaz claiming the title before becoming the latest star to move up to WorldSSP. Geiger and Gennai both claimed their first wins at the Portuguese venue in 2022 and will be aiming for more success this year. Gennai’s win was Yamaha’s first at the circuit which had previously been dominated by Kawasaki, but could KTM have a part to play in this year’s fight? Of course, we also remember Victor Steeman who tragically passed away following a Race 1 incident last year. We continue to race in his honour as his former team, MTM Kawasaki, once again seek title success at the same track a year later.

CHANGES TO THE GRID: substitute riders and wildcards

Following his crash at Aragon, Lennox Lehmann (Freudenberg KTM – Paligo Racing) underwent surgery on two fractures in the thoracic vertebrae and another in the right femur, meaning his season is over. The team have drafted in Phillip Tonn, who’s raced with them in IDM and finished fifth with two victories. Enzo Valentim (Yamhaa MS Racing/AD78 Latin America Team) will not race this weekend and has been replaced by Kevin Santos Fontainha who raced at Most. At the Arco Motor University Team, Unai Calatayud continues to replace Gabriele Mastroluca and the USA’s Christopher Clark stays with Accolade Smrz Racing BGR and Marc Garcia (China Racing Team) stays in place of Junhao Zhan. In terms of wildcards, Tomas Alonso (Quaresma Racing Team) and Dinis Borges (Rame Moto Racing) will race on home soil.

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Source: WorldSBK.com

The MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship touches down at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve for the penultimate round of the season and the demanding and undulating circuit means Pirelli have opted for the harder end of their range. There will be no SCQ tyre available at the Pirelli Portuguese Round while there are two development solutions – one at the front and one at the rear – for riders to use.

NO SCQ, ONE DEVELOPMENT SOLUTION: restricted use for SCX

Due to the demands of the ‘rollercoaster’, Pirelli have opted to remove the SCQ from the allocation and replace it with the SCX meaning it can only be used in the Tissot Superpole and Tissot Superpole Race. Because the SCX can only be used in the 10-lap race, the standard SC0 solution becomes the softest available rear tyre in feature-length races for Portimao, and it’s joined by the A1126 development SC1 tyre. This made its debut last year at Mandalika and was used most recently at the Autodrom Most.

THE FULL RANGE: plenty of front tyre choices

For the front of the machines, Pirelli are bringing a large selection. The softest tyre is the development SC0 in C0927 specification, featuring the same carcass as the B1148 specification but a different compound to provide more grip at the front axle. Two standard solutions make up the remainder of the range. These are the SC1 medium and SC2 hard tyre to give teams and riders a range of tyres to choose from at the Portuguese venue.

A MIX OF STANDARD AND DEVELOPMENT SOLUTIONS: lots of choice in WorldSSP

Pirelli’s innovation isn’t only limited to WorldSBK with several development solutions available to the WorldSSP field. At the front, the standard SC1 soft tyre is joined by the development SC1-A soft in B1333 specification. This tyre made its debut at Magny-Cours and was used a lot last weekend at Aragon, while the SC1-B medium returns. This tyre has been available throughout 2023 as part of an ongoing test for its used in WorldSSP next year.

PIRELLI’S VIEW: the reasons behind the selection

Explaining Pirelli’s tyre selection, Motorcycle Racing Director Giorgio Barbier said: “Portimao is certainly not the most demanding circuit on which we are called to race during the season, but it still remains one of those tracks not to be underestimated, both by the riders and by ourselves as tyre manufacturers. It is difficult for the riders due to the ups and downs and blind crests followed by sudden braking but, for this very reason, it is full of charm. But it is also a circuit which, despite being completely resurfaced in 2020, is very poor in grip and, at the same time, subjects the tyres to high lateral and longitudinal loads. Therefore, solutions that are too soft over the race distance could be penalised due to the graining they could encounter, especially with low temperatures. This is why we will use the SCX instead of the SCQ as a Superpole and possibly Superpole Race tyre while for long races the choice falls on the standard SC0 or on the development SC1 capable of ensuring better performance consistency.”

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Source: WorldSBK.com

The MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship heads to the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve with three Riders’ Championship titles still up for grabs. The Pirelli Portuguese Round has been known for its drama in recent years and having a huge role to play as the campaign reaches its conclusion. Don’t miss out on any moment in what’s been an incredible fight between Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) and Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) and get your tickets for Portimao HERE.

Just 47 points separate Bautista and Razgatlioglu heading into Portimao, and it could be the round where Bautista is crowned for a second time, but the #54 pulled off the race of his life here last year to fend off the reigning Champion. Are we in for a repeat? Portimao is shaping up to be a classic and you’ll want to be there to witness history. In WorldSSP, it’s likely the title gets decided with Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team) clear at the top of the standings while in WorldSSP300, anything can happen in a three-way rider showdown. Get to Portimao and get to witness at least one Champion being crowned.

There will be plenty of off-track entertainment to keep you busy too with the famous Paddock Show. Interactive games, meet and greet sessions and much more are all scheduled but it’s also where the podium celebrations take place. You can get up close and personal to your favourite riders as they celebrate a podium finish – or, even, a Championship win. There’s plenty to watch, on and off track, and you won’t want to miss anything from Portugal.

Get your tickets for Portimao HERE and watch every moment from a pivotal round!

Source: WorldSBK.com

The MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship heads to the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve for the 11^th and penultimate round of the season. The Pirelli Portuguese Round could be the decider and you won’t want to miss anything from the ‘rollercoaster’. Action starts on Friday at 09:45 Local Time (GMT+1) with WorldSSP300 FP1 before WorldSBK at 10:30 and WorldSSP at 11:25. In the afternoon, WorldSSP300 FP2 starts at 14:15 with WorldSBK at 15:00 and WorldSSP at 16:00. Saturday starts with WorldSBK FP3 at 09:00 before the three Tissot Superpole sessions. WorldSSP300 is at 09:45, WorldSSP at 10:25 and WorldSBK at 11:10. Then, it’s time to race. WorldSSP300 Race 1 is at 12:40 before WorldSBK at 14:00. WorldSSP Race 1 concludes Saturday’s action at 15:15. On Sunday, the three Warm Up sessions start at 09:00 before jumping straight into racing. The Tissot Superpole Race is at 11:00 before WorldSSP Race 2 at 12:30. WorldSBK Race 2 is at 14:00 before WorldSSP300 Race 2 ends the weekend at 15:15.

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Friday, 29^th September (all times Local Time, GMT+1)

09:45-10:15 – WorldSSP300 Free Practice 1

10:30-11:15 – WorldSBK Free Practice 1

11:25-12:10 – WorldSSP Free Practice 1

14:15-14:45 – WorldSSP300 Free Practice 2

15:00-15:45 – WorldSBK Free Practice 2

16:00-16:45 – WorldSSP Free Practice 2

Saturday, 30^th September

09:00-09:30 – WorldSBK Free Practice 3

09:45-10:05 – WorldSSP300 Tissot Superpole

10:25-10:45 – WorldSSP Tissot Superpole

11:10-11:25 – WorldSBK Tissot Superpole

12:40 – WorldSSP300 Race 1 (13 laps)

14:00 – WorldSBK Race 1 (20 laps)

15:15 – WorldSSP Race 1 (17 laps)

Sunday, 1^st October

09:00-09:15 – WorldSBK Warm Up

09:25-09:40 – WorldSSP Warm Up

09:50-10:05 – WorldSSP300 Warm Up

11:00 – WorldSBK Tissot Superpole Race (10 laps)

12:30 – WorldSSP Race 2 (17 laps)

14:00 – WorldSBK Race 2 (20 laps)

15:15 – WorldSSP300 Race 2 (13 laps)

Source: WorldSBK.com