The six-time WorldSBK podium finisher will leave the team where he’s made a name for himself when the current campaign concludes
Source: WorldSBK.com
World Superbike Championship
The six-time WorldSBK podium finisher will leave the team where he’s made a name for himself when the current campaign concludes
Source: WorldSBK.com
The American ace bolted in two fast lap times on fresh rubber at the end of the session to lead the way after Friday morning
Source: WorldSBK.com
Nerves are jangling as Portimao awaits WorldSBK in 2023, with the tension in the air and the title on the line this weekend
Source: WorldSBK.com
The big headlines away from those confirmed, who is still standing as the music begins to fade out?
Source: WorldSBK.com
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 181st with Ducati. That will equal the 4th 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:
Last three pole-sitters at Portimao:
Manufacturer podium places (and wins) from all WorldSBK races at Portimao:
Key gaps from Portimao in 2022:
Manufacturer top speeds at Portimao in 2020:
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Source: WorldSBK.com