SBK, Prosecco DOC Portuguese Round: the action begins on the track in Portimao

The World Championship of production derivatives is ready to return to action on the occasion of the tenth round of the season, which will be held in the suggestive Autodromo Internacional do Algarve, in Portugal, which thus returns to the calendar: historically it is a good circuit for the drivers British, so it will be a particularly hard-fought weekend.

The track is one of the most evocative on the calendar, characterized by 15 corners, nine right and six left, and an irregular layout that enhances the driving ability of the drivers.

As always, the big favorite is the standings leader Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) who reached the podium for the first time in 2009, in Race1, behind Ben Spies, and since then has collected ten podiums with three victories .
With four rounds still to go, it's clear that Rea will be thinking above all about the title: after his cautious attitude at the Lausitzring, it will be interesting to see how he behaves in Portugal.

Teammate Tom Sykes has also already achieved good results in Portimao, but with the gap in the standings increasing, he will have to keep his eyes on the target.

Fresh from the double obtained in Germany, Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) wants to progressively try to reduce the gap to Rea by immediately finding the right pace on the difficult Portuguese track.
On the other side of the garage Marco Melandri returns to the track where he won two podiums in the past: in 2011 he won Race2 with Yamaha and in 2013 Race1 with BMW.

Another rider who has a good record here, both in WorldSSP and WorldSBK, is Eugene Laverty (Milwaukee Aprilia) who after also performing after a good winter test, will be aiming to get his first podium since returning to the series.

The Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team, with Alex Lowes and Michael van der Mark, is continuously looking for its first victory of the season, but still has to fight hard to make up for the gap with the teams ahead of it: the Briton missed out on the podium in Portimao in 2014 but finished in the top 10 in all four appearances, while his teammate won in 2014 in WorldSSP.

Leon Camier (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) returns to Portimao where unfortunately in the last five years he has collected four retirements and obviously aims to return home with decidedly more positive memories, in line with the great work he is doing with the Italian team.

He is struggling to find a constant pace with his S 1000 RR Jordi Torres (Althea BMW Racing Team) and is continually looking for solid results in 2017: the Spaniard aims to improve what is his best placing in 2017 so far, the fourth place obtained in Misano.

After a disappointing home round in which he also had to deal with physical problems, Stefan Bradl (Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team) is ready to make his debut in Portimao, competing against him for the first time during the test carried out last winter.

Below are the opening hours of the Prosecco DOC Portuguese Round:

FRIDAY 15th SEPTEMBER
10 – 45 Free Practice 11
15 – 30 Free Practice 16

SATURDAY 16 SEPTEMBER
10 – 05 Free Practice 10
12pm – 00pm Tissot-Superpole 12
12pm – 25pm Tissot-Superpole 12
16pm Race 00

Sunday September 17
10 – 50 Warm Up
16pm Race 00