Source: Supplied.

Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) showed tremendous composure once again to win his seventh consecutive race win at the Portimao and his sixth consecutive in this year’s Motul FIM Superbike World Championship (WorldSBK), after a thrilling battle through two thirds of the race with Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati).

He was accompanied on the podium by Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) and Marco Melandri (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati).

A brilliant start from Rea pushed him straight up to third inside lap one, with Davies and Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) keeping their grid positions in one and two. Flying past his teammate on lap three, the Northern Irishman set up another stunning duel with the Welshman, one that we’ve seen repeated several times this year.

The battle quickly heated up, and fans were treated to a sensational battle. A first strike at the beginning of lap eight saw Davies defend his position on the exit of turn one – two laps later, Rea dashed into the slipstream again, this time successfully, but the Ducati found the space to counterattack at the braking point of turn five. Meanwhile, Melandri closed into a mere few tenths of a second of the squabbling pair, with van der Mark also moving near.

The pressure eventually got to the Welshman however, on lap 12 – Davies went wide at turn 10, being comfortably passed by the Kawasaki with no chance to respond. Melandri tried a move on his teammate for second on the return through the main straight, but both went in too hot, leaving the door open for the trailing Yamaha to swoop in and climb to second in one smooth move.

With the memory of their stunning battles at Assen and Donington Park fresh in the minds of all WorldSBK fans, Rea and van der Mark set out for another thriller. The reigning champion’s pace was however just too strong for the Dutchman to surpass at this point, and he remains undefeated since Laguna Seca.

Melandri secured third place at the flag, joining Rea and van der Mark on the podium for the third consecutive race. While Davies’ pace faded off after his mid-race battles, the Welshman did manage to hold off Sykes for fourth position and complete a sensational weekend as he was hindered by a collarbone injury.

Lorenzo Savadori (Milwaukee Aprilia) made amends for his mistake in Race One by rising to sixth in Sunday’s race, one position ahead of his teammate Eugene Laverty (Milwaukee Aprilia). Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Junior Team) was the best independent rider on track at Portimao, crossing the line in eighth.

Loris Baz (GULF Althea BMW Racing Team) couldn’t keep hold of his front row start and finishes Race Two in ninth position, just ahead of Xavi Fores (Barni Racing Team) and Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) in 10th and 11th respectively.

Federico Caricasulo (GRT Yamaha Official WorldSSP Team) has scored an important WorldSSP victory ahead of the impressive Kyle Smith (CIA Landlord Insurance Honda) and Raffaele De Rosa (MV Agusta Reparto Corse by Vamag), in perhaps the most extraordinary end to a race in FIM Supersport World Championship history. The top five was rounded out by Randy Krummenacher (BARDAHL Evan Bros. WorldSSP Team) and Sandro Cortese (Kallio Racing).

Scott Deroue (Motoport Kawasaki) was able to win his first FIM Supersport 300 World Championship race since Assen 2017 and moves to just 10 points behind championship leader Ana Carrasco (DS Junior Team), who couldn’t finish higher than 1oth. Mika Perez (Kawasaki ParkingGO Team) and Manuel Gonzalez (BCD Pertamina Junior Team by MS Racing) completed the podium at Portimao in second and third respectively.

The returning Robert Schotman (Motoport KawasakI) finished an impressive fourth at Portimao, ahead of Enzo De La Vega (GP Project Team) in fifth and the polesitter Tom Edwards (Nutec-Benjan-Kawasaki) in sixth – the Australian’s best WorldSSP 300 result.

The Superbike World Championship will now head to Magny-Cours in France on 29-30 September for the 11th round.

Detailed results