10-13 Portugal – Portimão – Statements by World Superbike riders in Portimao – #PORWorldSBK: statements from the 2nd round

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World Superbike riders’ statements in Portimao

10-13 Portugal - Portimão - Statements by World Superbike riders in Portimao - #PORWorldSBK: statements from the 2nd round

The tenth round of the 2017 World SBK took place this weekend in Portimao, Portugal. To complete our near-live reports, here are the statements of the Superbike riders at the end of their two Portuguese races.

#PORWorldSBK: statements from the 2nd round

Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki n ° 1), 1st:

10-13 Portugal - Portimão - Statements by World Superbike riders in Portimao - #PORWorldSBK: statements from the 2nd round

"I’m really happy to have won. Aside from one little problem, it all went without saying. I did some tough overtaking in the first laps and as soon as I reached the head of the race I imposed my pace and I went. We had completely different setups today. I had a lot of feedback from my bike and was able to ride at my own pace, but with seven or eight laps to go, I felt a drop in power in second gear. As the laps went by I could see that the gap remained constant then I saw Chaz give up and I enjoyed a bit of air. We were unlucky this year at Donington (fall due to a defective tire, editor’s note). The championship lead is now colossal and we can go to Magny Cours with the hope of winning the championship. have a sufficiently solid weekend at Magny Cours, we will be able to do that. Before the race today, I confessed to Pere (Riba, his chef mechanic, Editor’s note) that I had the pressure because Kawasaki had won all the races in Portimao. He told me there was no pressure because we had done everything right: I had to go, do what had to be done. I went to see the podiums in each category in Portimao to congratulate the Kawasaki riders. The most impressive was Ana Carrasco (victorious in WSSP300, she is the first woman to win in the motorcycle speed world championship, excluding sidecar, Editor’s note): I have never seen such an atmosphere and our box was like a football stadium. The whole KRT team was up there on the podium, it was nice to see ".

Michael van den Mark (Yamaha n ° 60), 2nd:

10-13 Portugal - Portimão - Statements by World Superbike riders in Portimao - #PORWorldSBK: statements from the 2nd round

“It’s amazing to finish on the podium after so much bad luck this year! We struggled at times with the tuning of the bike and got very close to the podium a few times. It really wasn’t easy, but I knew I had a good pace and starting from second place helped me a lot. I lacked grip at the start of the race so I couldn’t follow the guys in front on the first two laps but then I found my rhythm. It was a really tough race but I was stronger than the guys behind me. I had some luck with the fall of Chaz Davies but I’m so happy to get on my first podium with Yamaha. We’ve worked so hard all year, and I’m so happy to finally reward my team and Yamaha. When you land a podium, you believe in yourself more, you know you can do it Everything aligned today, it’s always good to be on the podi um and now I want to taste that feeling after every run. We have found a very good base of set-up that seems to work everywhere, so we’ll start with the same bike at Magny-Cours. During tomorrow’s test (Monday, Editor’s note), we will only need to adjust a few things on the bike. I can’t wait to compete in the next event! "

Marco Melandri (Ducati n ° 33), 3rd:

10-13 Portugal - Portimão - Statements by World Superbike riders in Portimao - #PORWorldSBK: statements from the 2nd round

"I’m happy because the team did a great job and today my Panigale R was more competitive, especially in terms of grip. Unfortunately, we still couldn’t fully exploit our potential and we struggled during the race I started well, but quickly had a problem with the rear thumb brake control, and widened into turn 10. Also, the bike was moving a lot on the straight. I wasted time fighting against riders who didn’t have our pace and choked us a bit. I was able to get VD Mark up but he was still too far away. During tomorrow’s test we will focus on l ‘improved stability. I want to be on top of the podium again in the next races. ".

Eugene Laverty (Aprilia n ° 50), 4th:

10-13 Portugal - Portimão - Statements by World Superbike riders in Portimao - #PORWorldSBK: statements from the 2nd round

"The second race was clearly better for us. I was worried about the drop in rear grip after a few laps, like in the first race, but today we had a good fight and the fourth place is a good result. The progress in 24 hours was enormous and the morning warm-up was fantastic. We lost a bit of pace and grip in the warmer conditions this afternoon, but I was much more happy today and we have much to be optimistic about. For Monday’s test we will continue in the direction taken in the last tests. It worked and we are improving. I think we will be even stronger next time, at Magny-Cours ".

Jordi Torres (BMW n ° 81), 5th:

10-13 Portugal - Portimão - Statements by World Superbike riders in Portimao - #PORWorldSBK: statements from the 2nd round

“I expected a good race today after the positive warm-up this morning. But it turned out to be difficult as the bike was sliding a lot and vibrating a bit. I mostly struggled at the start, I I lost a lot of ground. I gradually regained my rhythm, despite the continual sliding from the rear and the lack of grip. I did everything I could to handle the situation and in the end, we finished fifth . I am very satisfied with the end result, but not with the way the race went. I want to do more ".

Lorenzo Savadori (Aprilia n ° 32), 6th:

10-13 Portugal - Portimão - Statements by World Superbike riders in Portimao - #PORWorldSBK: statements from the 2nd round

"The result in the second run is better for sure, but my feeling on the bike today was not so good. I struggled with the rear grip. I lost a lot of time at the start, but from the middle to the middle. end of the race, my pace was pretty strong and I could have fought for fourth place. We didn’t make a lot of changes between race one and race two, but we certainly improved the pace. Tomorrow’s test will be very important for us: we have a lot of new ideas to try before we start the end of the season ".

Leandro Mercado (Aprilia n ° 36), 7th:

10-13 Portugal - Portimão - Statements by World Superbike riders in Portimao - #PORWorldSBK: statements from the 2nd round

“I’m completely happy with my day. Seventh place, another Top 10 after such a tough race is not a bad result, and honestly after yesterday’s crash we are all going to come home better. mood. My start was good, and during the first half of the race I was even able to gain places. Then, as often happens, we just faced the same problem: I ran out of tires. back and the situation has changed dramatically. We switched from full attack mode to single defense. In fact, the last six laps were quite difficult and I lost a position when Savadori passed me completely at the back. end. I couldn’t do anything. This is our weak point and we will continue to work on it. I would like to thank my team for the excellent work they have done throughout the weekend ".

Anthony West (Kawasaki # 13), 8th:

10-13 Portugal - Portimão - Statements by World Superbike riders in Portimao - #PORWorldSBK: statements from the 2nd round

"Eighth in World Superbike. I can do some results when I have a motivated team like Puccetti behind me, and a decent bike in my hands. I’m really happy with this big result today. Every time I ride the bike, I was faster. I was learning as much as possible to get a better result for the next races. Because the reality is that I have to do a lot better if I want to race in 2018. I don’t have the money to give me handlebars. Many thanks to Puccetti Kawasaki for giving me this opportunity and to the team who believed in me. Thanks also to my little sponsors who help me to live and compete every race: without them, all this would be impossible ".

Takumi Takahashi (Honda n ° 72), 10th:

10-13 Portugal - Portimão - Statements by World Superbike riders in Portimao - #PORWorldSBK: statements from the 2nd round

“We made some improvements to the bike’s setup today, and although I had the same kind of problem early on getting into the pace, in the latter part of the race I found myself trying to close the gap on Badovini for ninth place, before the checkered flag was lowered. We managed to finish in the Top 10 with a bit of luck today and we have accumulated experience. so I can’t wait to go to Jerez, a track that I already know, in order to attack more ".

Chaz Davies (Ducati n ° 7), fall:

10-13 Portugal - Portimão - Statements by World Superbike riders in Portimao - #PORWorldSBK: statements from the 2nd round

"It’s disappointing to finish the race this way because we are missing an easy podium. Our pace was okay, we kept the gap with Rea without pushing too hard, but towards the end I relaxed a bit and closed the throttle a little earlier than usual in the second corner which overloaded the front end and I fell. I was surprised as this is a strange place for a fall, especially when you feel like ‘rewind. However, we really made progress today, but we still want to take a step forward in terms of stability at the end of the race. We will work on it tomorrow. The positive aspect is that we We are close to second in the provisional, thanks to Tom’s misfortune. We should have an interesting end to the season when he comes back. I look forward to the next event. ".

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