10-13 Portugal – Portimão – Statements by WSBK 2018 drivers in Portimao: first race –

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Statements by WSBK 2018 drivers in Portimao: first race

10-13 Portugal - Portimão - Statements by WSBK 2018 drivers in Portimao: first race -

The tenth round of the WorldSBK 2018 took place this weekend in Portimao (Portugal). In order to complete our almost live reports, Site gives you the main reactions of the Superbike riders at the end of the Portuguese races. Here are those of the first round … Do you speak french ?

Site readers – who, as everyone knows, are a little more fortunate than others – have already been able to follow Saturday and Sunday, almost live, the unfolding of the World Superbike and Supersport 2018 races on the Portimao circuit. For latecomers:

Below are the statements of the drivers who distinguished themselves on Saturday during the first Superbike round. Honor to – double – winner !

Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki n ° 1), 1st:

10-13 Portugal - Portimão - Statements by WSBK 2018 drivers in Portimao: first race -

“Sixty-five is a nice number of wins and Portimao is a great place to reach that total, especially with so many Northern Ireland fans here. We’ve been really strong all weekend, and I had several different strategies. I was able to go at my own pace on a clear track so I didn’t want to be in too much traffic. Around halfway Marco Melandri responded and held the gap for a few laps. a little out of my comfort zone. It might feel like I escaped, but it was difficult. I tried to concentrate as much as possible on each lap and did a few glides of the before, by overloading it a little too much for those kinds of temperatures. Other than that the bike was flawless. Even with the tire tired, I was able to stay within 1 ’42 or high 1′ 43. It was the key to the race ".

Marco Melandri (Ducati n ° 33), 2nd:

10-13 Portugal - Portimão - Statements by WSBK 2018 drivers in Portimao: first race -

“Second place was the best result we could get today. I knew Rea’s pace was a little better, but I got off to a good start and stayed with him for a few laps. I wanted to try to overtaking him to break his pace, but I couldn’t. He was faster in some parts, I was faster in others. After a while though, I started to struggle a lot in the sections. slow turns. It was impossible for me to follow him, but at least I was already far from the chase group. Tomorrow we will try to improve the stability. Then we will have to make a good start from the third row and do some quick overtaking. Anyway, I expect another fun race ".

Michael van der Mark (Yamaha n ° 60), 3rd:

10-13 Portugal - Portimão - Statements by WSBK 2018 drivers in Portimao: first race -

"I’m quite happy with this day. It all started in Superpole, where we were able to improve the bike to finish just 0.2 seconds from pole position and get a second grid line, in fifth place. But from the start of the race I had a little trouble finding rear grip. This is something we have to look at tonight but we can be happy with the podium today. Now we have to work hard for the second race tomorrow, where I hope to be on the podium once again. But starting from the third row this time ".

Chaz Davies (Ducati n ° 7), 4th:

10-13 Portugal - Portimão - Statements by WSBK 2018 drivers in Portimao: first race -

“I got off to a great start, I even got a bit fooled afterwards. There were a lot of people in the first corner, so I stayed cautious and kept the interior, which paid off. corners were crucial as I came out sixth. I was trying to hook up with VD Mark to get to the outposts but I was having a bit of a hard time turning. Also in the last five laps I was Calmed things down a bit, physically, knowing I could keep my position. Overall, I’m really, really happy. The feeling on the bike improves after each session. I was hoping for a Top 8, so to go back with a 4th place and starting from pole position tomorrow is much better ".

Tom Sykes (Kawasaki n ° 66), 5th:

10-13 Portugal - Portimão - Statements by WSBK 2018 drivers in Portimao: first race -

“After missing two days of practice here, I didn’t expect this event to be easy, and I think I missed a bit of juice. I just suffered a little with the before. It was very difficult for me to manage the last phase of the braking, I had a lot of trouble on the sidewall of the tire. I think it cost us a lot of time in the race. It’s a shame because we had a better balance in FP3 yesterday, with the same bike settings. It looks like I didn’t take advantage of the warmer conditions. We will now think about my problem with braking on the angle, I really did not have the best feeling of the front axle ".

Loris Baz (BMW n ° 76), 6th:

10-13 Portugal - Portimão - Statements by WSBK 2018 drivers in Portimao: first race -

"We knew that the pace was not bad and that there was a way to get a good result. I had a good start, I lost a few places, but with the confusion that there was at the first lap I managed to catch up. I quickly forced myself to pass Toprak after noticing Jordi starting to dig out of the way. I came back in his wake and quickly observed that he was asking a lot his rear tire. So I was patient because I knew I had a card to play at the end of the race. I finally managed to pass it and get my best result of the year. After more than two month of truce and considering the fact that we had not done any tests on this track during the summer, I am really delighted! I will start from third place tomorrow. It will be difficult to have a faster pace faster than today, but we will still try to make some adjustments to the bike, especially regarding the anti-wheelie. udra take advantage of this first line to stay at the forefront. Trying to grab a spot in the Top 5 would be really cool! "

Jordi Torres (MV Agusta n ° 81), 7th:

10-13 Portugal - Portimão - Statements by WSBK 2018 drivers in Portimao: first race -

"We had more problems than in the first stages, due to the higher temperatures. I pushed hard during the race, trying to keep the tire wear as low as possible, but I couldn’t get the result that I expected. We are going back to work on the data now, and tomorrow we will do our best to get even closer to the podium ".

Toprak Razgatlioglu (Kawasaki n ° 54), 8th:

10-13 Portugal - Portimão - Statements by WSBK 2018 drivers in Portimao: first race -

“It was a tough race for everyone because of the heat. I finished eighth, but first independent driver and I’m happy because it’s the best I could do today. felt good on the first lap but in the second half of the race the tires lost some of their performance and it was not easy to avoid mistakes. I know my competitors had the same problems so I I probably need to learn to control the bike better in these conditions. The tests were useful but the race is something different. There were 20 laps to go today and it was really hot. Tomorrow we will try to get a better result ".

Eugene Laverty (Aprilia n ° 50), retirement:

10-13 Portugal - Portimão - Statements by WSBK 2018 drivers in Portimao: first race -

“It was amazing to shoot 1:40 here. I didn’t think it was possible. I didn’t take advantage of someone else making a mistake or other giveaways, which was. good: I did it on my own, focusing on the track and harnessing the full potential of the bike. We understand this bike really well now and I’m looking forward to the end of season races. felt like we got off to a good start in the race, but Johnny (Rea) and Marco (Melandri) were very quick and took the lead. We got stuck in turn # 1 which caused allowed Lorenzo (Savadori, his teammate, Editor’s note) to pass and I had the bad luck to be the guy Fores eliminated. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. It’s heartbreaking for the guys to have such a joyful Superpole, then a race that only lasts 3 turns.It’s just as painful to start the first race from pole position with such a potential, then to take the start of second from 10th place, but that motivates me to try everything tomorrow. I will not rule out a podium. I want to have a good start and if I can stay with the guys in front of me for the first few laps I think I can get away with it and score some big points ".

Leon Camier (Honda n ° 2), retirement:

10-13 Portugal - Portimão - Statements by WSBK 2018 drivers in Portimao: first race -

"I got off to a very good start and was able to gain a lot of places, but the collision between Eugène (Laverty) and Xavi (Fores) on turn 3 forced me to straighten up, which made me lost a lot of places. After that I was able to regain a good rhythm and I felt I could achieve a good result. Unfortunately, in the middle of the race, I had a problem with my bike: j ‘Tried to continue for a few laps but couldn’t. So I returned to the pits. The team is looking into the matter. We will refocus and try again tomorrow in the second round. ".

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