WSBK Portimao: Pole for Rea, struggles for Redding

Jonathan Rea put in a dominating performance in the dying minutes of the Superpole session to claim pole position for Race 1 as championship leader Scott Redding struggles after a small crash mid-session.

Jonathan Rea managed to achieve the 24th pole position of his career and fourth at Portimao with a dominating performance in the last few minutes of the Superpole session in Portugal. Long time leader and fastest rider in the majority of free practices Toprak Razgatlioglu has been forced to settle for the second position, in the end, finishing almost three tenths behind the reigning world champion, with Alex Lowes showing another big improvement compared to free practices to finish the session in third and thus completing the front row.

BMW’s Tom Sykes heads the second row after finishing in the fourth position, while second Pata Yamaha rider Michael van der Mark and Ten Kate Yamaha rider Loris Baz will start alongside him after finishing in fifth and sixth position respectively. Michael Ruben Rinaldi was the top Ducati rider in a lowly seventh position, while Scott Redding faces an uphill battle to protect his championship lead with a start from the eighth position after suffering a crash at turn 6 soon after the start of the qualifying session. BMW’s Eugene Laverty and fastest Honda in the form of Leon Haslam complete the top 10.

It’s also worth noting that Redding was not the only rider who crashed during the Superpole session, Alvaro Bautista also crashed at turn 13.

Featured Image – www.worldsbk.com