News

10 things to note ahead of Race Two at Autodromo Internacional do Algarve

Saturday, 15 September 2018 14:23 GMT

Don’t miss out on the top ten facts before Race two

  1. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)’s win was his fifth straight win in the last five races. The only other time he had recorded a string of five wins was last year from Phillip Island race one to Aragon race one. If he wins in race two, it will be the first time he has recorded a string of six victories.  
  2. Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) secured his 19th podium in Race 1, and in Race 2 he will try to record a string of three podiums for the first time since 2016, with Phillip Island Race one to Buriram race one.
  3. Only 11 riders have started at least 200 WorldSBK races. Troy Corser is the leader, with 377 race starts, and Leon Camier (Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team) is set for his 200th race start on Sunday.
  4. Eugene Laverty (Milwaukee Aprilia) recorded pole in Portimao after a wait of 4 years, 10 months and 26 days: he had set his previous one in Jerez, back on the 20th of October, 2013. This was his 3rd career pole.
  5. Marco Melandri (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) has two goals in sight. He could become the 11th rider with at least 70 podiums in WorldSBK history and, with one more, to equal Max Biaggi as the Italian rider with most podiums in WorldSBK history (71).
  6. Rea became the third rider in history with at least 50 wins for a single manufacturer (Kawasaki) after Carl Fogarty (55 for Ducati) and Troy Bayliss (52 for Ducati).
  7. Aprilia secured their debut pole position in Portugal and had waited for a pole position in qualifying since the 2015 Magny Cours weekend.
  8. It’s been the best race result of the season for Loris Baz (GULF Althea BMW Racing Team), who will start again from the front row after his third place in qualifying in Donington.
  9. There will be two milestones set tomorrow: Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) start his 70th race for Yamaha on Sunday, whilst Xavi Fores (BARNI Racing Team) will start his 80th race for Ducati on Sunday.
  10. Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) qualified in sixth in Superpole, meaning he has only qualified off of the front row in 2018 at Assen and Portimao.

Keep up with all the action, and see how our WorldSBK riders fare around the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve, all with the WorldSBK VideoPass.