2020 Portimao World Superbike Superpole Result: Flying On A Broken Wing

Submitted by Jared Earle on Sat, 2020-08-08 10:37

World Superbike Superpole at Portimao opened with Toprak Razgatlioglu being the quickest rider, but with riders having the option of what should be called the Tom Sykes tyre, he would have his work cut out for him if he intended to get a front row start.

Loris Baz was the first to set a fast lap, but when Razgatlioglu set his first lap, he went to the top with a 1'41.353. Scott Redding set the second-quickest lap before losing a wing hitting the bump into turn five and crashing out, but the Marshalls were quick enough to help him back up and he gave his mechanics some extra work.

At the halfway mark, most riders pitted in for the standard issue mid-session break, but Scott Redding made the most of a mostly empty track to check out his new left-side plastics. At the seven minute mark, the sticky tyres were fitted and the qualifying proper started.

Leon Haslam snuck out while Alvaro Bautista got his Honda repaired after an off. Haslam was the first to set a lap with the Q tyre, and he put himself in a fourth place that would not last. Alex Lowes set a 1'41.074 to go quickest, and Tom Sykes set red sectors throughout his lap only to miss out in the last sector. Jonathan Rea took the top place with a 1'40.676, with Toprak Razgatlioglu just a quarter of a second off pole.

With the flag out, Scott Redding was on quick sector times, but as he fluffed his first lap on the quick tyre, his second attempt dropped off the pace halfway around.

Jonathan Rea sat in his 24th career pole position, fourth at Portimao, for this afternoon's race, ahead of Toprak Razgatlioglu's first ever Superpole front row and Alex Lowes on the second Kawasaki.

Tom Sykes headed the second row, ahead of Michael van der Mark and Loris Baz. Michael Ruben Rinaldi was the quickest Ducati, ahead of Scott Redding and Eugene Laverty.

Results:

Pos	No.	Rider	Bike	Time	Gap	Speed
1	1	J. REA	Kawasaki ZX-10RR	1'40.676		307,8
2	54	T. RAZGATLIOGLU	Yamaha YZF R1	1'40.954	0.278	313,2
3	22	A. LOWES	Kawasaki ZX-10RR	1'41.074	0.398	310,5
4	66	T. SYKES	BMW S1000 RR	1'41.240	0.564	309,6
5	60	M. VAN DER MARK	Yamaha YZF R1	1'41.335	0.659	306,1
6	76	L. BAZ	Yamaha YZF R1	1'41.354	0.678	307,8
7	21	M. RINALDI	Ducati Panigale V4 R	1'41.424	0.748	306,1
8	45	S. REDDING	Ducati Panigale V4 R	1'41.436	0.760	312,3
9	50	E. LAVERTY	BMW S1000 RR	1'41.504	0.828	307,8
10	91	L. HASLAM	Honda CBR1000RR-R	1'41.607	0.931	306,1
11	31	G. GERLOFF	Yamaha YZF R1	1'41.807	1.131	308,7
12	19	A. BAUTISTA	Honda CBR1000RR-R	1'42.123	1.447	308,7
13	7	C. DAVIES	Ducati Panigale V4 R	1'42.227	1.551	315,9
14	11	S. CORTESE	Kawasaki ZX-10RR	1'42.345	1.669	298,5
15	12	X. FORES	Kawasaki ZX-10RR	1'42.421	1.745	310,5
16	64	F. CARICASULO	Yamaha YZF R1	1'42.491	1.815	304,4
17	77	M. SCHEIB	Kawasaki ZX-10RR	1'42.654	1.978	301,8
18	36	L. MERCADO	Ducati Panigale V4 R	1'42.718	2.042	307,8
19	33	M. MELANDRI	Ducati Panigale V4 R	1'42.873	2.197	304,4
20	20	S. BARRIER	Ducati Panigale V4 R	1'42.894	2.218	301,8
21	13	T. TAKAHASHI	Honda CBR1000RR-R	1'44.025	3.349	300,2
22	23	C. PONSSON	Aprilia RSV4 1000	1'44.027	3.351	305,2
23	63	L. GABELLINI	Honda CBR1000RR-R	1'44.779	4.103	288,2