Takumi Takahashi in the points zone in his debut race of the season at Portimao
Takumi Takahashi crossed the line in fifteenth place in today’s first Superbike race at the challenging Algarve International Circuit Portimao. It initially took the Japanese a little time to get into his rhythm but after a few laps, he began to steadily improve his pace before setting his personal fastest time on lap 11 and finishing inside the points zone in his first WSBK championship race of the season.
Struggling with a lack of grip, Ryuichi Kiyonari had a tougher race day and was forced to settle for nineteenth position at the end of the 20-lap competition.
Tomorrow’s Superpole race will start at 11:00 local time followed by Race 2 at 14:00 that rounds out the Portuguese race weekend.
Takumi Takahashi 13
“Today was quite challenging but it also had some positives and, above all, was a good experience. The first laps of the race were already tough enough, as I fought with some other riders and it took me some time to get past them and find my pace. But step by step my confidence improved and so did my rhythm. From mid-race on, I was able to maintain a consistent rhythm right until the end”.
Ryuichi Kiyonari 23
“I’m not happy with today’s performance. In qualifying I did not improve my position but at least the feeling with the bike was not bad, apart from the lack of rear grip. In order to try and improve in terms of that issue, we tried a set-up change, but it did not work as we were hoping for. I was struggling even more in the race and I could not ride fast enough. We must think ahead to tomorrow and work to try and do better”.
Superpole QP
| Pos. | Rider | Num | Nation | Team | Constructor | Time/Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rea Jonathan | 1 | GBR | Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK | Kawasaki | 1'40.372 |
| 2 | Sykes Tom | 66 | GBR | BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team | BMW | 1'40.483 |
| 3 | Cortese Sandro | 11 | GER | GRT Yamaha WorldSBK | Yamaha | 1'40.675 |
| 4 | Haslam Leon | 91 | GBR | Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK | Kawasaki | 1'40.997 |
| 5 | Lowes Alex | 22 | GBR | Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team | Yamaha | 1'41.044 |
| 6 | Bautista Alvaro | 19 | SPA | ARUBA Racing - Ducati | Ducati | 1'41.098 |
| 7 | Torres Jordi | 81 | SPA | Team Pedercini Racing | Kawasaki | 1'41.213 |
| 8 | Melandri Marco | 33 | ITA | GRT Yamaha WorldSBK | Yamaha | 1'41.259 |
| 9 | Reiterberger Markus | 28 | GER | BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team | BMW | 1'41.261 |
| 10 | van der Mark Michael | 60 | NDL | Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team | Yamaha | 1'41.272 |
| 11 | Rinaldi Michael Ruben | 21 | ITA | BARNI Racing Team | Ducati | 1'41.301 |
| 12 | Davies Chaz | 7 | GBR | ARUBA Racing - Ducati | Ducati | 1'41.349 |
| 13 | Razgatlioglu Toprak | 54 | TUR | Turkish Puccetti Racing | Kawasaki | 1'41.578 |
| 14 | Laverty Eugene | 50 | IRE | Team Goeleven | Ducati | 1'41.754 |
| 15 | Baz Loris | 19 | FRA | Ten Kate Racing - Yamaha | Yamaha | 1'41.960 |
| 16 | Mercado Leandro | 36 | ARG | Orelac Racing VerdNatura | Kawasaki | 1'42.243 |
| 17 | Takahashi Takumi | 13 | JPN | Moriwaki Althea Honda Team | Honda | 1'42.755 |
| 18 | Kiyonari Ryuichi | 23 | JPN | Moriwaki Althea Honda Team | Honda | 1'43.118 |
| 19 | Delbianco Alessandro | 52 | ITA | Althea Mie Racing Team | Honda | 1'43.263 |
| 20 | Barrier Sylvain | 20 | FRA | BRIXX Ducati | Ducati | 1'43.270 |
Race 1
| Pos. | Rider | Num | Nation | Points | Team | Constructor | Time/Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rea Jonathan | 1 | GBR | 25 | Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK | Kawasaki | 34'19.341 |
| 2 | Davies Chaz | 7 | GBR | 20 | ARUBA Racing - Ducati | Ducati | 3.891 |
| 3 | van der Mark Michael | 60 | NDL | 16 | Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team | Yamaha | 6.168 |
| 4 | Bautista Alvaro | 19 | SPA | 13 | ARUBA Racing - Ducati | Ducati | 8.564 |
| 5 | Haslam Leon | 91 | GBR | 11 | Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK | Kawasaki | 8.877 |
| 6 | Razgatlioglu Toprak | 54 | TUR | 10 | Turkish Puccetti Racing | Kawasaki | 10.404 |
| 7 | Lowes Alex | 22 | GBR | 9 | Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team | Yamaha | 13.495 |
| 8 | Cortese Sandro | 11 | GER | 8 | GRT Yamaha WorldSBK | Yamaha | 21.345 |
| 9 | Melandri Marco | 33 | ITA | 7 | GRT Yamaha WorldSBK | Yamaha | 21.582 |
| 10 | Rinaldi Michael Ruben | 21 | ITA | 6 | BARNI Racing Team | Ducati | 22.486 |
| 11 | Torres Jordi | 81 | SPA | 5 | Team Pedercini Racing | Kawasaki | 22.701 |
| 12 | Reiterberger Markus | 28 | GER | 4 | BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team | BMW | 27.132 |
| 13 | Sykes Tom | 66 | GBR | 3 | BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team | BMW | 34.484 |
| 14 | Mercado Leandro | 36 | ARG | 2 | Orelac Racing VerdNatura | Kawasaki | 36.612 |
| 15 | Takahashi Takumi | 13 | JPN | 1 | Moriwaki Althea Honda Team | Honda | 46.877 |
| 16 | Baz Loris | 19 | FRA | 0 | Ten Kate Racing - Yamaha | Yamaha | 47.901 |
| 17 | Barrier Sylvain | 20 | FRA | 0 | BRIXX Ducati | Ducati | 1'00.704 |
| 18 | Delbianco Alessandro | 52 | ITA | 0 | Althea Mie Racing Team | Honda | 1'00.767 |
| 19 | Kiyonari Ryuichi | 23 | JPN | 0 | Moriwaki Althea Honda Team | Honda | 1'09.039 |
| 20 | Laverty Eugene | 50 | IRE | 0 | Team Goeleven | Ducati | 8 laps |
Rider standings
| Pos. | Rider | Num | Nation | Points | Team | Constructor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rea Jonathan | 1 | GBR | 458 | Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK | Kawasaki |
| 2 | Bautista Alvaro | 19 | SPA | 365 | ARUBA.IT Racing - Ducati | Ducati |
| 3 | van der Mark Michael | 60 | NDL | 231 | Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team | Yamaha |
| 4 | Lowes Alex | 22 | GBR | 229 | Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team | Yamaha |
| 5 | Haslam Leon | 91 | GBR | 213 | Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK | Kawasaki |
| 6 | Davies Chaz | 7 | GBR | 204 | ARUBA.IT Racing - Ducati | Ducati |
| 7 | Razgatlioglu Toprak | 54 | TUR | 201 | Turkish Puccetti Racing | Kawasaki |
| 8 | Sykes Tom | 66 | GBR | 173 | BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team | BMW |
| 9 | Melandri Marco | 33 | ITA | 145 | GRT Yamaha WorldSBK | Yamaha |
| 10 | Cortese Sandro | 11 | GER | 108 | GRT Yamaha WorldSBK | Yamaha |
| 11 | Rinaldi Michael Ruben | 21 | ITA | 103 | BARNI Racing Team | Ducati |
| 12 | Torres Jordi | 81 | SPA | 101 | Team Pedercini Racing | Kawasaki |
| 13 | Baz Loris | 19 | FRA | 76 | Ten Kate Racing - Yamaha | Yamaha |
| 14 | Reiterberger Markus | 28 | GER | 64 | BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team | BMW |
| 15 | Mercado Leandro | 36 | ARG | 50 | Orelac Racing VerdNatura | Kawasaki |
| 16 | Laverty Eugene | 50 | IRE | 41 | Team Goeleven | Ducati |
| 17 | Camier Leon | 2 | GBR | 26 | Moriwaki Althea Honda Team | Honda |
| 18 | Delbianco Alessandro | 52 | ITA | 21 | Althea Mie Racing Team | Honda |
| 19 | Zanetti Lorenzo | 87 | ITA | 21 | Motocorsa Racing | Kawasaki |
| 20 | Kiyonari Ryuichi | 23 | JPN | 20 | Moriwaki Althea Honda Team | Honda |
| 21 | Hickman Peter | 10 | GBR | 14 | BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team | BMW |
| 22 | Bridewell Tommy | 46 | GBR | 12 | Team Goeleven | Ducati |
| 23 | Takahashi Yuki | 72 | JPN | 11 | Moriwaki Althea Honda Team | Honda |
| 24 | Pirro Michele | 51 | ITA | 10 | BARNI Racing Team | Ducati |
| 25 | Cavalieri Samuele | 97 | ITA | 6 | Motocorsa Racing | Ducati |
| 26 | Barbera Hector | 80 | SPA | 3 | Orelac Racing VerdNatura | Kawasaki |
| 27 | Takahashi Takumi | 13 | JPN | 1 | Moriwaki Althea Honda Team | Honda |
| 28 | Warokorn Thitipong | 99 | THA | 0 | Kawasaki Thailand Racing Team | Kawasaki |
| 29 | Schmitter Dominic | 9 | SWI | 0 | iXS Racing powered by YART | Yamaha |
| 30 | Beach J.D. | 95 | USA | 0 | Attack Performance Estenson Yamaha | Yamaha |
| 31 | Herfoss Troy | 17 | AUS | 0 | Penrite Honda Racing | Honda |
| 32 | Barrier Sylvain | 20 | FRA | 0 | BRIXX Ducati | Ducati |
