Jonathan Rea looks set to clinch his third World Superbike Championship at the next round at Magny Cours after completing a dominant double at Portimao. The Ulsterman outclassed his rivals once again despite starting ninth on the grid and with Tom Sykes failing to start through injury and Chaz Davies crashing out, Rea could wrap up the title as early as race one in France.
The reverse grid regulations promoted Leon Camier’s MV Agusta to pole position but all the reshuffled provided was another opportunity to see Rea’s remarkable skill amongst traffic. The reigning champion sliced his way through to second on the very first lap and although Camier put up a spirited resistance, Jonathan deprived him of the lead before lap two was over.
Just as did in race one, Rea immediately checked out at the front with Davies eventually picking his way through to second, only to throw it all away with a crash three laps from home. With Camier falling victim to a mechanical failure on his MV, Michael van der Mark emerged from the mayhem in second place for Yamaha, his best result of 2017, while Marco Melandri secured his second podium of the weekend on the sole remaining Aruba Ducati.
Eugene Laverty grabbed a fine fourth for Aprilia, his best result of the season, while Jordi Torres and Lorenzo Savadori were promoted into the top six following crashes for Xavi Fores and Alex Lowes. Leandro Mercado was seventh ahead of Puccetti stand-in Anthony West while Ayrton Badovini and Takumi Takahashi capitalised on the high attrition rate with top ten finishes.
WorldSBK 2017: Prosecco DOC Portuguese Round – Race Two Result
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