Rea retains top spot, Davies into Q1 after fiery crash
Full WorldSBK FP3 results from Portimao
Jonathan Rea has kept in control at Portimao by topping all three Friday practice sessions on the combined times, while nearest World Superbike title rival Chaz Davies missed out on the automatic Q2 places due to a fiery crash in FP3.
Full WorldSBK FP3 results from Portimao
Jonathan Rea has kept in control at Portimao by topping all three Friday practice sessions on the combined times, while nearest World Superbike title rival Chaz Davies missed out on the automatic Q2 places due to a fiery crash in FP3.
While Rea maintained top spot thanks to his best lap from the morning session, a 1m 41.817s, Aruba.it Racing Ducati’s Marco Melandri topped FP3 to see the Italian rider jump up to second overall with a 1m 42.003s.
But it was disaster for Melandri’s team-mate Davies who suffered an engine fire during the opening stages of the final session which saw him crash out at Turn 8 to trigger a red-flag stoppage.
Davies was able to walk away unharmed from the off, despite returning to action following a second collarbone injury less than three weeks ago, but the crash ended his session leaving him unable to fight for the top ten.
With Davies stuck down in 15th place at the end of Friday practice he missed the automatic Q2 spots ahead of qualifying at the Portuguese circuit.
Jordi Torres retained his Q2 spot by ending Friday practice third on the combined times to mark an impressive day for the MV Agusta at Portimao with Puccetti Kawasaki’s Toprak Razgatlioglu also catching the eye with his late FP3 charge to move up to fourth place.
Eugene Laverty secured his top ten spot with a late lap in the final session to take fifth for Milwaukee Aprilia but saw team-mate Lorenzo Savadori miss out after he crashed midway through FP3.
Despite slipping down the order to seventh place, Kawasaki's Tom Sykes produced a solid showing on his injury comeback having sustained ankle ligament damage just over three weeks ago.
Pata Yamaha duo Michael van der Mark and Alex Lowes both booked their automatic Q2 spots with late FP3 improvements which saw Aruba.it Racing Ducati’s Michael Ruben Rinaldi scrape in with Althea BMW’s Loris Baz narrowly missing out in 11th place.
Despite encouraging development signs through Friday practice, Red Bull Honda duo Leon Camier and Jake Gagne will also go into Q1 after finishing the day in 12th and 13th respectively but ahead of the stricken Savadori and Davies.
