Portimao front row for Rea

[totalmotorcycle]

#Portimao front row for Rea


Jonathan Rea will start tomorrow’s two sixth-round World Superbike championship races from the front row of the grid after setting the third fastest time in this afternoon’s rain-affected Superpole sessions at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve in Portugal.



The 26-year-old from Northern Ireland was fastest in both regulation qualifying sessions at the 4.592km Portimao circuit and progressed comfortably through from the Superpole 1 this afternoon.



However, as he attacked Superpole 2, setting the fastest time again, the session was red-flagged due to rain. The final grid positions were, therefore, to be determined by a single 20-minute session, which turned out to be dry.



With further rain threatening, Rea went out on his final qualifying tyre, matching his fastest ever lap around Portimao, but it was Tom Sykes who took pole position by 0.001s from Eugene Laverty.



Rea’s Pata Honda team-mate Leon Haslam once again battled against injury to put his CBR1000RR into Superpole but he was unable to progress beyond Superpole 1 and will start tomorrow’s two 22-lap World Superbike races from the fifth row of the grid.



Jonathan Rea – P3, 1m41.787s



Superpole was a bit strange, to be honest, because the weather was coming in, so in Superpole 2 we went out straight away with the Q. I went pretty quick in dodgy conditions and I was taking a bit of a risk, but they red flagged the session just as I finished my lap. So I was really frustrated because I thought that was us locked in and we’d got our place on the grid. But then they went to the wet Superpole format which was 20 minutes, and we used the Q too early. I did my best again on the other Q and went pretty quick – a 41.7, and the clouds were coming in again – but then it brightened up so the other guys tended to get the best of the track. I was happy enough to be on the front row, really, because we made a real backwards step in FP2, but we rectified it for Superpole. I’m looking forward to the races tomorrow and I think we can make another step in warm-up with the chassis. The bumps around here are just a little bit off-putting, especia lly through the fast bomb-hole section, so we’ll just tidy the bike up a little bit. I’ve got to find some speed in sector one as well but, other than that, we’re good to race.



Leon Haslam – P14, 1m43.522s



I felt we made some good steps with the bike today and, honestly, it’s working really well. But I’m still struggling in certain areas. I’ve got the knee bend now, but it’s pain from the ligaments and the lack of strength that is making me suffer. I still can’t push through the left peg like I want to, but the boys have moved the bike on through the weekend so far, which is positive. Obviously, I’m not doing too many laps in one go so it’s hard to make much progress but it’s definitely better. I used a qualifier in Superpole 1 but probably had to be more aggressive and physical with that tyre, getting it to turn and do the things I need it to do, because of the extra grip. I should have been a second faster but struggled to get more than a couple of tenths, which wasn’t good enough. I’ve accepted the fact that we’re not on the pace again here and the races are going to be difficult but the developments we ’re making on the bike are only going to help when I’m back fit.



Pieter Breddels – technical co-ordinator



Leon made it to Superpole, which was a great job, and we actually managed to improve the bike quite a bit for him. He finished in 14th but that’s just due to his physical condition, so we’ll just have to see how he goes tomorrow. Jonathan had a really good run in Superpole 2 which was declared wet and he immediately set the pace with a 41.7, matching his best lap time around here which was pole position from 2011. He got third and a front row, so well done to him. His race pace is quite good, too, so we can compete and there’ll be two exciting races tomorrow.



2013 World Superbike championship, round six – Autodromo Internacional do Algarve, Portugal

Final qualifying results and first two rows:


1. Tom Sykes (GBR) Kawasaki 1m41.360s

2. Eugene Laverty (IRL) Aprilia 1m41.361s

3. Jonathan Rea (GBR) Pata Honda 1m41.787s

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4. Marco Melandri (ITA) BMW 1m42.115s

5. Sylvain Guintoli (FRA) Aprilia 1m42.209s

6. Loriz Baz (FRA) Kawasaki 1m42.328s



14. Leon Haslam (GBR) Pata Honda 1m43.522s