- Kyle Smith just misses Portimao podium
- Josh Day fights to solid fifth place
- Manfredi crashes out of STK600
- Stunning debut for Chrissy Rouse
It was a weekend of mixed fortunes for the Racedays Honda team at the Autodromo Internacional Algarve in Portimao for round five of the FIM Superstock 1000 Cup and the European Superstock 600 championship (4-6 July).
In the Superstock 1000 class, Kyle Smith from the UK was a consistent top six runner on his Honda CBR1000RR SP machine in all practice sessions, eventually qualifying in third place for Sunday’s 14-lap race, just 0.1s from pole position.
His Racedays Honda team-mate, American Josh Day, was in the mix, too, starting from the head of row three of the grid at the 4.592km Portimao circuit in seventh place.
Smith was confident in the drizzling conditions that determined a wet race and got a perfect start, leading the opening laps before being forced to reduce his pace to conserve his rear tyre as the circuit began to dry. The 22-year-old from Yorkshire eventually crossed the line in fourth place as Day, 24, not usually a fan of wet conditions, fought his own way through to fifth position at the flag.
Saturday evening’s Superstock 600 race saw Kevin Manfredi line up in positive mood, despite starting from 10th place on the grid. The Italian had been impressive in free practice but traffic during qualifying restricted him to a fourth-row start. Unfortunately, he crashed out at the first corner, but luckily walked away with a sore back and ribs.
His new team-mate, British rider Chrissy Rouse enjoyed an impressive debut on Honda’s CBR600RR, finishing just outside the top ten, despite not having raced since the end of the 2013 season. New Zealander Jake Lewis was 16th at the flag after getting forced off the track in the turn one crash involving Manfredi.
Jeremy McWilliams – team manager
Kevin showed so much promise in Superstock 600 but sadly it didn’t come to anything in the race after he crashed at turn one. His tyre probably cooled a little too much because they were all sitting on the grid with the wind blowing hard. It was a huge crash, but luckily there’s nothing broken so he’ll be back for Jerez. It was a great debut from Chrissy – he got a great start and managed to gain an advantage in that first corner crash, but he held on to it all the way through. It was a great result for his first ride on a Honda and considering he hasn’t ridden all year. Jake was unfortunately a victim of the first-lap crash and was forced off the track and was unable to close the gap to a points finish. Kyle and Josh have been super-strong on the Fireblade all weekend and Kyle has attacked the place at every opportunity. Even when it wasn’t a perfect set-up he was still blindingly fast. We made some changes for warm-up which worked. But with no wet-weather practice we had to make a guess at the setting for the race. There was some info from Assen but we’ve changed the bike drastically since then. Kyle is disappointed that he missed the podium but I think he and Josh and the team did a great job. We’re all very positive after this weekend and looking forward to taking this solid progress to Jerez.
Kyle Smith – STK1000, 4th
It was a good race and I like the wet but we had some traction and corner entry problems as the track dried off. Some of the other riders have sophisticated electronics to help with this but my team did a great job with the CBR this weekend. We went softer for the wet but that might have been a bit too soft for when the track dried. If it had stayed wet, I think we might have been able to fight for the win, but I don’t know how easy it would’ve been. I had to drop the pace off a little when it dried which was a bit frustrating because I could smell the champagne! That’s how it goes sometimes and the next track is Jerez which is my favourite!
Josh Day – STK1000, 5th
I actually had a decent race, even though was a bit nervous beforehand. I don’t have that much rain-riding experience, but I felt a bit of confidence after the Assen race where I was able to bring it home with some decent points in wet conditions. The CBR was working pretty well from the start but I got held up a little in the early laps. When I got past those guys I got into my own rhythm and was able to close a little on the guys in front but I ran out of laps. We struggled a bit with rear grip and front-end chatter when the track dried so I’m happy with the result in those conditions. I just wish we didn’t have to wait two months until Jerez!
Chrissy Rouse – STK600, 11th
It was a great debut in the Superstock 600 category for me – especially scoring some decent points. I feel like I have learned a lot this weekend and I’d like to give the team a really big thanks for giving me a great package with the Honda CBR. I’m really looking forward to the next race in Jerez.
Jake Lewis – STK600, 16th
It was a bit of an unfortunate start to the race for me because I got caught up in the turn one incident and was forced off the track. That made it really hard, but I had good race pace and my times were pretty much the same as the guys in the top ten, so that’s a positive to take away from the weekend.
Kevin Manfredi – STK600, DNF
It’s a very disappointing way to go into the summer break, but at least I have some time to recover from the injuries – I think I have badly bruised a rib and my coccyx. I’m not sure what happened but I went a long way in the air before I came down. I was really happy with the bike for the race but this is racing. Now I must wait until Jerez in September before I can ride again.
European Superstock 600 championship, round five – Portimao, Portugal
Result,12 laps:
1 M Faccani (ITA) Kawasaki
2 W Tessels (NED) Suzuki
3 F Caricasulo (ITA) Honda
4 I Mikhalchik (UKR) Kawasaki
5 R Bodis (HUN) Honda
6 A Tucci (ITA) Kawasaki
11 C Rouse (GBR) Racedays Honda
16 J Lewis (NZL) Racedays Honda
DNF Kevin Manfredi (ITA) Agro-On WIL Racedays Honda
Championship points after five of seven rounds:
1 Faccani 106, 2 Tessels 72, 3 Tuuli 58, 4 Tucci 55, 5 Caricasulo 46, 7 Mikhalchik 40, 8 Manfredi 35
Superstock 1000 FIM Cup, round five – Portimao, Portugal
Result, 14 laps:
1 L Salvadori (ITA) Kawasaki
2 M Lussiana (FRA) Kawasaki
3 D McFadden (RSA) Kawasaki
4 Kyle Smith (GBR) Agro-On WIL Racedays Honda
5 Josh Day (USA) Agro-On WIL Racedays Honda
Championship points after five of rounds:
1 Savadori 81, 2 Mercado 79, 3 Lussiana 59, 4 Jezek 58, 10 Smith 35, 11 Day 32
Next round: 5-7 September, Jerez, Spain
