Xerox Ducati’s Troy Bayliss cruised to his 51st World Superbike win in Portimao this morning, running away from the front and building an eight second lead inside nine laps.

The Aussie managed his tyres on the new, abrasive surface better than anyone else in the field with early front runners Leon Haslam, Jonathan Rea, Ruben Xaus and Cal Crutchlow fading as their rubber shredded.

Crutchlow got away at the front and tried to push his way past Bayliss into turn one, but the Ducati man wasn’t having any of it and was into the second corner first.

Team-mate Michel Fabrizio and Max Biaggi came together mid-way through the first lap, which held up Haslam and Haga, enabling the leading group to pull away.

Haslam eventually towed the Japanese up to the group dicing for second with Rea, Corser, Xaus and Crutchlow all swapping places for a ten-lap session. As Haslam came through to second and started to gap Haga in third, Crutchlow was passed by his team-mate, and by Xaus

By lap eight, however, Crutchlow’s rear Pirelli had given up and he started to drop back through the pack and he eventually retired with a handful of laps to go.

Haga put a hard move on Haslam on lap 12 and forced the 25-year-old off the track and across the Astroturf. This dropped Haslam right back to fifth and he couldn’t recover.

Haga was also forced to retire with what looked like gearbox problems. This gifted team-mate Corser second in the championship.

Eventually Carlos Checa managed to pass Corser for second and put a gap on the Aussie.

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