Jonathan Rea finished top of the timesheets after third practice as he held off a spirited Davide Giugliano ahead of this afternoon’s crucial Superpole session.
Rea showed just why he is leading the championship in the manner that he is, with the Ulsterman miles ahead of the pack in terms of raw pace. A 15 lap run saw the Kawasaki rider post 14 of those in the 1’43 bracket, with his stand-alone 1’42.916 the outright fastest.
The speed of Rea bodes well for Kawasaki ahead of Superpole and the races as Tom Sykes proved the machine is working in fine order at Portimao, with the Yorkshireman securing third behind Giugliano’s 1’42.928 with his own 1’42.966. In fact, the trio were the only riders to post times in the 1’42 bracket as the remainder of the top ten could only manage laps in the 1’43s.
A late flourish from the Aprilia Red Devils team saw Jordi Torres - who is effectively enjoying the circuit for the first time, although he has tested at Portimao once - and Leon Haslam show that they’re ready to be right in the mix once qualifying comes around later.
Chaz Davies, who had been top four in both previous sessions at Portimao, had to settle for sixth on a 1’43.390, just 0.004s ahead of the hugely impressive Ayrton Badovini who could give BMW something to really cheer about this weekend.
Rounding out the top ten were Matteo Baiocco, current champion Sylvain Guintoli and David Salom. All three were in the 1’43s and indeed 12th and 13th placed Leon Camier and Alex Lowes were unlucky to find themselves outside the top ten as their respective 1’43.792 and 1’43.942 were still good laps for both men.
Young rookie Michael Van Der Mark finished 14th on the timesheets and Lowes’ Suzuki team-mate Randy DePuniet endured yet another disappointing session in 18th.
