GoldBet BMW’s Marco Melandri clinched the victory in the first World Superbike race of the day, but by only two hundredths of a second, from Aprilia’s Sylvain Guintoli. Kawasaki’s Tom Sykes claimed the final spot of the podium, finishing in third.
There was an epic battle throughout the 22 lap race, with the lead changing numerous times around the Portimao circuit. Sykes led the way from turn one on the first lap, but hot on his heels were Aprilia’s Eugene Laverty and Melandri.
Laverty, who has won before at the Portuguese track was not going to let the Kawasaki get the better of him this time, and on the straight going into lap six overtook Sykes to go into the lead. The Irishman was dominating the race, until an engine blow up on lap eleven going into turn one prematurely ended his race ambitions and he had to watch the rest of the race from the pits.
With Laverty out Melandri stormed to the front, but on lap sixteen Sykes made a tight overtaking manoeuvre going into turn one, resulting in Melandri going wide, pushing Guintoli up to second. The Frenchman was never far behind the leaders and decided to make his move on the straight at the beginning of lap eighteen. Grip issues proved to be a problem for Sykes, as the Huddersfield rider fell back to third and had to watch the BMW and Aprilia advance into the distance. On the penultimate lap Sykes dropped off the pace, and the battle was between Melandri and Guintoli. Both riders pushed to the end, but it was the diminutive Italian who managed to snatch the win from Guintoli.
Sykes had to settle for third, as he found himself four seconds behind Guintoli as he crossed the line. Fixi Crescent Suzuki’s Leon Camier finished in fourth, nine seconds behind the leading group. It was a solid race for the Kent man, who started from the fifth row and managed to work his way up the grid. On only his fourth lap the Brit made it into the top ten and on lap seven found himself in a battle with GoldBet BMW’s Chaz Davies for eighth, with the tall Englishman, rather than the tall Welshman making it out on top this time. Camier then overtook Kawasaki’s Loris Baz in the process.
Davies finished in sixth, behind Frenchman Baz, with Red Devils Roma rider Michel Fabrizio and Fixi Crescent Suzuki’s Jules Cluzel crossing the line in seventh and eighth respectively. Ducati Alstare’s Carlos Checa and Team Pedercini’s Federico Sandi rounded off the top ten.
There were six retirements during the race. Pata Honda’s Jonathan Rea was in fifth, when he went wide and into the gravel on lap eight and could not re-start his bike, ending his podium chances. He was not the only Pata Honda bike to not finish the race, Leon Haslam retired to his garage while he was in thirteenth place.
Haslam is still struggling with a leg injury, and during the race banged his leg and the pain proved too much for the Smalley resident and he could no longer continue in race one. Althea Racing’s Davide Giugliano crashed while in sixth place, and only minutes later Team Pedercini’s Alexander Lundh crashed on turn 11 on his sixth lap.
