Pata Honda’s Jonathan Rea topped the final timed World Superbike free practice session at Portimao this morning, but left it till the chequered flag appeared before he set the fastest time of the weekend so far – a 1’43.147.
The Northern Irishman successfully out-paced the Aprilia duo of Marco Melandri and Sylvain Guintoli to bag the provisional pole spot. The Italian and Frenchman were never far off the pace – with only one tenth separating the trio out on the Portuguese track.
Initially it was Kawasaki’s Loris Baz was the first rider to break the time held by Melandri on Friday, and the sprightly Frenchman went two tenths faster than the 1’43.800 which seemed to be unbeatable during yesterday’s free practice sessions.
But soon Guintoli and Rea were going quicker, with the Northern Irishman posting a 1’43.514 to head the timesheets for the first time this weekend, after ten minutes out on track. Kawasaki’s Tom Sykes was quietly making his way up the timing-screens but soon made his mark when a 1’43.418 put him on provisional pole after ten minutes, followed by Rea and Guintoli.
But Melandri was looking to emulate his good form from Friday’s free practice sessions and a 1’43.404 was enough to pull him back to the top, pushing Sykes back down to second with 16 minutes remaining.
Soon Sykes was back on top with a 1’43.344, but Laverty came from fifth and went to head the timesheets after a 1’43.327, going one tenth faster than the Kawasaki man after 35 minutes. The Monaco-based resident was on a roll and soon his times were tumbling down – firmly cementing his place on the provisional front row.
Smack bang on the eight minute mark the small Italian figure of Melandri fought back and went one-one hundredths of a second quicker than Laverty to go back to the fore-front of the timesheets, after a 1’43.260, with only five minutes remaining.
After 40 minutes Pata Honda’s Leon Haslam, Ducati’s Chaz Davies and Voltcom Suzuki’s Alex Lowes were teetering close to not going through to Superpole two, as they were all hovering around that tenth spot on the timesheets. But Haslam – who was tenth for most of the session leapt to fifth with a 1’43.310, but soon slipped back to sixth as Davies went one better. It’s as if both riders had a wake up call and decided to shift up a gear – and it worked.
As the chequered flag appeared Rea stormed through the pack to go back to head the timesheets for the second time today –with a 1’43.147, followed by Melandri and Guintoli. Voltcom Suzuki’s Eugene Laverty and Davies completed the top five. With all the commotion at the top of the field, Sykes had fallen back down to eighth after spending the final minutes of the outing in the pits.
The reigning champ was unable to improve on his best time of 1’43.344, which allowed Haslam to edge on ahead with a 1’43.310. Lowes and Ducati’s Davide Giugliano rounded off the top ten, with the Italian sneaking into Superpole two by three tenths of a second.
Kawasaki’s David Salom was the leading Evo rider out there, and he will be joined in Superpole one by Alstare’s Christian Iddon, who never made it into the top ten times throughout the 45 session. The Brit ended the morning 14th overall after his best time of a 1’44.711.
Entrants for Superpole two:
Rea
Melandri
Guintoli
Laverty
Davies
Baz
Haslam
Sykes
Lowes
Giugliano
