Team HRC riders Alvaro Bautista and Leon Haslam were both in the battle for the podium throughout the first of this weekend’s WorldSBK races at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve. Haslam ultimately crossed the line fifth while Bautista unfortunately crashed at the last corner of the final lap while defending third place. Despite the final result, both riders put in a very strong performance and clearly demonstrated their podium potential.

After the final practice, during which both factory riders shaved a few tenths of their best times of yesterday, it was time for the Superpole qualifying phase. As usual, the times tumbled in the final seconds, Bautista recording a 1’41.013 to move up into sixth place by the end of the 15-minute session. Haslam had in fact set a very strong time earlier on in the session, but he then went one better in the final minutes with a 1’40.780 which earned him the third spot on the front row of the grid for the first races, directly in front of his team-mate on row two.

Race 1 got underway in warm and sunny conditions at 2pm local time (25°C air temp., 43°C track temp.). Leon made a good start and lay fourth through the opening turns. He then moved back into third on lap five after Rea suffered a crash. Bautista meanwhile lost ground off the line, slipping from sixth to eleventh, but soon recovered and began to work his way back up the field, ninth by lap two. Demonstrating a strong pace, Alvaro was soon able to reach Van der Mark and move into seventh. Mid-race, and while leading a very compact group of riders, Haslam was passed by two riders, one of which was his team-mate, who moved into fifth ahead of him.

Part of a chasing group made up of five riders, the Team HRC pair kept up the pace, determined to fight hard for a potential podium finish and lying fourth and fifth on lap fourteen. Haslam ultimately lost a few seconds in the last three laps to cross the line a strong fifth, while Bautista battled with Baz for third place until the very last turn when he unfortunately suffered a crash, which prevented him from scoring what was looking to be his third podium finish in a row. Both riders will be keen to exploit their clear potential in tomorrow’s races.

Alvaro Bautista 19

DNF

“What a shame about the crash. Luckily, I’m totally fine. I didn’t make a brilliant start and was quite far back at the end of the first lap but I recovered quickly, passing several riders to gradually move up into the third place. In the last lap Loris passed me through the first corner and I thought that, if I followed him for the entire lap, I wouldn’t have another good chance to attack him, so I overtook him straight away and then just tried to defend my position. In the last corner I just tried to close the line a little more than usual, but the asphalt is a bit bumpy there. I lost the front, and the podium as a result, and that’s a pity because we deserved it here, even more than we did in Jerez because we’ve worked really well to adapt the set-up to a tyre I don’t normally choose to use. We adjusted every detail and today we were there once more, fighting at the front. We were also strong in qualifying. Anyway, tomorrow is another day and we’ll do our very best in the two races.”

Leon Haslam 91

P5

“Top five is not so bad but, honestly, I’m a bit disappointed because I was quite happy with the bike, it was quite stable, and our lap times were consistent. We were losing a bit in braking through several sections of the track but I was consistently faster than everyone else through the last sector. So there a lot of positives to take from this, as we were not far from the podium, but I would have liked to be a bit closer in the battle for the top three. We have definitely made a step during recent tests, but I’ve not being able to capitalise on that in the last few races, while Alvaro has. We are not so far off through and will try to improve for tomorrow. The podium is our target so we will see what the weather will do, it looks like it’s going to be quite a bit colder tomorrow, so we have to make sure we have the right bike for the conditions and hopefully, after todays’ race, we’ll have some good ideas as we prepare for tomorrow.”

WorldSBK 2021
Race Round 11   Portugal

Results Tissot Superpole

Sunny
Humidity
70%
Track Temp
34°C
Air Temp
21°C
Pos. Rider Num Nation Team Constructor Time/Gap
1 Razgatlioglu Toprak 54 TUR PATA YAMAHA with BRIXX WorldSBK Yamaha 1'40.219
2 Rea Jonathan 1 GBR Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK Kawasaki 1'40.524 0.305
3 Haslam Leon 91 GBR Team HRC Honda 1'40.780 0.561
4 Redding Scott 45 GBR ARUBA Racing - Ducati Ducati 1'40.874 0.655
5 van der Mark Michael 60 NDL BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team BMW 1'40.973 0.754
6 Bautista Alvaro 19 SPA Team HRC Honda 1'41.013 0.794
7 Locatelli Andrea 55 ITA PATA YAMAHA with BRIXX WorldSBK Yamaha 1'41.146 0.927
8 Gerloff Garrett 31 USA GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Yamaha 1'41.288 1.069
9 Baz Loris 11 FRA Team GOELEVEN Ducati 1'41.384 1.165
10 Rinaldi Michael Ruben 21 ITA ARUBA Racing - Ducati Ducati 1'41.405 1.186
11 Bassani Alex 47 ITA Motocorsa Racing Ducati 1'41.593 1.374
12 Mercado Leandro 36 ARG MIE Racing HONDA Team Honda 1'41.599 1.380
13 Laverty Eugene 50 IRE BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team BMW 1'41.871 1.652
14 Vinales Isaac 32 SPA ORELAC Racing VERDNATURA Kawasaki 1'41.909 1.690
15 Cavalieri Samuele 76 ITA TPR Team Pedercini Racing Kawasaki 1'42.167 1.948
16 Nozane Kohta 3 JPN GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Yamaha 1'42.208 1.989
17 Cresson Loris 84 BEL TPR Team Pedercini Racing Kawasaki 1'42.931 2.712
18 Ponsson Christophe 23 FRA Alstare Yamaha Yamaha 1'42.938 2.719
19 Folger Jonas 94 GER Bonovo MGM Racing BMW 1'43.264 3.045
20 Rabat Tito 53 SPA Kawasaki Puccetti Racing Kawasaki 1'44.000 3.781
21 Epis Lachlan 83 NZL OUTDO Kawasaki TPR Kawasaki 1'44.755 4.536
22 Ruiu Gabriele 16 ITA B-Max Racing Team BMW 1'44.836 4.617
WorldSBK 2021
Race Round 11   Portugal

Results Race 1

Sunny
Pos. Rider Num Nation Points Team Constructor Time/Gap
1 Razgatlioglu Toprak 54 TUR 25 PATA YAMAHA with BRIXX WorldSBK Yamaha 34'01.250
2 Redding Scott 45 GBR 20 ARUBA Racing - Ducati Ducati 0.691
3 Baz Loris 11 FRA 16 Team GOELEVEN Ducati 10.628
4 Rinaldi Michael Ruben 21 ITA 13 ARUBA Racing - Ducati Ducati 12.901
5 Haslam Leon 91 GBR 11 Team HRC Honda 13.305
6 Gerloff Garrett 31 USA 10 GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Yamaha 13.596
7 Bassani Alex 47 ITA 9 Motocorsa Racing Ducati 26.961
8 Mercado Leandro 36 ARG 8 MIE Racing HONDA Team Honda 28.826
9 Laverty Eugene 50 IRE 7 BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team BMW 29.654
10 Ponsson Christophe 23 FRA 6 Alstare Yamaha Yamaha 29.654
11 Vinales Isaac 32 SPA 5 ORELAC Racing VERDNATURA Kawasaki 39.703
12 Cavalieri Samuele 76 ITA 4 TPR Team Pedercini Racing Kawasaki 40.669
13 Rabat Tito 53 SPA 3 Kawasaki Puccetti Racing Kawasaki 41.275
14 Nozane Kohta 3 JPN 2 GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Yamaha 41.412
15 Folger Jonas 94 GER 1 Bonovo MGM Racing BMW 52.815
16 Cresson Loris 84 BEL 0 TPR Team Pedercini Racing Kawasaki 52.894
17 Bautista Alvaro 19 SPA DNF Team HRC Honda 1 Laps
18 van der Mark Michael 60 NDL DNF BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team BMW 5 Laps
19 Locatelli Andrea 55 ITA DNF PATA YAMAHA with BRIXX WorldSBK Yamaha 6 Laps
20 Ruiu Gabriele 16 ITA DNF B-Max Racing Team BMW 12 Laps
21 Epis Lachlan 83 NZL DNF OUTDO Kawasaki TPR Kawasaki 13 Laps
22 Rea Jonathan 1 GBR DNF Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK Kawasaki 16 Laps
Location Information

Autódromo Internacional do Algarve Sitio do Escampadinho, Mexilhoeira Grande, 8500-148 Portimão, Portugal autodromodoalgarve.com

Pole Position Right
Length 4.592 Km
Corners 15
Right Corners 9
Left Corners 6

Records

Pole Record 1'39.610 (165,959 Km/h) J. Rea (Kawasaki ZX-10RR, 2022)
Race Record 1'39.826 (165,600) T.Razgatlioglu (Yamaha YZF R1, 2023 - SPRC)
All Time Record 1'39.610 (165,959 Km/h) J. Rea (Kawasaki ZX-10RR, 2022)
2023 Race 1 Winner A. Bautista (Ducati V4 R)
2023 Superpole Race Winner A. Bautista (Ducati V4 R)
2023 Race 2 Winner A. Bautista (Ducati V4 R)