WSBK/WSS PORTIMAO: CONTROVERSIAL SUNDAY IN PORTIMAO, LEAVING A BITTER TASTE RESULT!

Unlucky Sunday to leave behind for Team Pata Go Eleven in Portimao, despite a big step forward in terms of speed compared to the past few days. If the Superpole Race saw the number 29 struggling, in Race 2 he was showing a great pace, recovering several positions. Unfortunately, the jump start of a few thousandths, and the consequent failure to realize the penalty (double Long Lap) led to the ride through and subsequent retirement. Zero points today, it’s a shame because the work was not rewarded, but today the correct path was found in terms of set-up.

In the Warm Up a comparison was carried out in terms of electronic maps, trying to improve the last part of the track. Positive feedback to bring to the Superpole Race.

Warm Up: 
P 1    N. Bulega   1.39.968
P 2    D. Petrucci  + 0.463
P 3    A. Bautista   + 0.503
…
P 8   A. Iannone   + 0.736

In the Superpole Race Andrea finds the right space in the first lap, recovering two positions. He closes the gap on the group fighting for the Top 9, which is worth the change on the grid for race 2, but once he joins, he does not have the tenths of a margin needed to attack. Almost all the riders from sixth position down had similar laptimes, making overtaking difficult. Twelfth final place, zero points and everything postponed to the last race in Portimao.

Superpole Race:
P 1   T. Razgatlioglu  16’40.209
P 2   N. Bulega    + 0.055
P 3   A. Bautista   + 4.407
…
P 12   A. Iannone   + 12.598

To tell the story of Race 2, it is necessary to clarify what happened; Andrea starts early, taking the penalty for Jump Start, meaning double Long Lap penalty as per the rules. Given on the third lap, he immediately completes the first correctly, and at that moment the penalty disappears from the dashboard, suggesting that the penalty was served. The number 29 comes back very quickly, with laps in the high 40s, overtaking several riders. He passes the finish line of the eighth lap without doing the second Long Lap, but at that very moment the red flag appears. In the ten minutes spent in Pit Lane before the restart, despite the clarifications requested from Race Direction and from those present from the FIM, no one was able to give information either to the Team or to Andrea. The latter restarts the race, and on the first lap a Ride Through is given. The race is completely gone and there is no chance to recover. The main problem was the slow communication and the lack of clarity on what to do at the restart. The pace was there, in this Race 2 the Team found the way in terms of set-up, so much so that Andrea was quite happy with the feeling on the bike. Starting from here to get back to earning important points in Assen!