World SBK Round 6 at Portimão, Portugal

Tuesday 11 June: Autodromo International do Algarve, the eni FIM Superbike World Championship riders tackled Tissot-Superpole. Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) scoring pole position just a thousandth of a second on Eugene Laverty (Aprilia Racing Team).

Superbikes: Melandri wins Race 1 at the finish line

SBK 1

Marco Melandri won Race 1 at Portimao, following a close battle in the closing stages with Sylvain Guintoli that ended up with just a 0.007 gap between the two at the finish line - 4th smallest margin for victory ever in a WSBK race. A perfect exit out of the last corner was just not enough for the Championship leader to snatch victory over the Italian.

Aprilia's race outcome was well saved by the Frenchman after team mate's Eugene Laverty unfortunate retire on lap 12, consequence of a technical problem he sustained while he was on the lead. Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) - the only first row starter to finish the race - completed the podium with a solid 3rd place, after losing some ground from the top in the final part. Best result so far in the season for Leon Camier and the FIXI Crescent Suzuki Team, as the tall British rider finished 4th ahead of a sore Chaz Davies (BMW Motorrad GoldBet) and Michel Fabrizio (Red Devils Roma Aprilia).

Camier's team mate Jules Cluzel got the better of Carlos Checa (Team Ducati Alstare) on the last lap, finishing 8th. Pata Honda Team's unfortunate first race of the day saw Jonathan Rea retiring due to a technical problem and Leon Haslam pulling in after losing the feeling in both arms, as the 30 year old from Derby was trying to compensate the lack of strength in his injured left leg.

Superbikes: Laverty on the top step in Race 2

Eugene Laverty

Eugene Laverty (Aprilia Racing Team) was the winner of Race 2 at Portimao. The Irishman, back on the podium after one round of absence, managed to score his 4th victory of the season. Of the seven wins achieved so far in his WSBK career, six of them came in the second race.

The only rider able to keep up with the winner, at least in the first half of the race, was Jonathan Rea (Pata Honda World Superbike). The Ulsterman was edged out of 2nd place in the closing stages by Sylvain Guintoli, who completed the third one-two for the works Aprilia team in 2013 after the total domination of the Season Opener in Phillip Island. Thanks to his podium finish number 9 in the season, the Frenchman is still the Championship leader with 209 points ahead of Tom Sykes.

The Kawasaki Racing Team rider, who had a very early crash on the sighting lap, at Turn 2, managed after several attempts to make his way back to the pits, from where he started the race. Towards the end of Lap 1 the Englishman had to pull in again but, after returning to the track for the third time, with no chances left for a top-15 finish, Sykes showed an incredible pace and even set the new lap record in 1'42.475.

The Kawasaki Racing Team had something to cheer anyway, as Loris Baz finished fourth ahead of Chaz Davies (BMW Motorrad GoldBet), a tenacious Carlos Checa (Team Ducati Alstare) and Jules Cluzel (FIXI Crescent Suzuki).

An excessive rear tyre wear forced Marco Melandri (BMW Motorrad GoldBet) to ride defensively to a 12th place at the flag. The issue that hampered the performance of the Italian rider is currently under investigation by Pirelli. A technical problem is the reason behind the withdrawal from Race 2 by Leon Camier (FIXI Crescent Suzuki) on the twelfth lap.

Supersport: Lowes extends his Championship lead at Portimao

Supersport

A thrilling and spectacular 4-way finale was the highest point of an incredible World Supersport race at Portimao, won by Sam Lowes (Yakhnich Motorsport Yamaha) over Mahi Racing Team India duo of Fabien Foret and Kenan Sofuoglu. Thanks to his fourth consecutive win of the season, the Brit extends his Championship lead to 39 points on the defending WSS Champion. Rookie and potential podium finisher Michael van der Mark (Pata Honda World Supersport) ended up in fourth place.

All four riders waited for the closing stages to give everything they had, but Lowes' last move at Turn 11 on Foret proved to be a successful one as the pole-sitter managed to stay on the lead up to the chequered flag, while the Frenchman and Sofuoglu kept contesting the remaining podium positions.

Van der Mark had his shot at the front in the closing stages but once being passed back by the hungry trio he had to settle for an encouraging 4th, considering his still not ideal fitness condition. Sheridan Morais (PTR Honda) and Jack Kennedy (Rivamoto Honda) mixed up front in the early part, eventually finishing 5th and 6th respectively despite a big gap from the front.

Superstock 1000: Barrier new leader after Portimao win

Superstock 1000

Sylvain Barrier (BMW Motorrad GoldBet) has won today's FIM Superstock 1000 Cup race at Portimao to become the new leader in the standings with an only one-point margin over Eddi La Marra (Barni Racing Ducati). The reigning Champion led the race for the most part and successfully started to pull away from the chasing pack on Lap 5, as soon as Lorenzo Savadori (Team Pedercini Kawasaki), who was running second at that time, lost the front of his ZX-10R at Turn 14.

While Barrier managed to keep a comfortable gap to cross the line a lonely first, the remaining positions on the podium were contested by Eddi La Marra and Jeremy Guarnoni (MRS Kawasaki), as the Frenchman got side by side to edge the Italian on the final straight and eventually finish 3rd for a matter of 0.027 seconds.

Team Pedercini's Leandro Mercado was 4th with Niccolò Canepa (Barni Racing Ducati) and team mate Alessandro Andreozzi to follow. South Africa's David McFadden scored his best result of the season by finishing eight at his first race with newly joined Garnier Racing Team BMW after a close battle with Marco Bussolotti (Rider Promotion by T. Trasimeno BMW). France's Romain Lanusse (MRS Kawasaki) wasted an opportunity for a top-4 finish due to a crash on the ninth lap out of twelve.

Superstock 600: Morbidelli wins after thrilling finale

Superstock 600

Franco Morbidelli (San Carlo Team Italia Kawasaki) has won a spectacular and unpredictable Superstock 600 race at Portimao, following a close 4-way battle for the victory in the closing stages. The maiden STK600 victory for the 19 year old Italian - who was warmly cheered by WSBK rider Michel Fabrizio at Parc Fermé later on - was a pure example of perfect race craft, especially on the last lap, as he fought side by side with Tony Covena for the lead until the Dutchman went wide at Turn 13, allowing Bastien Chesaux (EAB Ten Kate Junior Honda) and Gauthier Duwelz (MTM-MVR Racing Yamaha) to get through.

While Morbidelli managed to defend his small margin to cross the line as race winner, Duwelz was able to make a last second pass over Chesaux on the finish straight for 2nd, with a clearly disappointed Covena (Nito Racing Kawasaki) to follow in 4th place after an exciting performance on track.

Pole-sitter Adrian Nestorovic's race drew to a very early end at the first turn of the race after high-siding and landing badly on the tarmac. The MTM-MVR Racing Team rider is currently being checked over at the Medical Centre.