WorldSBK Portimao | Razgatlioglu edges Rea as Honda, BMW step up challenge

Toprak Razgatlioglu has scored pole position for the second consecutive WorldSBK round in Portimao as he maintained his edge over title rival Jonathan Rea ahead of a pivotal three races.

A week after landing a timely first Superpole of the year in Jerez, Razgatlioglu was again in fine form as he waited until the final seconds of the session to leapfrog Rea by a comfortable three tenths of a second.

The Turk heads into the first of this weekend’s trio of races now with a good opportunity to extend his 20 point advantage over the six-time World Championship winning Kawasaki rider.

Leon Haslam maintained his fine form from free practice to land his and Honda’s first front row start of the season in third place, with the Briton headlining a strong session all round for the HRC squad as Alvaro Bautista also scored his best of the year in sixth.

Between them will be the Ducati of Scott Redding in fourth place and Michael van der Mark, who gave BMW a boost with strong run to the second row in fifth.

Andrea Locatelli heads up row three in seventh, fending off Garrett Gerloff in eighth and Loris Baz in ninth, while Michael Ruben Rinaldi rounded out the top ten.

Elsewhere, Eugene Laverty was a faller en route to 13th, while Kawasaki’s Alex Lowes - who was second fastest in Friday free practice - has opted to sit out this weekend’s three races to focus on recovery from his hand injury.

2021 WorldSBK Portimao | Superpole Qualifying RESULTS