REA FOCUSED ON PORTIMAO EVENING SUCCESS
The 2024 FIM Superbike World Championship resumes for Jonathan Rea and the Pata Prometeon Yamaha team this weekend, August 9-11, with Round seven taking place at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve in Portugal.
Rea’s extensive experience has seen him start all 35 WorldSBK races held on the 4.592km Portimāo circuit since it joined the calendar in 2008. He debuted in the Superbike World Championship at that year’s season finale, and currently holds the record for the most podiums at the circuit with 25.
The Pata Prometeon team concluded its winter testing programme at the same venue in January before the opening round in Australia, meaning that Rea already has 130 laps of experience with the Yamaha R1 WorldSBK on the “rollercoaster” to take into the weekend.
A special format awaits in Portimão, with the main WorldSBK feature races taking place at the end of Saturday and Sunday at 18:00 local time in the early evening.
Weekend Schedule (GMT +1):
Friday
Free Practice 1 - 13:15-14:00
Free Practice 2 - 18:00-18:45
Saturday
Free Practice 3 - 12:10-12:30
Superpole Qualifying - 14:45-15:00
WorldSBk Race 1 - 18:00 (20 laps)
Sunday
Warm Up - 12:00-12:10
Tissot Superpole Race - 14:45 (10 laps)
WorldSBK Race 2 - 18:00 (20 laps)
Jonathan Rea said, “Portugal is a really awesome place to go to, I love the circuit and there’s always a lot of travelling support from Northern Ireland as well – so there’s a good vibe in the race week! We’ve never raced there in August and it’s also an evening race which is new as well, I’m excited to see how we go. The back-to-back races in Donington and Most helped me to understand the Yamaha R1 a bit more and hopefully we can put that to good practice when it comes to Friday Free Practices. Like we’ve learned, qualifying is so important, so without putting too much pressure on myself – we need to qualify in a good position to give ourselves the best chance during the weekend. I can’t wait, I hope I can really get stuck in and bag some strong finishes”