WSBK preview: Portimao

Italians Max Biaggi and Marco Melandri will continue their torrid battle for 2012 World Superbike honours in the penultimate round at Portimão this weekend.

The fortunes of both riders have ebbed and flowed over the past few rounds, and in the last outing at Nurburgring it was the BMW-backed Melandri who crumbled, failing to finish both races for the first time in his WSBK career.

Biaggi’s day was also a rollercoaster on the factory Aprilia – a win and 13th place – but it was still good enough to move him back into the championship lead on 318pts, 9.5 ahead of Melandri with just four races to go in the 2012 season.

“Given what had happened, we contained the damage at Nurburgring and left with the leadership,” said Biaggi.

“It could have been worse, and at Portimão we'll be starting almost from scratch. The battle is close, but we'll be in it until the end.”

Biaggi is the current lap record holder at Portimão, which he set when he came away with a clean sweep in his championship-winning year of 2010.

But Melandri also developed an instant attraction with the spectacular layout – it’s nestled in a hilly landscape with many changes of gradient – in 2011 when he shared victories with Carlos Checa.

After the disappointment of Nurburgring, Melandri knows that he must return to his free-wheeling best in Portugal.

“It looks like we are going to have good weather at Portugal, which I am very happy about,” Melandri said.

“I certainly expect tough races. There are just two rounds to go and the championship is still very open for quite a few riders, so it will be not easy but very interesting. I will approach the weekend as I always do.

“In preparation I trained a lot back home and in Portimão I will try to enjoy the ride. The whole team and I will do our best and just try to be consistent and fast in both races.”

Kawasaki’s Tom Sykes is third in the standings, 17pts down on Melandri, and he can afford to push hard at Portimão safe in the knowledge that Checa (Ducati) is well back in fourth position. Skyes is also able to unleash searing qualifying laps, which has seen him start from the front row of the grid in 11 of the 12 rounds so far in 2012.

Honda’s Jonathan Rea, who finished eighth in his MotoGP debut last Sunday as a fill in for injured Aussie Casey Stoner, sits in fifth position ahead of fellow British rider Eugene Laverty (Aprilia). Both are fast at Portimão too, and the likes of Leon Haslam (BMW), Chaz Davies (Aprilia), Sylvain Guintoli (Ducati) and Leon Camier (Suzuki) will also be pushing hard.

Davies – BMW factory bound in 2013, replacing Haslam – won his first WSBK race at Nurburgring, while Camier scored Suzuki’s first podium in 2012.

Australia’s last success in a WSBK race came at Portimão in 2008, when three-time world champion Troy Bayliss bid farewell to the paddock with two emphatic victories.

WORLD SUPERSPORT
Australia’s Broc Parkes (Honda) knows that he has to find some extra pace at Portimão to bridge the gap to front-runners Kenan Sofuoglu (Kawasaki), Jules Cluzel (Honda), Fabien Foret (Kawasaki) and Sam Lowes (Honda). Parkes, who failed to finish at Portimão in 2011, is fifth in the championship, 19pts behind fourth-placed Lowes.

Meanwhile, Sofuoglu is in the box seat to win a record third World Supersport title, which would place him ahead of Australia’s Andrew Pitt and Frenchman Sebastien Charpentier, both two-time winners.

CURRENT WORLD SUPERBIKE STANDINGS (AFTER 12 OF 14 ROUNDS):
1 Max Biaggi, Italy, Aprilia 318
2 Marco Melandri, Italy, BMW 308.5
3 Tom Sykes, Great Britain, Kawasaki 291.5
4 Carlos Checa, Spain, Ducati 247.5
5 Jonathan Rea, Great Britain, Honda 225.5
6 Eugene Laverty, Great Britain, Aprilia 213.5
7 Leon Haslam, Great Britain, BMW 189
8 Chaz Davies, Great Britain, Aprilia 156.5
9 Sylvain Guintoli, France, Ducati 143.5
10 Davide Giugliano, Italy, Ducati 125