WSBK preview: Portimao

The 2013 Superbike World Championship heads to the magnificent Portimao circuit in Portugal from June 7-9, which offers a challenging, fast and undulating layout.

One rider who is looking forward to building on the momentum he gained after dominating the last round at Donington Park is Kawasaki’s Tom Sykes, although double podium finisher at the same round, Sylvain Guintoli (Aprilia Racing Team), still the leads the championship by 4pts.

Guintoli was third in race one last year, while teammate Eugene Laverty scored his only win of the season with Aprilia.

Following a weather-hampered two-day test at Aragon last week, BMW factory pair Marco Melandri and Chaz Davies will be out for some strong results after mixed results at Donington. Melandri and Davies -- who have won three out of 10 races so far in the season -- are currently 46 and 61 points behind the leader and desperately looking to make up ground at Portimao. In 2012, Melandri had a nightmare weekend, ruining his world title chase as he crashed out in race one and injuring his back. He was then forced to withdraw from the following meeting.

While Leon Haslam (Pata Honda World Superbike Team) had to sit out of the last two races due to his left leg injury -- despite his efforts to be on track in front of his home crowd -- fellow Brit Jonathan Rea tried everything he could to resurrect the flagging fortunes of the team in 2013 and he is now looking forward to trying his very best again on the venue that saw his first WSBK appearance in 2008. Haslam, on the other hand, is continuing his rehabilitation hoping to be fit enough to race this weekend.

Team Ducati Alstare is back to a two-rider line-up after Niccolò Canepa's one-off ride at Donington. Carlos Checa is still dealing with injury concerns that forced him to withdraw from Donington second race, and is about to face another physically demanding track. The Spaniard's only victory on the Portuguese track was in 2011.

Leon Camier (FIXI Crescent Suzuki) enjoyed one of the best performances of 2012 at Portimao in race two, when he fought hard against former teammate Max Biaggi for third place until a technical problem ruled him out of the race on the penultimate lap.
Davide Giugliano (Althea Racing Aprilia) will be another strong contender at Portimao, alongside Jules Cluzel (FIXI Crescent Suzuki), Loris Baz (Kawasaki Racing Team) and Michel Fabrizio (Aprilia).

In world supersport, Mitchell Carr (Triumph) and Matt Davies (Honda) will be representing Australian interests, as Sam Lowes (Yamaha) looks to continue his hot streak at the front of the pack.