On a Sunday that began with one minute silence in memory of Dean Berta Vinales, Scott Redding reached the podium twice, finishing third in Race-1 (instead of the Superpole Race) and second in Race-2. For Michael Ruben Rinaldi it was instead a very difficult day at the end of which he had to settle for a seventh-place after the crash in Race-1.
- RACE -1
P3 – Despite an uninspiring start from the fourth position, Scott Redding remains glued to the front group. From the middle of the race on, his race pace increases in a tangible way and allows him to attack Locatelli (Yamaha) in the last lap, conquering a stubborn podium.
DNF – Michael Ruben Rinaldi opts for the same choice of tires with which he had dominated the warm-up two hours earlier but the feeling with the rear end is very different; despite a good start (from P5 to P3), the Italian rider is unable to find confidence, crashing on lap five.
- RACE-1 Results
P1 – T. Razgatlioglu (Yamaha)
P2 – J. Rea (Kawasaki)
P3 – S. Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
P4 – A. Locatelli (Yamaha)
P5 – A. Bautista (Honda)
DNF – M. Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
- RACE-2
P2 – Starting from the front row due to the forfeit of Lowes (Kawasaki), Scott Redding turns fifth at the first corner. Thanks to his race pace (the fastest in the early laps) he is able to stick to race leader Razgatlioglu (Yamaha). Three laps from the end, he puts a stunning pass and takes the lead. The Turkish rider, however, responded on the next lap to take the win.
P7 – As in Race-1, also in Race-2 Michael Rinaldi gets a superb start. Halfway through the first lap he passes Rea (Kawasaki) to take second position. His race pace, however, doesn’t seem to be particularly incisive and between Lap 13 and Lap 17 he is forced to give up four positions to finish seventh.
- RACE-2 Results
P1 – T. Razgatlioglu (Yamaha)
P2 – S. Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
P3 – A. Bautista (Honda)
P4 – A. Locatelli (Yamaha)
P5 – J. Rea (Kawasaki)
P7 – M. Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati #45)
“These are very difficult moments and I would like to send a thought to the Vinales family who asked us to race for Dean. Race-1 was better for me than I expected, especially after a really bad warm-up. In Race 2 the feeling was even better: I felt I could catch Toprak and take the win but he proved to be really strong under braking. Anyway, I’m happy to have reached the podium twice on this difficult day”.
Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati #21)
“It’s been a very tough weekend from a human point of view. We encountered a lot of difficulties today and the results were much below our expectations. However, I think that in times like these races take a back seat. I just want to turn page and think about Portimao”.
