A great performance by Alcoba, fourth in Superpole at Portimao

The second round of the Supersport World Championship got underway this morning at the Autodromo do Algarve in Portimao, Portugal, in cool, sunny conditions.
In FP1, Jeremy Alcoba began to adapt his ZX-6R 636 to the undulating Portuguese track, finishing the session in twelfth place with a time of 1’44”807.

In the afternoon, the Spanish rider was hard at work in Superpole, the session that establishes the starting grid for tomorrow’s race. Putting in a few very fast laps, the Kawasaki WorldSSP rider achieved an excellent fourth place finish (1’43”603) and so will line up on the second row of the grid, fourth, for Saturday’s 17-lap race.

Autódromo Internacional do Algarve- Portugal
Supersport World Championship
Superpole: 1) Oncu (Yamaha) – 2) Mahias (Yamaha) – 3) Caricasulo (MV Agusta) – 4) Alcoba (Kawasaki) – 5) Bendsneyder (MV Agusta) – 6) Manzi (Yamaha) – 7) Schroetter (Ducati)

Jeremy Alcoba: “I’m very pleased with my Superpole and the fourth place I’ve scored on the grid for tomorrow’s race. The gap to the front three is pretty big, but it was almost a month since I last rode. I’m gettong on well with the bike anyway, and I really like the track. Thanks to the team’s hard work, we’ve taken a step forward compared to Australia. I’m excited and confident ahead of tomorrow’s race; it will be important to make a strong start if we want to stick with the frontrunners.”

Gerloff gets back into race mode at Portimao

Garrett Gerloff returned to action with his Kawasaki WorldSBK Team on the first day of the second round of the 2025 WorldSBK Championship, which is taking place at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve between 28-30 March.

Having not tested at the Portuguese track recently, unlike many of his peers, Friday was the first day on track for Garrett and his team since the opening round of the season in Australia in late February.
Warm track and ambient conditions welcomed Gerloff to the 4.592km long ‘Portimao’ circuit, but a technical issue in the first free practice session held back the team’s early preparations.

FP2 allowed the Kawasaki WorldSBK team to set more laps and try to find a strong race set-up, but the lack of opening day track time compared to his many rivals saw Garrett playing catch-up. He was finally ranked 19th overall in the combined practice times after day one.

There will be one more free practice session on Saturday, and then Superpole qualifying will determined the final grid places for Race One, which gets underway at 14.00 local time in Portugal.

Garrett Gerloff: “It was a more difficult first day than we wanted, but it was really nice to see the team after one month of being away. We just had some bad luck and we missed most of the first session for a technical problem. In the second session, I was really trying my best to find time and go as fast I could but I was just struggling to find a good rhythm with myself and the bike and track. We just need to find more for Saturday, so we’ll study the data and come better tomorrow.”

Ninth place for Alcoba in Race 1 at Portimao

Today brought the second day of action making up the second WorldSSP round at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve in Portimao, Portugal.

Yesterday the Kawasaki WorldSSP Team and Spanish rider Jeremy Alcoba completed a free practice session, after which they achieved a strong fourth place finish in Superpole.

Today, in hot and sunny conditions, Alcoba lined up the second row of the grid for Race 1. After making a good start, the Spaniard was forced wide through the first corner to avoid making contact with another rider, which caused him to lose many positions.

As the race went on, all Jeremy could do was fight within the chasing group, finishing ninth and scoring seven championship points.
Tomorrow Alcoba will be back on track for the second and final race of this second WorldSSP round.

Autodromo Internacional do Algarve – Portimao – Portugal
Supersport World Championship
Race 1: 1) Oncu (Yamaha) – 2) Manzi (Yamaha) – 3) Bendsneyder (MV Agusta) – 4) Mahias (Yamaha) – 5) Booth Amos (Triumph) …… 9) Alcoba (Kawasaki)

Jeremy Alcoba: “Considering that I started from the second row, I’m not happy with today’s result. Unfortunately, I really struggled during the first part of the race and didn’t have good feeling with the bike. I battled as part of the chasing group and in the last laps was able to pick up the pace, which leaves me optimistic for tomorrow’s race. Now the team will analyse the data collected to further improve our bike.”

Gerloff scores points in WorldSBK Race 1

Garrett Gerloff made progress in the opening 20-lap race of the Portimao WorldSBK weekend on his Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10RR to take a 12th place finish and secure more championship points.

In Superpole qualifying at the 4.592km long Portimao circuit, held at 11am on Saturday 29 March, Garrett finished 16th overall. This gave him a sixth row start for the first full race of the Portuguese weekend.

From the start of the Saturday race Gerloff finished lap one in 18th position, climbing as high as 14th after a third of the race had been completed. He would end of 12th from the 17 finishers, securing four championship points in the process.

Once again warm sunshine and dry conditions were evident all day at the hillside circuit above the Algarve holiday region, offering up generally consistent track conditions.

Sunday 30 March will host the final two races of the second round, with a ten-lap Superpole Race followed by Race Two, which is scheduled for 20 laps.

Garrett Gerloff: “I had quite a lonely race today. We are trying our best but it is just difficult right now to find more speed. We are all trying to get more but we just need more laps and some time. But, we will get there eventually.”

Alcoba puts on a strong performance to finish sixth in Race 2

The second Supersport World Championship round concluded today at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve in Portimao, Portugal.

Yesterday Jeremy Alcoba placed top ten in the first of the Portuguese races, crossing the line ninth. Today, after morning warm-up, the Kawasaki WorldSSP rider was back out at the Algarve track for Race 2, which he started from row four of the grid thanks to the lap time he set in Race 1.

Able to make a good start, Jeremy was immediately up towards the front. The Spaniard maintained a strong rhythm, battling for the podium for the duration of the race and crossing the line sixth. With this result, Alcoba scores ten championship points and lies seventh in the general standings with 34 points.

The next WorldSSP round will run at the Assen TT Circuit in The Netherlands on 11-13 April.

Autodromo Internacional do Algarve – Portimao – Portugal
Supersport World Championship
Race 2: 1) Bendsneyder (MV Agusta) – 2) Manzi (Yamaha) – 3) Booth-Amos (Triumph) – 4) Mahias (Yamaha) – 5) Debise (Ducati) – 6) Alcoba (Kawasaki)

Jeremy Alcoba: “I am a little tired today because I pushed very hard in that race. Starting from P10 I made a normal start but tried to gain some positions on the first lap. The feeling compared to yesterday was much better with a full fuel tank and I could push a lot right from the start. The pace was strong too. The problem was that I had some gap from the guys in front, but I was pushing, pushing, pushing to catch them. So, by the time I caught them, I was already tired. I was also fighting with the bike because I had a bit of chatter, though it was much better than yesterday. I missed something to help me in the turns, but I was trying to push to the limit. But I am really happy because compared to yesterday the direction was much better and I think we ran a really good race.”

Gerloff finds set up improvements in Portimao

Garrett Gerloff made a breakthrough in his understanding of his Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10RR on Sunday at Portimao, as he scored more WorldSBK championship points for 12th place in Race Two.

The Autodromo Internacional do Algarve hosted two WorldSBK races on Sunday 30 March – a ten lap Superpole Race and then a planned 20-lap Race Two.

Gerloff was 16th in the Superpole Race but found a new way to ride his Ninja ZX-10RR that allowed him to not only improve his ultimate pace but open a door to future set-up possibilities for the rest of the season.

A red flag halted the second race at half race distance, over concerns about the track condition, and that brought about a final 11-lap Race Two, with full championship points awarded.

Starting from 17th place in Race Two, Garrett improved his feel on the bike and his track position to go 12th in the final classification, take four more championship points, and leave Portimao in 16th place in the overall rankings.

After the Portimao weekend the entire WorldSBK circus packs up its bikes and equipment and heads north, to take part in the always eagerly-anticipated Assen round. The Netherlands round will be held between April 11-13.

Garrett Gerloff: “I am a lot more happy at the end of Sunday than I was yesterday. I just discovered some things that I could do on the bike to help it and in Race Two I was able to go a lot faster than I had been before that. This is still not the position we want to be in but in general I can see the light at the end of the tunnel now. Before that, it was looking difficult. Thanks to the team and everybody for coming out and we will try again in two weeks in Assen.”