Portimao (Portugal), Sunday 16 September 2018
The Gulf Althea BMW Racing Team and rider Loris Baz have concluded the second Superbike race at Portimao in ninth position, while Alessandro Delbianco scored a sixth-place finish in today’s Superstock 1000 race.
Superbike – Race 2 – thanks to his result in yesterday’s race (sixth), Baz lined up on the front row of the grid in today’s race at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve. From third, the Frenchman lost a few positions through the first corners, lying eighth after the first lap. On lap six, he was able to pass Razgatlioglu to move into seventh place, but in the second part of the race, he unfortunately lost a little ground, finishing today’s race in ninth position.
STK1000 – Race – eighth in qualifying, Delbianco started from the third row of the grid. Ninth through the opening corners, the young Italian made up two positions over the course of the first laps, lying seventh by lap five. With more than a four-second gap separating him from the group immediately ahead, Delbianco maintained seventh place until the very last lap, where he moved up one position to cross the line sixth.
With ten rounds of the championship already completed, Baz lies tenth in the general standings with 103 points. Delbianco now places eighth in the Stock1000 championship with 45 points scored thus far.
“It was a good race, better than yesterday’s. It’s just a shame that we struggle to get the bike to start, as it meant we lost the benefit of starting from the first row today. I’m sure with a better start we could have gained another position or two. I’m happy with the weekend overall though, the best of the year so far, so I hope we can continue like this for the rest of the season and achieve a top five finish at last. The guys did a great job and now we’ll work hard to prepare for what is my home race at Magny-Cours.”
“It was a tough race but that was to be expected after a two-month break and my recent injuries. I’m fairly happy though, as I knew the best I would be able to do would be fifth, so sixth is not at all bad. It was important for me to finish today’s race and score some solid points after a few mistakes in recent races, and so I’m pleased I was able to do that.”
“Overall, a very positive weekend for the team but also for the rider, because a sixth and a ninth-place finish is not easy to achieve with the bike we currently have. Loris has continued to adapt to the BMW, but many of our rivals clearly have something more from a technical standpoint. I’m satisfied anyway, particularly with the way Loris has interpreted the weekend, he gave it his all as ever, and I congratulate him on that. As for Alessandro, I’m pleased, but not totally, as we expect great things from him in Stock1000, but we haven’t been able to have many indications from him as yet due to a series of incidents this season. Our championship starts now we could say; he finished sixth today and we’re pleased he concluded the race without making any mistakes. He still has plenty of time to demonstrate his real value and we are there with him.”
