It was business as usual for Tom Sykes in Portimao as he took pole position, however a poor start by his standards saw him drop to third on the first lap behind Rea and Melandri with Davies on his tail. The 'Blade is usually quite down on top speed, so with the fast Kawasaki and Aprilia behind him and Portimao's long straight, you had to think it was a case of when not if Rea would lose the lead.
Conditions tricky to say the least
Sure enough, three laps in and Sykes had the lead with Melandri behind him. Could Sykes make a break for it? By the half way point, Sykes had built up a substantial lead and the fight looked for second place between a gaggle of riders. However then a bit of rain made the surface very slick, catching out Haslam who took out Davies and causing Sykes to back off slightly. However a sensible ride in tricky conditions saw Sykes take the race one win from Guintoli and Baz.
Race two and the rain that stopped the supersport race had become even harder, drenching the track and causing a wet race to be called. Could this be the leveler that Jonathan Rea was searching out?
Rea's victory puts him a point off third
Leading the field on the opening lap, Rea looked the man to beat in the wet, but once again Sykes was on his tail. In hideous conditions, Rea kept his head unlike Guintoli who took out his team mate Melandri when he was blatantly lining up Rea for an overtake! With the pressure off, Rea took a much deserved win from Giugliano and Davies.
A poor start for Coghlan gave him a lot of work in the Supersport race while Kennedy was right at the sharp end, leading the race for several laps before the on form Van Der Mark overtook him. When rain stopped the race, Kennedy scored his first podium with a hard fought second spot and Coghlan was seventh.
Race 1:
1. Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team)
2. Guintoli (Aprilia Racing Team)
3. Baz (Kawasaki Racing Team)
Race 2:
1. Rea (Pata Honda World Superbike Team)
2. Giugliano (Ducati Superbike Team)
3. Davies (Ducati Superbike Team)
Eugene Laverty (Suzuki) - 8, 9
Tom Sykes (Kawasaki) - 1, 8
Leon Haslam (Honda) - 11, 5
Jonathan Rea (Honda) - 5, 1
Chaz Davies (Ducati) - DNF, 3
Alex Lowes (Suzuki) - 6, 4
Christian Iddon (Bimota) - 13, 12