WorldSBK Portimao | Jonathan Rea leads Kawasaki 1-2 to top Portugal practice

Jonathan Rea has established an early advantage over 2021 WorldSBK title rival Toprak Razgatlioglu ahead of a pivotal event in Portugal as he topped Friday free practice at Portimao.

The Ulsterman comes into Round 11 of 13 chasing down a 20 point deficit to the in-form Razgatlioglu, who wrapped up both victories at Jerez the previous weekend, but had the edge over the Turk on the first day of action around the Portuguese circuit.

A positive day for Kawasaki all round, Rea was two tenths up on Alex Lowes, who despite still recovering from his hand injury, followed up in second position.

Leon Haslam - who is expected to be out of a ride at the end of the season as Honda prepares to announce a fresh rider line-up for 2022 - was in impressive form to secure third position, ahead of series leader Razgatlioglu.

Having struggled to tap into the form that had him challenging for podiums earlier in the season, Garrett Gerloff gave a glimpse of his best with the fifth fastest time on the GRT Yamaha, while Loris Baz strengthened his chances of securing a full-time return to WorldSBK in sixth on the Go Eleven Ducati.

Scott Redding was just behind his Ducati counterpart in seventh, ahead of Aruba.it team-mate Michael Ruben Rinaldi, with Alvaro Bautista and Andrea Locatelli rounding out the top ten.

Elsewhere, Michael van der Mark was the highest-placed BMW rider in 11th, ahead of Isaac Vinales, who returned to track a week after the death of his cousin Dean Berta Vinales in a WorldSSP 300 race in Jerez.

Isaac’s brother Maverick Vinales has opted out of competing in MotoGP this weekend.

2021 WorldSBK Portimao | Free Practice [FP1 + FP2] RESULTS