Edging clear
Round 9 Portimao - 7-9 October
2022 WorldSBK Championship
THERE ARE FEW better places in the racing world than the modernist racing temple of Portimao in the sunshine, but the serious injury suffered by MTM Kawasaki’s Victor Steeman in the opening WorldSSP300 race on Saturday put everything back into a cold, harsh perspective.
With Steeman being airlifted to hospital the helicopter was missing for a long time, so the rest of the races were delayed. Before the accident there had been a startling WorldSBK Superpole, and with the previous record smashed by the top few, the front row for Race 1 read Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team), Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Brixx) and Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team). Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Ducati) was fourth, Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Brixx) fifth and the aggressive Axel Bassani in sixth place on his privateer Ducati.
The start was delayed by 45 minutes and the race distance was cut to 14 laps, not the original 21. Some tech changes or tyre choices were made, but not by Rea, who stuck with his original rear tyre choice. Rea did the early front-running, with Razgatlioglu passing him on lap six, inside at the fast Turn 1
