Unable to get a clean lap in FP3, the Biblion MotoXRacing Yamaha WorldSSP300 Team youngster scraped through to Superpole and put his R3 GYTR kitted bike on the fifth row of the grid. The Turkish rider climbed up the order to head into lap six in fifth place, which is where he was classified after the red flag emerged for an incident on the start-finish straight.
Yamaha MS Racing WorldSSP300 Supported Team’s Ton Kawakami was the best placed bLU cRU rider in the Superpole, lining up 12th after a strong start to the weekend on Friday. The Brazilian remained in a battle for the top 10, but just missed out by 0.292 seconds to finish the shortened Race 1 in 11th.
Having finished fifth in the Last Chance Race, Biblion MotoXracing Yamaha’s Alvaro Diaz climbed from the back row of the grid to claim 24th, with the Spaniard just eight tenths of a second off a top 20 result.
Jerez Race 1 winner Unai Orradre struggled with traffic during the Superpole, but made up five places to be inside the top 10 by the end of the opening lap. However, the Yamaha MS Racing rider fell spectacularly at the fast right-hander of Turn 12 and recorded his first DNF of the season.
Fellow Yamaha MS Racing rider Alan Kroh was unfortunate not to make it through the Last Chance Race, as he suffered a technical issue while fighting for the top six positions, prematurely ending his Portimão weekend.
Next up for the bLU cRU riders will be tomorrow’s second WorldSSP300 race from the Portuguese venue at 15:15 (GMT+1).
For full Race 1 results, click here.
