The BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet Superbike Team will be back on the Iberian Peninsula this weekend for the 13th SBK event of the season at Portimão’s Autodromo do Algarve (Portugal). Michel Fabrizio and Ayrton Badovini will be on track in the Superbike class, while Sylvain Barrier will make a standings leadership attack in the FIM Superstock 1000 Cup category.
After what was a difficult end to the Nürburgring round, Michel Fabrizio is ready to give his best on the Algarve track, which saw him displaying some good performances in previous years. Ayrton Badovini, who rode two solid races in Germany but was heavily affected by his starting slots, will focus on performing at his best in qualifying to be in a good position on race day.
Sylvain Barrier’s fourth win of the season – scored at Nürburgring – allowed him to fully get back into contention for the FIM Superstock 1000 Cup title with two races to go and 50 points still to be awarded. Because of the change in the standings position, the team decided to conduct a two day test at Portimão last Saturday and Sunday, to find a good set-up for the round ahead. Lorenzo Baroni unfortunately will not take part in this event as he is still recovering from the significant injury sustained at Silverstone in early August.
The first SBK race day at the Portimão’s Autodromo do Algarve dates back to November 2nd 2008, which was the first official event on the Portuguese venue, that was completed just a month earlier. The track measures 4592m, with 6 left and 9 right corners and a 57m maximum slope.
Serafino Foti, Sporting Director BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet Superbike Team: “Portimão is a difficult and challenging track and has a lot of slope changes, too. Both Michel and Ayrton enjoy riding there as most of the riders do. This year, even though it has been brought back as the penultimate round in the calendar, it still has a huge importance on the overall season. We will give our best, as usual, to get the best results possible.” We have closed the gap with the leader Eddi La Marra in the Superstock 1000 after the race at Nürburgring. In order to keep the momentum going we tested last Saturday and Sunday at Portimão with Sylvain. We need to keep fighting and to play to our strengths during the weekend.”
Michel Fabrizio #84: "I like the track a lot and it’s always a pleasure to go back to Portimão. The track suits both my riding style and the bike characteristics. I want to get a good result because we deserve it and it’d be a reward for our huge effort throughout the season.”
Ayrton Badovini #86: “The Portimão track is a good one and we were pretty fast in the pre-season tests last year. I’m confident for the weekend and I will try to find a good pace right from the start to get a good starting position that would raise my chances of doing well in the two races.”
Communication BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet SBK Team Press Office
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