#PRTWorldSBK: Uphill trend to open last third of the season

Sandro Cortese rounded up the pleasant Portimao weekend with two more top ten finishes on Sunday.

The first race weekend after the long break was accompanied by wonderful late summer weather. After performing encouragingly on the previous day, Sandro Cortese had set himself some goals for the Sunday races. During the sprint race in the morning he also managed a clear improvement compared to the first race. In the second main race of the weekend, however, the 29-year-old from Berkheim was slowed down by a constantly spinning rear wheel. Nevertheless, Cortese leaves Portugal's Algarve coastline with a happy smile, especially as the shoulder has withstood the strains of the past three days.

The next meeting of this year’s Superbike World Championship will take place in three weeks in France.

#11 Sandro CORTESE (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK, Yamaha YZF R1), Superpole-Race: P8 / Race2: P10:

"Overall, I’m satisfied how things went this weekend. Yesterday was a good day; this morning things went much better. I was able to keep up with the top guys for a long time. So, we had made the hoped-for progress. But in the second race I had to struggle with massive grip issues. Already from the first lap I was powerless somehow. I couldn’t do anything to move forward. In the end, I had to risk a lot to make it into the top ten. The result wasn't in the single digits, but it was still enough for tenth place. After the good performance in this morning’s Superpole race, however, I had expected much more than I could achieve finally. From a feeling point of view, I could have ridden much faster. But as soon as I opened the throttle, the rear wheel started to spin. Too bad, because I think it could have gone a bit further towards the front either. Nevertheless, I'm happy because after the two tough race weekends before the summer break there was a clear uphill trend to be seen here. I'm happy that I can fight with those guys again."

#PRTWorldSBK - Result Superpole-Race (10 Laps):
1 Jonathan REA / GBR / Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR / 17´00.806
2 Alvaro BAUTISTA / SPA / ARUBA.IT Racing - Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4 R / +2.103
3 Alex LOWES / GBR / Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team / Yamaha YZF- R1 / +2.384
8 #11 Sandro CORTESE / GER / GRT Yamaha WorldSBK / Yamaha YZF R1 / +7.340

#PRTWorldSBK - Result Race2 (20 Laps):
1 Alvaro BAUTISTA / SPA / ARUBA.IT Racing - Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4 R / 34´18.017
2 Jonathan REA / GBR / Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR / +0.111
3 Toprak RAZGATLIOGLU / TUR / Turkish Puccetti Racing / Kawasaki ZX-10RR / +4.576
10 #11 Sandro CORTESE / GER / GRT Yamaha WorldSBK / Yamaha YZF R1 / +18.352

#WorldSBK - Standing:
1 Jonathan REA / GBR / Kawasaki / 490
2 Alvaro BAUTISTA / SPA / Ducati / 399
3 Alex LOWES / ITA / Yamaha / 249
10 #11 Sandro CORTESE / GER / Yamaha / 116