#PRTWorldSBK: Goals for Saturday achieved with a soild top ten finish in race one

With third place after Superpole at Portimao's rollercoaster track, however, Sandro Cortese even surprised himself.

After a painful shoulder injury suffered at Donington, Sandro Cortese is on a good way to return to his usual level of performance. Solid performances during free practice sessions at this weekend's World Championship meeting in Portugal confirmed this fact very clearly. During Superpole session, which decided the starting grid for the first race of the weekend, the 29-year-old Yamaha rider once again showed off his strong qualifying skills and stormed to a front row start in third position. However, the race in very hot conditions went according to expectations. Cortese was able to hold off his team mate Marco Melandri during the entire distance to cross the line in eighth place in the first race after the long summer break finally.

#11 Sandro CORTESE (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK, Yamaha YZF R1), Grid position 3rd / Race1: P8:

"The weekend has started very well. Friday’s sessions went according to plan. It quickly became apparent that we made the most of the summer break to prepare for the last third of the season. My injuries have healed well so far. I can't feel anything when riding the bike. Actually, I only have slight pain during normal movement. Saturday was a very positive day from our point of view. To finish Superpole in P3 was of course definitely amazing. But to start from third spot on the starting grid came a bit surprisingly for us. It was also immediately clear to me that it will be hardly possible to keep this position in the race. Portimao is also one of the most difficult tracks on the calendar for me. Anyway, we went into today with the clear goal to finish among the top ten both in Superpole and in the race. In the end, we finished the first race in eighth place. Of course, expectations rise starting from the front row but to be honest, it was just one lap, whilst we still lack a little experience over the entire race distance. Especially at this difficult track this circumstance is all the more noticeable. But I'm optimistic that we can continue to improve tomorrow and I'm already looking forward to the two races on Sunday."

#PRTWorldSBK - Superpole Result:
1 Jonathan REA / GBR / Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR / 1´40.372
2 Tom SYKES / GBR / BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team / BMW S1000 RR / 1´40.483 +0.111
3 #11 Sandro CORTESE / GER / GRT Yamaha WorldSBK / Yamaha YZF-R1 / 1´40.675 +0.303

#PRTWorldSBK – Race Classification after 20 Laps:
1 Jonathan REA / Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR / 34´19.341
2 Chaz DAVIES / GBR / ARUBA.IT Racing - Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4 R / +3.891
3 Michael van der MARK / NED / Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team / Yamaha YZF-R1 / +6.168
8 #11 Sandro CORTESE / GER / GRT Yamaha WorldSBK / Yamaha YZF R1 / +21.345

#WorldSBK Standing:
1 Jonathan REA / GBR / Kawasaki / 458
2 Alvaro BAUTISTA / SPA / Ducati / 3365
3 Michael van der MARK / NED / Yamaha / 231
10 #11 Sandro CORTESE / GER / Yamaha / 108

#PRTWorldSBK – Time Schedule for Sunday Setember 8th (CET):
10:00 - 10:15 Warm-Up
12:00 - Superpole-Race (10 Laps - 45,920 km)
15:00 - Race2 (20 Laps - 91,840 km)