
WorldSBK cleared the dust and eased back into leathers for the last four dates of the 2018 campaign and after a long six-week summer hiatus but also found Jonathan Rea’s stranglehold as tight as ever. The World Champion blasted his rivals once more around the wide, modern and undulating turns of the Portimao layout for another 1-1.
Signs before resumption of race duties and the tenth round of thirteen were decidedly ‘green’. The Kawasaki Racing Team had tested at the circuit only a few weeks beforehand and Rea had five consecutive wins at Portimao – hiking that total to an impressive seven and six on the bounce after spoils in Misano and Laguna Seca prior to the hefty pause in the calendar.