In fine conditions at the Prosecco DOC Portuguese Round on Saturday Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) took pole position with a 1’41.430 lap on his Kawasaki ZX-10RR, with Milwaukee Aprilia teammates Eugene Laverty and Lorenzo Savadori joining him on the front row.

Northern Irishman Rea was 0.767s clear of the rest of the pack, with Laverty in second place and Savadori was 0.944s off P1 in third as the Aprilia pair produced an impressive showing.

A crash in the session for Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) left him down in the unfamiliar territory of ninth place on the grid, whilst Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) was absent from Tissot Superpole 2 after a crash in FP3. The accident has left Sykes with a finger injury on his left hand which will require surgery and rules him out of further action this weekend in Portugal.

On row two after an exciting SP2 session were Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team), Marco Melandri (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) and Jordi Torres (Althea BMW Racing Team).

Meanwhile, qualifying on the third row around the 4.592km circuit at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve were Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team), Stefan Bradl (Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team) and the aforementioned Davies.

Xavi Fores (BARNI Racing Team) and Leon Camier (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) were tenth and eleventh respectively. Spaniards Torres and Fores were the two riders to have made it through from the earlier SP1 session, whilst Leandro Mercado (IODARacing) completes row four on the grid in the absence of Sykes.