The opening race at the Portuguese Round of the 2017 FIM Superbike World Championship has been contested today at Portimão’s Autodromo do Algarve, with Stefan Bradl forced to an early retirement after crashing out of eighth place on lap three. His Red Bull Honda World Superbike team mate for the round, Takumi Takahashi, crossed the line in 15th position and by doing so he earned his first World Superbike point.

After successfully taking part in Superpole 2 and then qualifying in eighth place on the grid for the 20-lap race, Stefan Bradl got a great launch off row three and by the end of the opening lap he was already up to sixth position. The German rider then lost one place after running wide at turn 1 and, as the third lap was drawing to a close, he had a highside at turn 14: due to the damage sustained by the bike during the crash, he was unable to re-join the encounter.

Takumi Takahashi started his maiden World Superbike race from 19th place on the grid and, after maintaining his position at the start, he found his own rhythm as he continued to make experience with the WorldSBK-spec version of the Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP2 and Pirelli tyres around the 4.592km track located in the southwestern edge of mainland Europe.

Stefan Bradl 6 - DNF

Unfortunately, this crash actually happened in the race: I was a good position and feeling comfortable on the bike, but maybe I pushed a bit too hard at turn 14 because the bike slipped away a little bit and I was thrown over the handlebar. A pity for the result really, but luckily we have another chance tomorrow: I got checked by the medical centre and I’m good to go, I feel OK and ready to give it another try. We need to keep the positives from today because I think we can have a good race and finish the weekend on a high note.

Takumi Takahashi 72 - 15th

It was a difficult race because at the beginning I was struggling a bit with the front and could not get up to speed. Because of this, I was unable to stay with the riders in front of me, meaning I rode on my own for the most part of the race. In the end we were a bit lucky to get one point, but the goal for tomorrow is to stay with those riders, make more experience and to actually earn that point.

Ronald ten Kate - Team Manager

The start of Stefan’s race was really good and we were all enjoying seeing him up there where we all think he can be. Surely it was a pity for the crash but thankfully enough he wasn’t hurt, so he’s ready to race again tomorrow. Takahashi was able to collect his first-ever World Championship point today: it hasn’t been an easy weekend so far for him - it’s a steep learning curve - but he is making more and more experience, which is the most important thing. He was able to set the same lap-time both at the beginning and at the end of the race, which means that there has been an improvement. Hopefully tomorrow he will be able to get in a mix and battle with the other riders.