Navarro leads the pack as Bulega eyes Championship triumph in Portimao

Jorge Navarro (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) emerged as the frontrunner in the combined classification. Navarro’s blistering lap time of 1’43.849 left him perched at the top, with a mere 0.029 seconds separating him from the closely trailing Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team).

Navarro had already demonstrated his speed in FP1, and he continued to impress in FP2 by improving his time by half a second. This left him just 0.029 seconds ahead of Montella, who had been fast in the final minutes of FP2 but couldn’t quite match Navarro’s pace. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team), the Championship leader, wasn’t far behind, trailing by only 0.034 seconds. With such minimal gaps between the top three, the stage is set for an exciting weekend of racing. Bulega, in particular, is poised to clinch the Championship title tomorrow if he maintains his current form, adding extra intrigue to the upcoming races in Portimao.

WorldSSP Combined Results after FP2
1. Jorge Navarro (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) 1’43.849
2. Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) +0.029s
3. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team) +0.034s
4. Valentin Debise (GMT94 Yamaha) +0.288s
5. Stefano Manzi (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) +0.341s
6. Raffaele De Rosa (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) +0.534s

P1 | Jorge Navarro | Ten Kate Racing Yamaha
“Honestly, I am very happy because during the last rounds, we were improving but always missing something. With the team, we did a very good job trying to understand what was missing and improved the package from this morning. I was just making laps with the same base, making little adjustments, and taking steps forward. For motivation, it’s very important. I’m very happy and I look forward to continuing to work like this tomorrow. It’s very tight at the front. The good thing is that our pace is strong. I wasn’t focused on the lap time. I expect that tomorrow’s Superpole will be even tighter, and we’ll need to take a step forward to compete with the top guys, but I am confident that we can do it.”

For more info checkout our dedicated World Supersport News page superbike-news.co.uk/world-supersport/

Or visit the official World Superbike website worldsbk.com