new Portimão all-time lap record Race 1; Oncu wins in WorldSSP • Total Motorcycle TechTricks365

· Pirelli’s new E0125 specification soft development tyre was the star of the WorldSBK Saturday in Portimão, Portugal. In fact, it was the most popular solution among riders for the rear in Race 1 and accompanied Toprak Razgatlioğlu (BMW) to his first win of the season. Among the 23 starters, only Zaqhwan Zaidi (Honda) preferred the standard SC0. At the front most of the riders, including runner-up Nicolò Bulega (Ducati) and third-placed Andrea Locatelli (Yamaha), used the medium SC1, while winner Razgatlioğlu chose to race with SC2 like Alvaro Bautista (Ducati).

· The new E0125 specification soft rear allowed the top four finishers in the Superpole to go under the previous all-time lap record. Toprak Razgatlioğlu (BMW) was the fastest and took pole position, improving by more than half a second the all-time lap record held by Jonathan Rea since 2022.

· Can Oncu (Yamaha) won WorldSSP Race 1, where all the riders chose the SC1 medium front and SC0 soft rear combination. Behind the Turkish rider were Stefano Manzi (Yamaha) and Bo Bendsneyder (MV Agusta). The winner, on the second lap, also set the fastest lap of the race at 1:43.251.

Excellent debut for the new development rear
 
“The track conditions, quite different from the tests carried out at this same circuit two weeks ago, shuffled the cards and deprived the teams and riders of some references they had acquired, but even in this context the tyre allocation proved to be correct. The new standard SC0, which as D0640 development specification had already been used in the 2024 Aragon round and in various subsequent tests, including the last one in Portimão, was appreciated in the early stages of the weekend, but the new E0125 specification proved to offer something more, at least in these conditions and on this track. As the asphalt was cleaned and rubberized, everyone chose to adopt it, even for qualifying where it produced record results, with four riders faster than the previous all-time lap record. Its performance over the race distance also proved to be solid and consistent, coping very well with the stresses to which it was subjected by Razgatlioğlu in the comeback for the victory after an uncertain start, and in the battle that lasted until the last corner with Bulega. It will be interesting to see if and how the performances evolve tomorrow, with the additional rubberization and cleaning of the track.”