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In Saturday’s race one of the weekend at the Portimao roller coaster, Dominique Aegerter did not have the antidote to leave the wildly fighting pack behind him along the main straight.

Due to a serious accident in the Supersport300 race at lunchtime, the rest of the day was delayed considerably as the return of the rescue helicopter had to be awaited. Dominique Aegerter and his Ten Kate Racing Yamaha Team are in thoughts with the injured Dutch rider Victor Steeman and wish him and his relatives much strength in these difficult hours.

In Superpole Dominique Aegerter once again put an exclamation mark by setting a very clearly faster new all-time record at the Portuguese track. After the long wait until the start of the first race, the current championship leader also got a useful start from the best grid position, thanks to which he entered the first corner in second. But as soon as the first time the pack got along the almost one kilometre long main straight of the Algarve circuit, it came to wild battles in which everyone tried to make the best possible use of the advantages of riding in the slipstream for themselves.

Aergerter then resolutely took the lead of the field several times and also tried to pull away each time. However, he was caught up again on the straight at the latest, until the situation came to a head on the last lap and the 32-year-old dropped down to fourth place due to fierce attacks from his opponents. Despite all his efforts to catch up, Aegerter had to deal with a thankless fourth place at the line.

The second race of the weekend will start at the usual time on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. local time. It can be followed via live stream on the internet platform of the Austrian rights holder ServusTV.com.

#77 Dominique AEGERTER (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha, Yamaha YZF R6)
Grid position: Pole / Race 1: P4

"Today, things started greatly with a sensational Superpole, and this pole position increased the appetite for the race. I was particularly pleased with my 1:43.0, which was almost a second faster than the previous record lap. But I was expecting an exciting race anyway, because the straight here is very long. And as I expected, everything ended up with wild slipstream duels. It is a bit of a shame that the race distance was shortened to twelve laps. At this point I wish the best to the two riders who crashed in the Supersport300 race. In the end, unfortunately, we only finished fourth. These are important points for the championship, but unfortunately, we did not achieve our goal of finishing ahead of Baldassarri. Apart from that, I am happy for the spectators here at the track and at home in front of the TV, because they saw an exciting race that I am sure they enjoyed it a lot."

"There were always six to seven riders and four different manufacturers in the leading group, fighting a tough battle for victory. Unfortunately, we did not win this battle today, though. But from my point of view because of the many slipstream battles and not on track in the twisty sections. So, I hope that we can race the full distance on Sunday, and we will also prepare a little differently in terms of slipstreaming or choosing a different tactic that will allow me to build a small lead. But meanwhile, today's race is over and cannot be changed. I will now sit down with my crew and try to make some improvements. But I am sure we have something in the bag for tomorrow, so that we can fight for the podium and even for the win until the end. We were also close today, but it was very close."

#PRTWorldSBK - WorldSSP Superpole:
1 #77 Dominique AEGERTER / Ten Kate Racing Yamaha / Yamaha YZF R6 / 1´43.065
2 Federico CARICASULO / ITA / Althea Racing / Ducati Panigale V2 / 1´43.269 +0.104
3 Jules CLUZEL / FRA / GMT94 Yamaha / Yamaha YZF R6 / 1´43.479 +0.414
 

#PRTWorldSBK - WorldSSP Race 1 (12 Laps):
1 Stefano MANZI / ITA / Dynavolt Triumph / Triumph Street Triple RS
2 Lorenzo BALDASSARRI / ITA / Evan Bros.WorldSSP Yamaha Team / Yamaha YZF R6 / +0.011
3 Federico CARIVASULO / ITA / Althea Racing / Ducati Panigale V2 / +0.128
4 #77 Dominique AEGERTER / SWI / Ten Kate Racing Yamaha / Yamaha YZF R6 / +0.309

WorldSSP Standing:
1 #77 Dominique AEGERTER / SWI / Yamaha / 349
2 Lorenzo BALDASSARRI / ITA / Yamaha / 320
3 Can ÖNCÜ / TUR / Kawasaki / 178

#PRTWorldSBK - WorldSSP Time Schedule for Sunday October 9th (CET):
10:25 - 10:40 Warm-Up
13:30 Race 2 (18 Laps - 82.656 km)