SBK Portugal 2020: Schedules, favorites and where to watch the races live

Scott Redding arrives as world leader after his exhibition in Jerez And he could put a lot of dirt in the middle if he also imposed the Ducati Panigale V4 R in Portimao, but it is true that the Portuguese track is one that Jonathan Rea likes. We can have another battle of height in the third round of Superbikes.

Redding and Rea start as favorites with Razgatlioglu to the alternative

The favorite for wins has to be Scott Redding for a number of reasons. The first, that the Ducati seemed very superior in Jerez. Especially in the second long race, in which not only Redding won but Chaz Davies was second and Michael Ruben Rinaldi almost completed the treble, being fourth.

The Ducati Panigale V4 R performed very well in the Jerez heat, and It is to be expected that in Portugal we will find similar temperatures. In addition, the characteristics of the Portimao circuit adapt quite well to the demands of the bike, even better than Jerez, so it could be another advantage.

The downside is that Redding has never competed in Portimao. The world leader does not know the Portuguese circuit, something that can weigh him down against Jonathan Rea, who not only knows what it is to race in Portimao but is also one of his favorite circuits. Last year he won two of the three races. The other was for Álvaro Bautista with the Ducati.

Since 2014, Rea has won nine of the eleven races he has raced at Portimao. He only missed the second race of 2019, that of Bautista, and the first of 2014, when he was still racing with Honda, in which he finished fifth. This year he will have the most difficult yet: against the Ducati Panigale V4 R, against an inspired Redding and against unbearable heat.

But the Superbike World Cup is not a tennis match between Rea and Redding, there is more. Toprak Razgatlioglu would be even more involved in the world championship if it weren't for the breakdowns that left him stranded in the second long race in Australia and in the Superpole Race in Jerez. Still, he is fourth to 32 points behind Redding.

The Turk is pulling claws to keep his options and will also fight in Portugal, hoping that the Yamaha mechanics will respect him. Those of Iwata are suffering a lot at this start of the season. To the two breakdowns of Razgatlioglu we must add that of Michael van der Mark in the first Jerez race. Not to mention the MotoGP thing.

This is the trio of hopefuls for the win, with respect for Alex Lowes who remains up in the general classification and Chaz Davies, who is moving up. But behind there will also be life. We saw in Jerez how Álvaro Bautista with the Honda CBR1000RR-R took steps forward in speed one lap, although the race pace was very improvable.

Portimao could do better for them, so we'll see where Bautista gets on the Honda. Also pay attention to BMW, which only appears in the photos because Tom Sykes is a beast on a lap, but they dissipate in the race. In addition, we will once again have a sixth mark on the track, since Christophe Ponsson will continue his adventure as a 'wild card' with the Aprilia after scoring points in Jerez.

In Portugal all schedules are delayed one hour compared to Jerez

Going to the way of following the races, DAZN is still the holder of the broadcasting rights of the World Superbike Championship. But there are other alternatives. Eurosport will broadcast the races always live on its online platform, although in analog channels it will sometimes be delayed.

RTVE also owns part of the rights, but they will only broadcast some live sessions. LaLigaSporstsTV, TV3 and the Superbikes videopass are other options to follow the races online. The schedules will be one hour later than those of Jerez and we will again have double races of Supersport and Supersport 300.