SBK Portugal 2019: schedules and where to watch the races live

Portimao is the beginning of the end at SBK 2019

The City of Portimao It is, without a doubt, one of the most spectacular tracks in the world. Its continuous ups and downs, blind corners and fast zones cause countless zones of overtaking. Just what was needed in a season where absolutely anything can happen.

From the overwhelming dominance of Alvaro Bautista Taking full advantage of the new Ducati Panigale V4 R we have passed into the domain of another tyrant, Jonathan Rea. The Northern Irish Kawasaki rider has not left even the slightest margin for a Bautista who has chained a series of errors and injuries that have destroyed his chances for the title.

From having an almost decisive advantage to lead the second half of the season, Bautista has remained second to a huge 81 points away of the current leader of the general, Jonathan Rea. And it was not something accidental, because while Bautista won, Rea has strived to stay as close as possible to the Spanish. On the other hand, when Rea has started to win, Bautista has added four almost consecutive zeros.

In another vein, the official Honda team in the World Superbike Championship continues without raising its head. This time his spearhead, Leon camier, He will not be able to race in Portugal either due to the shoulder injury he suffered in Imola. His replacement will be Takumi Takahashi.

Things have to change a lot in the golden wing squad so that Álvaro Bautista can lead Honda to victory starting in 2020. The signing of the Talaverano is not yet official, but it will be a matter of time before the official announcement is made after both Bautista and Ducati have confirmed that they will not continue together from next season.

And is that in view of the current situation, there is not much to do in 2019. Jonathan Rea's extensive advantage with 81 points makes virtually impossible for Bautista to regain his title options. There are four appointments to go, with a total of 248 points at stake. There is not much scope for a Baptist who has his sights set on 2020.

Starting next year we will have to see how the pieces of the puzzle fit together. Rea will continue to join Kawasaki in the hope that the ZX-10RR will receive a remarkable evolution, Scott Redding will arrive to fill the Bautista seat at Ducati with a combination that has already proven to be a winner in the BSB and Bautista … The Bautista thing is anyone's guess.

We know that Honda is going to bet heavily on the WSBK after years of spinning the hell out of it. This was stated by Bautista himself, who would have fallen prey to a supposedly completely renovated Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade, a promise that dates back to Rea's time in the Honda team.

Rea's desperation to wait for a Honda that never arrived led him to Kawasaki where, if nothing fails, he will be able to add five consecutive titles. In the case of Bautista, only two scenarios can occur: that Honda begins to dominate as it currently does in MotoGP in a demonstration of all its power and Bautista ends his sports career winning, or that Honda leaves Bautista immersed in a project that make them fall into oblivion.

We'll see. For now we have to deal with the Portimao roller coaster this weekend. An appointment that we will have a little more complicated to follow since Eurosport will significantly restrict its coverage of the WSBK in favor of La Vuelta a España and other sporting events. Here are all the schedules and ways to see the races this weekend:

SBK Portugal 2019 Schedules:

Saturday 7:
- Superpole SBK: 12:00 (Esport 3, Teledeporte, DAZN)
- Superpole SBK delayed: 14:00 (Eurosport 2)
- First SBK race: 15:00 (Esport 3, Teledeporte, DAZN, Eurosport 2)
Sunday 8:
- Deferred first SBK race: 00:30 (Esport 3)
- First SBK race delayed: 00:45 (Eurosport)
- Superpole race: 12:00 (Teledeporte, Esport 3, DAZN)
- Supersport race: 13:15 (Teledeporte, Esport 3, DAZN)
- Second SBK race: 15:00 (Teledeporte, Esport 3, DAZN)
- Carrera Supersport 300: 16:15 (Teledeporte, Esport 3, DAZN)