ENDURANCE PARADE IN PORTIMÃO
Expect a spectacular first in Portugal! The maiden edition of the 12 Horas de Portimão this coming Saturday will get off to a roaring start, with all the bikes entered for the second round of the FIM EWC championship riding through the town’s streets in a big parade on Wednesday 8 June.
It’s the first time that teams competing in an FIM EWC championship round will be meeting spectators outside the circuit. All the squads entered for the 12 Horas de Portimão will ride out of the Algarve International Circuit at 5.30pm on Wednesday 8 June, heading for the Portimão town centre. The big parade will be followed by an autograph-signing session outside the Municipal Theatre at 6pm. A national hero – Portuguese rider Miguel Oliveira, the 2015 Moto3 world championship runner-up – features in the line-up, so the public’s fascination with the stars of endurance racing is sure to be even greater. Miguel Oliveira will be on the starting grid of the 12 Horas de Portimão in the saddle of the Parkalgar Racing Team’s Yamaha bike, which he’ll be riding alongside fellow countryman Miguel Praia, former FIM Superbike and Supersport world championship rider, and Frenchman Matthieu Lussiana (previously in the Superstock 1000 class), the 2014 and 2015 winner of the Brazilian Moto 1000GP championship.
A decisive race
Motorsport and racing will be back on the agenda first thing Thursday, with the first official free practice. After the opening race of the season, the 24 Heures Motos at Le Mans, where SRC Kawasaki picked up a cool 60 points for their win plus the bonus points 8 and 16 hours into the race, the 12 Horas de Portimão will be crucial: 35 winner’s points up for grabs, plus 10 bonus points for the team leading at the 8-hour mark. Many of the favourites who had to throw in the towel at Le Mans will be gunning for those points. The first qualifying gets underway on Thursday at 1pm local time (GMT+1). The first edition of the 12 Horas de Portimão will be flagged off at 9.30am on Saturday 11 June, with the first bikes expected to cross the finish line just after nightfall, at 9.30pm.