Superbike: Lorenzo Baldassarri reveals what happened behind the scenes at Portimao: "On Saturday I had tears in my eyes

Tuesday, 31 March 2026 at 19:45

Lorenzo Baldassarri in azione a Portimao

Phillip Island is often an outlier, and it’s at Portimão that the true pecking order emerges. After the splendid Australian podium, in Portugal Lorenzo Baldassarri was expected to confirm himself among the frontrunners. And so he did. Sixth place in Race 2, second among the Independent Riders, seals his new role in the Superbike World Championship.

Baldassarri is now seventh in the overall standings and can aim for the top 5. He clearly still has considerable room for growth, and the Go Eleven team has everything it takes to do well.

“At Portimão we confirmed that we’re competitive, and that wasn’t a given,” says Lorenzo Baldassarri to Corsedimoto - The track is tough, the others had done more days of testing, while when we went we got rain. The weekend then became particularly difficult because on Friday I had a physical problem.”

What happened to you?

“My right forearm had swollen up and I locked up, so it was a survival weekend, really tough! In Race 1 I reached the finish line with tears in my eyes. I told myself: ‘I raced today, but who knows how I’ll manage tomorrow.’ Instead, on Sunday I managed to loosen up and put together two good races—especially in Race 2 I made a nice progression from the halfway point on. Even though my arms were still a bit tight, I managed to keep a good pace. Good, good.”

Everything is going great with the team.

“Yes, everything is going really well. I’m very happy with the work I’m doing with Go Eleven, with how quickly I’ve adapted, and I’m confident for the upcoming races. I can’t wait to race at Assen and grow race by race throughout the season to aim for even more important results.” . The next WorldSBK round will be at Assen 18-19 April.