World Superbikes: Holder Jonathan Rea hoping for Portimao win at 'happy hunting ground'

Jonathan Rea believes his strong record in Portugal can help him secure a victory in the next stage of the World Superbike Championship this weekend.

The five-time champion is 24 points behind leader Scott Redding after the series returned at Jerez last week.

Since joining Kawasaki in 2015, Rea has won nine races in Portimao, which hosts the third stage on Saturday and Sunday.

"I'm ready to capitalise on what is a strong track for us," he said.

"I'm ready to reset in Portimao. It's an incredible circuit which has been a happy hunting ground for me, I've won a lot of races here in the past.

"The track has got everything, it's a real challenge for the rider and I feel we will work well here. We will set off in practice, try and get a good base set up, then try to be strong for the duration of the race.

Rea won the Superpole sprint opener in Spain last Sunday, but could only manage sixth in the second feature race that afternoon, with newcomer Redding securing a feature race double.

The action in Spain saw the championship return after a five-month break because of the coronavirus pandemic, with seven more rounds planned to complete the series.

"Jerez was a strange weekend because I felt pretty good with the bike and felt like we maximised everything with the bike," Rea said.

"But in race three we really got caught out with grip levels, I had no grip from lap one so it was a really long race. It was a tough weekend but I was happy to get it done, wipe it under the cover and look forward to Portimao.

"I will miss the atmosphere as there are always a lot of Northern Ireland supporters coming to this race and that will be missing, but that's just a little something."