Ireland’s Eugene Laverty has clawed back ground in the fight for the World Superbike Championship title by cruising to a comfortable fourth win of the season at round six at Portimao, in Portugal, at the weekend.

Having been denied a shot at victory in race one when he suffered mechanical issues on his Aprilia RSV4, Laverty didn’t put a foot wrong during the second encounter, leading from the opening bend before steadily extending his advantage to the chequered flag.

Laverty’s win came as two of his closest rivals, Tom Sykes and Marco Melandri, suffered troubles on this occasion, the latter eliminating himself from the running when he damaged his bike in a fall on the sighting lap, while a bad rear tyre would leave Melandri floundering outside the top 10.

Indeed, Sykes’s issues created drama before the race had even gotten underway, the Briton damaging his machine but getting it back to the garage for swift repairs. However, though Sykes was able to start from the pit lane, two more trips to the garage would leave him well out of contention.

With no pole sitter alongside him, Laverty was clear to sweep into the first bend with the lead, the Irishman being chased by another rider who suffered a DNF in race one, Jonathan Rea on the Pata Honda.

Stretching away from the chasing pack, Laverty and Rea would circulate in tandem for the opening half of the race before the latter started fading into the clutches of Sylvain Guintoli behind him, the Frenchman eventually nosing ahead on lap 16 of 22.

However, it was far too late for Guintoli to consider chasing down his team-mate, Laverty making amends for his disappointing race one retirement to pick up a good haul of 25 points for himself and the Italian manufacturer.

Indeed, Laverty can take some heart from the knowledge that two of his closest rivals for the title suffered an afternoon to forget, with Sykes well out of the points and race one winner Melandri lumbered with a poor rear tyre that would see him plummet down the order as he wrestled with the slewing BMW.

To his credit, Melandri would get the bike to the finish line, but not before he had been dumped to 12th place having run in third position during the early laps.

With Laverty, Sykes and Melandri all enduring mixed fortunes over the course of the day, it was arguably Guintoli that came away as the day’s big winner, his brace of second places putting him 28 points clear at the top of the standings after six rounds.

Though chased down by Guintoli, Rea was still able to pick up a comfortable third place finish at the end of a frustrating day, the Ulsterman finishing well ahead of Loris Baz, who spared some blushes for Kawasaki by claiming a strong fourth place.

Similarly, Chaz Davies helped BMW into the top five with a late pass on Carlos Checa, the Spaniard nonetheless giving the Alstare Ducati 1199 Panigale its best WSBK finish to date.

Jules Cluzel crossed the line seventh, albeit at the expense of Fixi Crescent Suzuki team-mate Leon Camier who retired with mechanical issues, while Ayrton Badovini and David Giugliano picked up eighth and ninth.

Michel Fabrizio rounded out the top 10, the Italian – along with Max Neukirchner – adding insult to injury to an embattled Melandri by passing the BMW rider on the final lap.

Behind them, Federico Sandi beat team-mate Alexander Lundh to the finish line for 13th, with Vittorio Iannuzzo scoring the final point in 15th.

Results from Portugal:

Race one:

1. Marco Melandri ITA BMW GoldBet S1000RR HP4 38m 12.447s
2. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Aprilia Racing RSV4 +0.007s
3. Tom Sykes GBR Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R +4.224s
4. Leon Camier GBR Fixi Crescent Suzuki GSX-R1000 +9.479s
5. Loris Baz FRA Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R +12.057s
6. Chaz Davies GBR BMW GoldBet S1000RR HP4 +16.610s
7. Michel Fabrizio ITA Red Devils Roma RSV4 +21.350s
8. Jules Cluzel FRA Fixi Crescent Suzuki GSX-R1000 +22.337s
9. Carlos Checa ESP Alstare Ducati 1199 R +23.662s
10. Federico Sandi ITA Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R +1m 26.995s
11. Vittorio Iannuzzo ITA Grillini Dentalmatic BMW S1000RR +1m 27.119s
12. Ivan Clementi ITA HTM BMW S1000RR +1m 29.096s
13. Max Neukirchner GER MR Ducati 1199 R +3 laps

Not Classified

14. Ayrton Badovini ITA Alstare Ducati 1199 R 19 laps completed
15. Eugene Laverty IRL Aprilia Racing RSV4 11 laps completed
16. Leon Haslam GBR Pata Honda CBR1000RR 9 laps completed
17. Jonathan Rea GBR Pata Honda CBR1000RR 8 laps completed
18. Alexander Lundh SWE Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R 6 laps completed
19. Davide Giugliano ITA Althea Racing RSV4 5 laps completed

Fastest lap
Eugene Laverty IRL Aprila Racing RSV4 1m 43.062s

Race two:

1. Eugene Laverty IRL Aprilia Racing RSV4 22 laps
2. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Aprilia Racing RSV4 +4.107
3. Jonathan Rea GBR Pata Honda CBR1000RR +5.853s
4. Loris Baz FRA Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R +15.306s
5. Chaz Davies GBR BMW GoldBet S1000RR HP4 +17.552s
6. Carlos Checa ESP Alstare Ducati 1199 R +18.366s
7. Jules Cluzel FRA Fixi Crescent Suzuki GSX-R1000 +29.392s
8. Ayrton Badovini ITA Alstare Ducati 1199 R +38.359s
9. Davide Giugliano ITA Althea Racing RSV4 +39.321s
10. Michel Fabrizio ITA Red Devils Roma RSV4 +44.603s
11. Max Neukirchner GER MR Ducati 1199 R +45.339s
12. Marco Melandri ITA BMW GoldBet S1000RR HP4 +45.429s
13. Federico Sandi ITA Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R +1m 16.310s
14. Alexander Lundh SWE Pedercini Kawasaki ZX-10R +1m 16.375s
15. Vittorio Iannuzzo ITA Grillini Dentalmatic BMW S1000RR +1m 18.303s

16. Ivan Clementi ITA HTM BMW S1000RR +1m 24.259s
17. Tom Sykes GBR Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R +7 laps

Not Classified

18. Leon Camier GBR Fixi Crescent Suzuki GSX-R1000 12 laps completed

Fastest lap
Tom Sykes GBR Kawasaki Racing ZX-10R 1m 42.475s

Did Not Start

Leon Haslam GBR Pata Honda CBR1000RR

WSBK standings after round six: