Ivo Lopes will return to the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship grid for his home Pirelli Portuguese Round this weekend as he replaces the still-recovering Tarran Mackenzie (PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda) following his crash at Donington Park in July. The #95 suffered a concussion in his Race 1 crash, forcing him to miss the Czech Round and Mackenzie will also miss the round at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve as he continues his recovery, with Lopes stepping in.

Lopes made his WorldSBK debut last year when he stepped in to replace Michael van der Mark (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) for the Catalunya Round, his only appearance in World Superbike to date. He scored one point in Race 1 as he took 15^th place and matched that result in the Tissot Superpole Race, before claiming 17^th in Race 2. The Portuguese star also competed in STK1000 back in 2013, claiming 22^nd place on Suzuki machinery, while he also has one WorldSSP race under his belt from 2018, although he didn’t finish the race. Both of the STK1000 and WorldSSP appearances came at Portimao.

Discussing his return to WorldSBK, the 28-year-old said: “When we least expect it, an opportunity arises! I was very surprised and pleased when the PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda Team invited me to race with them at the next WorldSBK round, which takes place at the Portimao circuit. The CBR1000RR-R is a completely new bike for me, but I will try my best to adapt to the bike as quickly as possible and help the team in the best possible way during what will be a very special adventure for me, at my “home” track in front of the Portuguese public. It’s common knowledge that my dream is to be a full-time WorldSBK rider and that's why my team are allowing me to take this opportunity, something I am extremely grateful for. I had chance to compete in WorldSBK last season, at Barcelona, where I managed to finish in the points. This time I’m not heading out on track with any real expectations though, I just want to seize the opportunity and do the best I can to assist the team. As I said, I have zero experience with this bike, but I'm going to try my hardest to lap with world championship worthy times and exploit the fact that I know the AIA track very well!”

Lopes will be alongside regular rider Adam Norrodin (PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda), who will hope to make his return from injury subject to pre-round medical checks. The Malaysian rider crashed out of Race 2 at Donington and was forced to miss Most due to concussion, but he’ll be back in action at the ‘rollercoaster’ Portuguese venue as he continues his rookie campaign.

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