WorldSBK: All eyes were on the skies throughout the opening day of action at Autodrom Most.
The afternoon session of Superbike action started with spots of rain around the 4.2km long circuit and ended with Garrett Gerloff setting the pace for Kawasaki WorldSBK Team while championship leader Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) crashed at Turn 1.
With 35 laps under his belt Gerloff was able to overcome a crash in the early moments of Free Practice 1 to set a consistent pace in the afternoon. The American led the way at the end of the day with a time 1’30.791.
Bulega led the way but he ran off at Turn 6 and crashed at Turn 1 during the course of an action packed afternoon for the Italian. His day was ended by his crash and he completed just six laps in the afternoon.
Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) was third fastest but the British rider suffered a technical problem in Free Practice 1 that cost him mileage aboard his Ducati Panigale V4R. The afternoon went smoothly for Lowes and he was less than two tenths of a second slower than Gerloff.
It was a strong day for the bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team with Alex Lowes fifth fastest and Axel Bassani seventh quickest. Lowes crashed at Turn 20 in the morning but was able to immediately get down to pace in the afternoon session. He ended the day behind Iker Lecuona (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati).
Michael van der Mark made his return to WorldSBK action in place of the injured Miguel Oliveira. The Dutchman was tenth fastest to ensure both ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team riders were inside the top ten with Danilo Petrucci sixth fastest.
P1 – Garrett Gerloff (Kawasaki WorldSBK Team)
“I honestly didn’t expect to end the day in P1, especially after this morning when I didn’t feel very comfortable. The team made some really good changes for FP2 and straight away I felt much better with the bike. The track conditions also suited me more in the afternoon, so I had more confidence and grip, and everything came together much better. When I crossed the line with the lap time, I thought it was done on the qualifying tyre but when I came back to the box they told me it was actually with the race tyre so that was a nice surprise.”
P2 – Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
“This morning the feeling was not fantastic. I started FP2 quite well and I was improving, so overall I was happy with the feeling but unfortunately I had a small crash while pushing to find the limit in some areas. In Turns 6 and 7 I still struggle a bit to stop the bike properly. The crash was small but there was quite a lot of damage to the bike. I could only do six or seven laps in the afternoon. It means we didn’t complete a lot of work but I still think we still collected good data for tomorrow.”
P3 – Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team)
“It’s been a good day overall. We had a couple of small issues in FP1 but the afternoon session was positive. I completed an 18-lap run, with a couple of slower laps in there, but generally the pace was decent. Obviously it’s difficult to compare too much with Nicolo because he had the crash, but he still looked very fast, especially on the short runs. We did a good job today and I still feel there are areas where I can improve my riding tomorrow. I think we’re definitely in the fight for the podium and the top five, which is where we’ve been consistently.”
Combined Results after FP2
1. Garrett Gerloff (Kawasaki WorldSBK Team) 1’30.791s
2. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +0.066s
3. Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) +0.142s
4. Iker Lecuona (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +0.208s
5. Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) +0.275s
6. Danilo Petrucci (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) +0.426s
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