Yamaha’s Toprak Razgatlioglu celebrated a two-year WorldSBK contract extension by setting the quickest lap in free practice one at Donington Park this morning but the lap was taken away by stewards which left world champion Jonathan Rea in charge.
Razgatlioglu had put in a 1’27.678 to lead Rea by 0.163s while Garrett Gerloff - who has never seen the track before and was on a MotoGP M1 at Assen last weekend - finished in third and only half a second off the pace but he too lost his fastest lap.
The shuffle left Razgatlioglu in second, 0.264s off Rea’s 1’27.841 pace, with BMW’s Tom Sykes bouncing back from an early crash at Melbourne in third on a 1’28.202.
Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba Ducati) continued his recent fine form with fourth, finishing ahead of Gerloff (GRT Yamaha) who is learning his second new track in as many weekends.
Britain’s rider Scott Redding, on the second works Ducati, was seventh, one second away from Rea’s time, after continually improving his time throughout the session.
Hometown hero Leon Haslam (Team HRC) was in seventh as the highest-placed Honda rider with all five manufacturers securing a position in the top seven. Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing) claimed eighth spot at his local track, just over a second off his teammate’s pace, finishing ahead of Michael van der Mark (BMW Motorrad) in ninth -0 the Dutchman taking an early trip through the gravel at the Melbourne Hairpin, with Chaz Davies (Team GoEleven) rounding out the top ten.
It was a tough start to the weekend for both Kohta Nozane (GRT Yamaha) and Eugene Laverty (RC Squadra Corse). Japanese rookie Nozane came into the weekend with a hairline fracture to his right middle finger following a crash during a test at Navarra and completed only four laps, while Laverty only completed an in-and-out lap without setting a lap time at all.
Britain’s Luke Mossey, who is in the Pedercini Kawasaki team this weekend, finished in 17th.
Top ten top speeds
1 47 A. BASSANI Ducati Panigale V4 R 273,0
2 21 M. RINALDI Ducati Panigale V4 R 273,0
3 53 T. RABAT Ducati Panigale V4 R 272,3
4 1 J. REA Kawasaki ZX-10RR 271,6
5 19 A. BAUTISTA Honda CBR1000 RR-R 271,6
6 45 S. REDDING Ducati Panigale V4 R 270,2
7 66 T. SYKES BMW M 1000 RR 270,2
8 91 L. HASLAM Honda CBR1000 RR-R 270,2
9 22 A. LOWES Kawasaki ZX-10RR 269,6
10 7 C. DAVIES Ducati Panigale V4 R 268,9
