Reigning WorldSBK champ Jonathan Rea drew first blood in the opening Misano practice this morning, leading Michael van der Mark by a fraction under two-tenths with series leader Alvaro Bautista in third.
Having taken his first WorldSBK win exactly ten years ago today, Rea hit the front in the early stages before improving with 24 minutes left.
Rea ended FP1 on top, while Yamaha's van der Mark put in a strong late run to finish in second place, ahead of Bautista, who completed the top three.
Alex Lowes (Yamaha) came home in fourth while Chaz Davies had a strong start to the weekend onhis Pnigale V4R and rounded out the top five.
Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad) was in the front group in sixth, with the 2013 WorldSBK champion starting his weekend strongly. Home-favourite Marco Melandri (GRT WorldSBK) was the top Italian after FP1 in seventh, ahead of Leon Haslam (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK), Sandro Cortese (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK) and Toprak Razgatlioglu (Turkish Puccetti Racing), as the 22-year-old Turkish rider completed the top ten.
Ducati test rider Michele Pirros suffered a crash on his wildcard appearance, going down at turn 13 and he ended his first session in 14th, one ahead of Loris Baz.
