Reigning WorldSBK Champion Toprak Razgatlioglu led the way in this morning’s opening free practice at Assen, going under the existing lap record by a tenth of a second but he was kept honest by Honda’s Iker Lecuona.
The Pata Yamaha man had set the pace with a 1’34.635 but Honda’s Lecuona closed in on the Turk with a 1’35.027 before Razgatlioglu then put in a 1’34.466. Not to be outdone, the Spaniard hit back with a 1’34.884 to finish four-tenths off the pace.
Alvaro Bautista had a steady session, finishing in third come the end. Halfway through the session, a small part of his bike appeared to fly off at Turn 13, but he otherwise had a relatively uneventful session.
Bautista’s teammate Michael Ruben Rinaldi was fourth, ahead of Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki) who completed the top five.
Sixth place went to American Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha), with Yamaha looking strong at various points of the session. Backing up Yamaha’s assault, Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha) was seventh at the circuit at which he took his first podium at last year.
Eighth went to Alex Lowes (Kawasaki), ahead of an ever-improving Scott Redding (BMW Motorrad) in ninth and Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing), who completed the top ten, edging out fellow Independent riders Loris Baz (Bonovo Action BMW) and Roberto Tamburini (Motoxracing Yamaha ).
Outside of the top ten, Eugene Laverty (Bonovo Action BMW) had an enormous crash at the 150mph Ramshoek, luckily escaping getting tangled up with the bike as both tumbled through the gravel.
Laverty went to the medical centre for a check-up but was on his feet walking away from the crash. On his comeback, Leon Haslam (TPR Team Pedercini Racing) was 17th, one place ahead of Xavi Vierge (Team HRC).
