Aruba Ducati’s Scott Redding put in a last-lap charge to top the third WorldSBK free practice at Estoril this morning, which denied Garrett Gerloff bragging rights.
The Yamaha rider had topped the session with five minutes left to run, banging in a 1’36.509 on the GRT bike but Redding went a tenth quicker on his Panigale V4R.
World champ Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki) was third despite topping the session early on the stages while team-mate Alex Lowes continued his strong start to the season with fourth place in FP3, just a tenth away.
Michael Rinaldi (Aruba Ducati) was fifth as he looks to kickstart his season, with Chaz Davies (Team GoEleven) less than a tenth away from Rinaldi; Rinaldi finishing sixth in the combined standings just behind Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha) across all three practice sessions with the Turkish star’s best time coming in the opening practice session.
Fomner champion Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad) showed strong pace with seventh in the final practice session as the lead BMW rider, finishing around a tenth clear of Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha) having a strong Saturday morning with eighth, while Tito Rabat (Barni Racing) finished on exactly the same lap time as Razgatlioglu as the pair finished ninth and tenth in the final practice session.
