Yamaha’s Toprak Razgatlioglu topped the opening WorldSBK free practice at Misano this morning on lap record pace already while reigning champion Jonathan Rea ended seven places and a second in arrears.
Razgatlioglu set a 1’34.848 - a tenth off Rea’s lap record set back in 2015 - which enough to fend off the attentions of Ducati’s Michael Rinaldi who ended only 0.054s behind.
But team-mate Scott Redding was limited to just ten laps as his works Panigale V4R went bang early doors and he had to spend most of the session sitting in the garage.
Italian Rinaldi had been the long-time leader of the 45-minute session but Razgatlioglu’s late time was enough. GRT Yamaha's Garrett Gerloff was another who put in a strong lap at the end of the session to claim third place, 0.075s back from Razgatlioglu.
Chaz Davies (Team GoEleven) claimed a fourth place finish in a mixed up order in Free Practice 1, half-a-second back from Razgatlioglu’s pace, with Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) and Tito Rabat (Barni Racing Team) completing the top six - four Ducatis in the top six.
Leon Haslam (Team HRC) was Honda’s lead rider in seventh place, finishing ahead of Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK). Rea was the lead Kawasaki rider in the opening session but lost time at the start of the session when he remained in his pit box with the British rider putting in a flurry of laps in the second half of the session.
Alvaro Bautista (Team HRC) and Michael van der Mark (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) completed the top ten with Alex Lowes on the second works Kawasaki in 11th.
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Top ten top speeds
1 21 M. RINALDI Ducati Panigale V4 R 273,4
2 47 A. BASSANI Ducati Panigale V4 R 273,4
3 1 J. REA Kawasaki ZX-10RR 273,4
4 19 A. BAUTISTA Honda CBR1000 RR-R 273,4
5 54 T. RAZGATLIOGLU Yamaha YZF R1 272,7
6 53 T. RABAT Ducati Panigale V4 R 272,7
7 22 A. LOWES Kawasaki ZX-10RR 272,7
8 50 E. LAVERTY BMW M 1000 RR 271,4
9 7 C. DAVIES Ducati Panigale V4 R 270,7
10 60 M. VAN DER MARK BMW M 1000 RR 270,7
