Superbike world champion Alvaro Bautista began his world title defense by leading Friday’s free practice at the Australian roundabout at Phillip Island. The Aruba.it Racing – Ducati team rider dominated FP1 and FP2, leading with a best time of 1’30” 623.
The strong wind at the Phillip Island circuit did not seem to affect Bautista, who got off to a good start with the fastest time in FP1 (1’31” 932). Then, in the afternoon, the reigning world champion made the most of the best circuit conditions, improving by more than half a second and ending with the best time of the day (1’30.623).
He leads the Yamaha Andrea Locatelli by 0″446, the Honda Iker Lecuona by 0″506, his teammate Michael Rinaldi by 0″534 and the Kawasaki Jonathan Rea by 0″681, the riders who finished in the top-5 of the day, although his 14th in FP2 was more worrying. There was a lot of parity on this first official day with the top-13 just over a second.
“It was a positive Friday. The sensations on the bike were very good, according to what I felt in training. I tried to adapt to the track conditions, which changed quite a bit from morning to afternoon. I am satisfied with the work we did in now”, explained Bautista.
Turkish Toprak Razgatlioglu, world runner-up, closed out the top-10 at 0″937, last of the Yamahas -and only 13th in FP2-. Xavi Vierge (Team HRC) finished 16th in 1″349.
Bulega dominates Supersport, Huertas 3rd
Italians Nicolò Bulega and Stefano Manzi shared the dominance in the two free sessions, but it was the Ducati rider who finished at the top of the time sheet (1’32.852) with a margin of half a second over his compatriot.
Adrián Huertas (MTM Kawasaki) maintained third position in the combined table at 0″889 thanks to his best time in FP1 adding two crashes on the day, one in each practice. Jorge Navarro, who made his WorldSSP debut from Moto2, He is 16th in the combined with 1″782
The schedules
SATURDAY
00:50-01:20 WorldSBK – FP3
02:25-02:45 WorldSSP – Superpole
03:10-03:25 WorldSBK – Superpole
04:30 WorldSSP – Race 1
06:00 WorldSBK – Race 1
SUNDAY
00:30-00:45 WorldSBK – WUP
00:55-01:10 WorldSSP – WUP
03:00 WorldSBK – Superpole Race
04:30 WorldSSP – Race 2
06:00 WorldSBK – Race 2
Live television: DAZN, Teledeporte / RTVE Play, Eurosport/Eurosport Player
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
