Day one of the penultimate WorldSBK round

After a sandstorm on Thursday, the track had to be cleaned before FP1, which led to a slight delay. Jonathan Rea waited almost a quarter of an hour after the late start before taking to the track for the first time. The reigning world champion then approached it very cautiously for his circumstances. His former Kawasaki teammate was reportedly still injured and was represented by Eugene Laverty for the third event in a row. It now seems clear that Tom Sykes will take the last ride on the BMW at the season finale in Indonesia and that he will switch to the competition after being kicked out of the blue and white works team, although it is not yet clear whether this will be HRC Honda. Unsurprisingly, Toprak Razgatlioglu led in FP1 ten minutes before the end. Behind them Rea, Scott Redding, Chaz Davies, Alex Lowes, Alvaro Bautista, Michael Ruben Rinaldi, Axel Bassani and Leon Haslam. BMW ace Michael van der Mark had recently been thrown out of the top ten by Andrea Locatelli with the eighth-fastest time.

Chaz Davies in the GoEleven Ducati Box before the first free practice – for the Welshman, the penultimate race weekend is also the penultimate of his long career before he will hang his helmet on the famous nail. Loris Baz represented him excellently during his injury break in Portimão and Jerez and made three podiums, something Davies achieved only once in his last season.

The result of the first free practice of WorldSBK

In the last five minutes, Jonathan Rea went out again for a time attack. After the best time in the first sector, however, he failed to attack the leading Turkish’s fastest time in the first attempt. One and a half minutes before the end, the Northern Irishman managed a provisional new best time in the second attempt, with 1:39.068. However, Razgatlioglu stepped up and was the first to set a time of less than one minute 39 seconds, while the Kawasaki rider couldn’t manage to improve. In the end, Redding was also a tad faster and set the second-best time on Friday morning, Argentine time. Behind Rea his Kawasaki teammate Alex Lowes in front of a surprisingly strong Isaac Viñales, US boy Gerloff and Rinaldi.

P, No, Rider, Bike, Time(,Gap), km/h, Laps
1, 54, RAZGATLIOGLU Toprak, Yamaha YZF R1, 1’38.524, , 310, 14
2, 45, REDDING Scott, Ducati Panigale V4 R, 1’39.025, 0.501, 311, 22
3, 1, REA Jonathan, Kawasaki ZX-10RR, 1’39.068, 0.544, 308, 14
4, 22, LOWES Alex, Kawasaki ZX-10RR, 1’39.298, 0.774, 310, 15
5, 32, VINALES Isaac, Kawasaki ZX-10RR, 1’39.464, 0.940, 304, 13
6, 31, GERLOFF Garrett, Yamaha YZF R1, 1’39.589, 1.065, 310, 18
7, 21, RINALDI Michael Ruben, Ducati Panigale V4 R, 1’39.636, 1.112, 310, 19
8, 7, DAVIES Chaz, Ducati Panigale V4 R, 1’39.681, 1.157, 309, 19
9, 19, BAUTISTA Alvaro, Honda CBR1000 RR-R, 1’39.837, 1.313, 315, 19
10, 55, LOCATELLI Andrea, Yamaha YZF R1, 1’39.953, 1.429, 308, 18
11, 91, HASLAM Leon, Honda CBR1000 RR-R, 1’39.984, 1.460, 310, 19
12, 47, BASSANI Axel, Ducati Panigale V4 R, 1’40.030, 1.506, 308, 21
13, 60, VAN DER MARK Michael, BMW M 1000 RR, 1’40.138, 1.614, 307, 17
14, 53, RABAT Tito, Kawasaki ZX-10RR, 1’40.171, 1.647, 306, 22
15, 36, MERCADO Leandro, Honda CBR1000 RR-R, 1’40.321, 1.797, 302, 17
16, 76, CAVALIERI Samuele, Ducati Panigale V4 R, 1’40.429, 1.905, 304, 20
17, 50, LAVERTY Eugene, BMW M 1000 RR, 1’41.288, 2.764, 307, 16
18, 3, NOZANE Kohta, Yamaha YZF R1, 1’42.102, 3.578, 302, 19
19, 23, PONSSON Christophe, Yamaha YZF R1, 1’42.756, 4.232, 302, 21
20, 39, SOLORZA Marco, Kawasaki ZX-10RR, 1’43.794, 5.270, 289, 17
21, 4, RIBODINO Luciano, Kawasaki ZX-10RR, 1’44.408, 5.884, 298, 15

The FP1 of the WorldSSP 600
When the clock was still seven and a half minutes, the world championship leader led the table. Behind Aegerter were Can Öncü, Manuel Gonzalez, Valentin Debise, Steven Odendaal, Niki Tuuli, Jules Cluzel, Peter Sebestyen, Raffaele de Rosa and Hannes Soomer. Shortly before the end, Philipp Öttl was only on P15. Behind him, with wildcard pilot Sheridan Morais, he finished fourth in the 2017 World Cup. While the German was able to move into the top ten in the meantime, the South African did not succeed, so he stayed in 16th place. In the end, Aegerter was fastest with another new best time ahead of Gonzalez, Öncü and Debise, while Öttl fell back to P13.

P, No, Rider, Bike, Time(,Gap), km/h, Laps
1, 77, AEGERTER Dominique, Yamaha YZF R6, 1’42.721, , 268, 19
2, 81, GONZALEZ Manuel, Yamaha YZF R6, 1’43.173, 0.452, 268, 16
3, 61, ONCU Can Alexander, Kawasaki ZX-6R, 1’43.576, 0.855, 269, 20
4, 3, DE ROSA Raffaele, Kawasaki ZX-6R, 1’43.741, 1.020, 264, 18
5, 53, DEBISE Valentin, Yamaha YZF R6, 1’43.836, 1.115, 263, 19
6, 38, SOOMER Hannes, Yamaha YZF R6, 1’43.846, 1.125, 266, 19
7, 56, SEBESTYEN Peter, Yamaha YZF R6, 1’44.030, 1.309, 269, 18
8, 4, ODENDAAL Steven, Yamaha YZF R6, 1’44.042, 1.321, 270, 18
9, 66, TUULI Niki, MV Agusta F3 675, 1’44.207, 1.486, 262, 17
10, 16, CLUZEL Jules, Yamaha YZF R6, 1’44.257, 1.536, 267, 3
11, 95, TAKALA Vertti, Yamaha YZF R6, 1’44.330, 1.609, 266, 20
12, 25, BRENNER Marcel, Yamaha YZF R6, 1’44.425, 1.704, 265, 18
13, 5, OETTL Philipp, Kawasaki ZX-6R, 1’44.753, 2.032, 269, 17
14, 40, ORRADRE Unai, Yamaha YZF R6, 1’44.784, 2.063, 265, 16
15, 28, VAN STRAALEN Glenn, Yamaha YZF R6, 1’44.887, 2.166, 264, 18
16, 32, MORAIS Sheridan, Yamaha YZF R6, 1’45.221, 2.500, 261, 19
17, 74, GONZALES Andres, Yamaha YZF R6, 1’46.635, 3.914, 264, 16
18, 24, TACCINI Leonardo, Yamaha YZF R6, 1’47.655, 4.934, 263, 16
19, 57, PETRATTI Matias, Yamaha YZF R6, 1’50.359, 7.638, 261, 6
20, 64, BUIS Jeffrey, Kawasaki ZX-6R, 1’51.450, 8.729, 263, 17

Jules Cluzel in the gravel bed of Turn 6 – after his provisional best time, the Frenchman was the first pilot of the day with a, albeit harmless, first crash on Friday.

The second free practice of WorldSBK
Jonathan Rea’s all-time lap record from 2019 with 1: 37.462 was clearly missed in FP1 by Toprak as the fastest. The Turk also led in FP2 in front of Lowes and Rea, who had to hit the ground in turn 6 shortly before half-time. The Kawasaki rider was uninjured in his crash, but his bike was damaged and the team of the record world champions had a lot of work to do with it. It was clear early on that there would not be enough time for this in the last 20 minutes or more of the second free practice. The reigning world champion thus had to watch without a fight as Razgatlioglu set a daily best, which, however, was still almost half a second above the record of the Kawasaki driver two years ago. Rea stayed on P5 behind Redding, team-mate Lowes and Rinaldi until the end of FP2.

The result of the second free training of the WSBK

P, No, Rider, Bike, Time(,Gap), km/h, Laps
1, 54, RAZGATLIOGLU Toprak, Yamaha YZF R1, 1’37.872, , 313, 23
2, 45, REDDING Scott, Ducati Panigale V4 R, 1’38.118, 0.246, 310, 22
3, 22, LOWES Alex, Kawasaki ZX-10RR, 1’38.420, 0.548, 309, 19
4, 21, RINALDI Michael Ruben, Ducati Panigale V4 R, 1’38.433, 0.561, 311, 19
5, 1, REA Jonathan, Kawasaki ZX-10RR, 1’38.501, 0.629, 310, 7
6, 7, DAVIES Chaz, Ducati Panigale V4 R, 1’38.814, 0.942, 307, 17
7, 47, BASSANI Axel, Ducati Panigale V4 R, 1’38.851, 0.979, 311, 18
8, 55, LOCATELLI Andrea, Yamaha YZF R1, 1’38.875, 1.003, 309, 18
9, 31, GERLOFF Garrett, Yamaha YZF R1, 1’38.879, 1.007, 309, 21
10, 91, HASLAM Leon, Honda CBR1000 RR-R, 1’39.177, 1.305, 313, 16
11, 19, BAUTISTA Alvaro, Honda CBR1000 RR-R, 1’39.284, 1.412, 314, 18
12, 32, VINALES Isaac, Kawasaki ZX-10RR, 1’39.291, 1.419, 305, 16
13, 53, RABAT Tito, Kawasaki ZX-10RR, 1’39.309, 1.437, 309, 20
14, 60, VAN DER MARK Michael, BMW M 1000 RR, 1’39.323, 1.451, 307, 17
15, 50, LAVERTY Eugene, BMW M 1000 RR, 1’39.526, 1.654, 309, 17
16, 76, CAVALIERI Samuele, Ducati Panigale V4 R, 1’39.753, 1.881, 306, 19
17, 3, NOZANE Kohta, Yamaha YZF R1, 1’39.857, 1.985, 302, 19
18, 36, MERCADO Leandro, Honda CBR1000 RR-R, 1’40.076, 2.204, 304, 18
19, 23, PONSSON Christophe, Yamaha YZF R1, 1’40.678, 2.806, 306, 21
20, 39, SOLORZA Marco, Kawasaki ZX-10RR, 1’42.469, 4.597, 291, 19
21, 4, RIBODINO Luciano, Kawasaki ZX-10RR, 1’42.776, 4.904, 300, 16

Johnny Rea (Kawasaki) after his crash in Turn 6, in which his Kawasaki rolled over several times in the gravel bed and then resembled a total write-off.

The second free practice of the WorldSSP 600
As in FP1, it was again Jules Cluzel who initially led the table. Behind them were Aegerter, Öncü, Gonzalez and Odendaal before the last half hour of the day. After a disappointing first session, Philipp Öttl was now ninth in the top ten. Even before the last third of FP2, the world championship leader was at the top again. Aegerter had undercut the time of the leading French by 11 thousandths, when the clock was still a good 20 minutes. With ten and a half minutes to go, Cluzel hit back. The GMT94 Yamaha rider was over half a second faster than the Swiss. A little later Gonzalez was on P2 and the three-time vice world champion from Montluçon in the north-west of Clermont-Ferrand increased by a further three tenths. Dominique Aegerter was unable to counter and so the world championship leader had to make do with P3 in front of Sebestyen, Tuuli, van Straalen, De Rosa, Odendaal and Öncü. Below is the FP2 in numbers.

P, No, Rider, Bike, Time(,Gap), km/h, Laps
1, 16, CLUZEL Jules, Yamaha YZF R6, 1’41.926, , 269, 21
2, 81, GONZALEZ Manuel, Yamaha YZF R6, 1’42.721, 0.795, 275, 21
3, 77, AEGERTER Dominique, Yamaha YZF R6, 1’42.833, 0.907, 270, 20
4, 56, SEBESTYEN Peter, Yamaha YZF R6, 1’42.941, 1.015, 271, 19
5, 66, TUULI Niki, MV Agusta F3 675, 1’42.996, 1.070, 260, 16
6, 28, VAN STRAALEN Glenn, Yamaha YZF R6, 1’43.085, 1.159, 268, 18
7, 3, DE ROSA Raffaele, Kawasaki ZX-6R, 1’43.097, 1.171, 268, 21
8, 4, ODENDAAL Steven, Yamaha YZF R6, 1’43.124, 1.198, 272, 17
9, 61, ONCU Can Alexander, Kawasaki ZX-6R, 1’43.162, 1.236, 266, 20
10, 38, SOOMER Hannes, Yamaha YZF R6, 1’43.180, 1.254, 270, 18
11, 53, DEBISE Valentin, Yamaha YZF R6, 1’43.241, 1.315, 265, 19
12, 25, BRENNER Marcel, Yamaha YZF R6, 1’43.407, 1.481, 266, 19
13, 95, TAKALA Vertti, Yamaha YZF R6, 1’43.465, 1.539, 269, 19
14, 40, ORRADRE Unai, Yamaha YZF R6, 1’43.533, 1.607, 270, 21
15, 5, OETTL Philipp, Kawasaki ZX-6R, 1’43.802, 1.876, 273, 18
16, 74, GONZALES Andres, Yamaha YZF R6, 1’44.021, 2.095, 265, 17
17, 32, MORAIS Sheridan, Yamaha YZF R6, 1’44.410, 2.484, 266, 21
18, 24, TACCINI Leonardo, Yamaha YZF R6, 1’45.583, 3.657, 267, 18
19, 64, BUIS Jeffrey, Kawasaki ZX-6R, 1’48.123, 6.197, 266, 19
20, 57, PETRATTI Matias, Yamaha YZF R6, 1’48.679, 6.753, 260, 13

WorldSBK San Juan schedule

The Circuito de San Juan

>WSBK San Juan Preview see separate report on this page.

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