The first session had been a quiet affair, with only four riders setting lap times on a damp track.
Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) had a minor setback when he crashed during FP2 but recovered to finish third, which combined with his Championship lead, puts him on the brink of a potential Championship-clinching performance from in Race 1.
Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) secured second place overall with teammate Dominique Aegerter finishing in fifth place, only split by Bautista’s stablemate Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) as Friday action finished.
Philipp Oettl (Team GoEleven) completed the top six while Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) had a challenging day finishing in 13th.
1. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) 1’40.312s
2. Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) +0.244s
3. Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +0.320s
4. Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +0.398s
5. Dominique Aegerter (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) +0.511s
6. Philipp Oettl (Team GoEleven) +0.546s
“Friday was difficult because nobody rides in FP1, because the track conditions were strange. In FP2, everybody’s riding and I’m feeling less grip. This is not just my problem; all riders are feeling the same. My bike is worse than the others because I’m feeling just spinning, no grip and no turning. We have some positives. I hope we are improving the bike tomorrow; I just need a little bit more grip for good pace. I did a good lap time, but I need good pace. Now, I’m not really strong.
Bautista is very strong and this track and I just tried to follow him to understand which areas his bike is very strong. The exit of Turn 5, he’s unbelievably fast. And the last corner exit, there’s a big gap. I’m just trying to find which corner I can catch him. I see this and I understand. I just need a good setup because I feel a lot of spinning. I’m still fighting for the win. I hope tomorrow I have much better feel with the bike and first I need a good Superpole, then a good race. I hope I’m fighting like at Portimao; then I’m feeling the bike better and starting to enjoy. I’m focused and hungry to win.”
P3 | Alvaro Bautista | Aruba.it Racing – Ducati
“Every day that I enjoy the bike is a great day and today I enjoyed it! Tomorrow, the approach is to keep this feeling and to work well; I hope the track is in better condition. The track is so nice when the conditions are good. There is nothing that will change for tomorrow. Firstly, I try to be away from everyone saying, “You’ll win tomorrow! You’ll win tomorrow.” I’m the first person that knows I have the match point tomorrow.”
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