His teammate, Michael Ruben Rinaldi, closely followed, setting the stage for a potential Ducati powerhouse in this weekend’s races with Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) grabbing third place.
Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK), who set the pace in FP1, remained competitive but finished fourth overall.
Honda showed glimpses of a comeback as Iker Lecuona (Team HRC) claimed second place in FP2, taking fifth in the combined standings.
BMW’s Garrett Gerloff (Bonovo Action BMW) displayed strength once more with sixth place in the combined standings. Meanwhile Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) concluded the day in seventh place.
WorldSBK Combined Results after FP2
1.Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) 1’49.649s
2. Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +0.077s
3. Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) +0.176s
4. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) +0.321s
5. Iker Lecuona (Team HRC) +0.799s
6. Garrett Gerloff (Bonovo Action BMW) +0.805s
P1 | Alvaro Bautista | Aruba.it Racing – Ducati
“I think it has been a very positive Friday, even if the conditions were a bit difficult, especially this morning because it was too windy and I struggled a bit. This morning, we tried the new front from Pirelli. The first feeling was not too bad. It’s good tyre, good performance. Maybe I need more time to understand the tyre because right now with the SC1, I have more feeling and I know more the limits, so at the moment I think SC1 is for me the best solution.
In the afternoon, we came back to the SC1 and SCX to start the practice. Conditions were a bit better than this morning, but in any case I felt the grip was very low. It’s difficult to make lot of fast laps because after two or three laps the drop of the tyre is quite big and we’re struggling to maintain the same pace but then remain more or less consistent. I’m happy because the feeling with the bike was not too bad. I’m happy with the work we did, with the feeling too. Let’s see if tomorrow the conditions improve, especially with the wind.”
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