Despite being a Test day, there was drama everywhere you looked in Australia as five red flags, with several of these due to geese near the track, disrupted running while there was also drama for the ‘titanic trio’. Both Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) and Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) went down at Turn 4 in FP2 at around the same time, while Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) had an FP1 crash at Turn 10 with just a few minutes remaining.
Despite his FP1 crash, 2021 Champion Razgatlioglu was able to bounce back in FP2 to top the timesheets in the two-hour session with a 1’30.674s and that time was also good enough to top the times in the combined classification on Day 2. Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) was second and 0.099s slower than Razgatlioglu but he was able to finish ahead of teammate Bautista with the reigning Champion in third place and 0.134s down on Razgatlioglu. Six-time Champion Rea took fourth spot after setting a 1’30.889s with Rea the first rider to lap in the 1’30s bracket.
Several riders with Independent teams shone brightly in Australia on Day 1 of the test, with four finishing inside the top ten behind Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) in fifth place. Home hero Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) was seventh and only 0.005s behind the top six.
WorldSBK Day 1 Results
1. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) 1’30.674s
2. Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +0.099s
3. Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +0-134s
4. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) +0.215s
5. Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) +0.334s
6. Philipp Oettl (Team GoEleven) +0.921s
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