The Misano World Circuit – Marco Simoncelli basked under the sun today with the opening sessions of the Pirelli Emilia-Romagna Round. With high temperatures of over 30C WorldSBK heads into the summer season in scorching conditions.
Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) led the way on the opening day at Misano. The Italian traded blows with Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) throughout the day with Toprak landing the first blow to lead in FP1 before Bulega set the fastest time of the day with a 1’32.722. In the afternoon session they traded fastest times four times.
At their home round Ducati enjoyed a strong start to the weekend with Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) third fastest while the Barni Spark Racing Team pairing of Yari Montella and Danilo Petrucci were fourth and sixth fastest.
Remy Gardner was the leading Yamaha rider but the GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team rider crashed twice in the afternoon with a hefty crash at Turn 13 bringing an end to his day.
Alex Lowes and Axel Bassani offered a strong showing for bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team with both setting strong times. Lowes ended the day seventh fastest.
P1 – Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
“We made a small step forward from FP1 to FP2 and my feeling with the bike improved. It’s still not quite enough for the race because there are a few areas where I’m not riding exactly how I want. We need to find something more but, overall, we have a good package even if I’m still not at 100%. We tested here recently but the conditions now are very different. It’s much hotter and there is less grip so we need to adapt the bike. It’s not the same as during the test but we’re working well and I believe we can make another step tomorrow.”
P2 – Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team)
“We’ve started the weekend well and our pace isn’t bad but Nicolo is very fast too. In FP2, when I went out with a second new tyre, I had a strange feeling. There was no grip and I couldn’t understand why. We have one more session and if we can improve just a bit we can fight for the win. I think that maybe Alvaro will join the fight too because he’s usually strong here. I’m still having to fight a bit with the bike but we’re improving track by track. I’m still pushing and still working hard. I hope we make the right changes so I can ride more comfortably tomorrow. Let’s see if it’s another fight with Bulega.”
P3 – Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
“We started today with a setup based on the recent test and I felt quite good on the bike this morning. In the afternoon, with the higher temperatures, I tried the harder front compound but I didn’t feel comfortable. I lacked front grip, especially mid-corner, so we went back to the softer front. I also did a long run. The feeling wasn’t terrible but I was missing rear grip. I think we need to make some changes for tomorrow. Today was a solid start, we were just three tenths off in FP1 and we had consistent lap times. In FP2, we were nine tenths off Bulega, so now we need to close that gap.”
P4 – Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team)
“We have made a good step from the test. In FP1 the track felt a bit different and I had to adapt. We matched our pace from the test, which was low 1’34s, and that’s positive. I was happy with our performance and I also tried the qualifying tyre and we made a good improvement. I hope the other riders use it as well so we can better compare. Overall, it was a good Friday for us, but we need to stay honest and focused. The goal is to keep working and stay in the fight session by session.”
Combined Results after FP2
1. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) 1’32.722s
2. Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) +0.190s
3. Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +0.650s
4. Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) +0.918s
5. Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) +0.947s
6. Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) +1.000s
For more info checkout our dedicated WorldSBK (World Superbike) News page superbike-news.co.uk/category/world-superbikes/
Or visit the official World Superbike website worldsbk.com
©Words/Images are from official press release posted courtesy of WorldSBK.com
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