Superbike Malaysia, FP1: Sykes dominates the first free practice

Fassi Malaysian Round, Free Practice 1: the recent resurfacing of the Sepang International Circuit brought the riders who took to the track this morning (four o'clock, Italian time) for the first free practice session, to a cautious start, aimed at testing first-hand the behavior of the bike, with consequently very high, about 10 seconds slower than Sylvain Guintoli's best lap in 2014 (2:03.002).

After this first "study" phase, having found grip, in the last quarter of an hour of the session the first to set a good time was Nicky Hayden, who, coming from MotoGP, can boast great experience on this track, together with teammate Michael Van Der Mark to keep up, losing something in the final sectors.
However, the Honda pair finished in third and fourth position: the best lap went to Tom Sykes, followed by less than a tenth by Jonathan Rea.

Excellent fifth time for Markus Reiterberger, who immediately showed an impressive pace aboard the Althea BMW despite it being his debut on this track, followed by the only Pata Yamaha rider present in Malaysia, Alex Lowes.
Seventh time for Jordi Torres, who in 2015 reached the podium in Race 2, preceding the Aprilia pair of Alex De Angelis and Lorenzo Savadori, with Leon Camier closing the top ten.

After Karel Abraham (Milwaukee BMW team) with the eleventh time, we find the first Ducati, that of Chaz Davies, followed by Xavi Forés, on the 1199 Panigale R of the Barni Racing Team, who closed the session just ahead of Davide Giugliano.

The second free practice session will start at 8am (Italian time) and will be fundamental in defining who will directly move on to take part in Tissot-Superpole 15.

Below are the times after the first free practice sessions:

1. Tom Sykes GBR Kawasaki Racing Team ZX-10R 2m 5.613s
2. Jonathan Rea GBR Kawasaki Racing Team ZX-10R 2m 5.710s
3. Nicky Hayden USA Honda World Superbike Team CBR1000RR 2m 5.930s
4. Michael Van Der Mark NED Honda World Superbike Team CBR1000RR 2m 6.102s
5. Markus Reiterberger GER Althea BMW Racing Team S1000RR 2m 6.552s
6. Alex Lowes GBR Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team YZF R1 2m 6.561s
7. Jordi Torres ESP Althea BMW Racing Team S1000RR 2m 7.147s
8. Alex De Angelis RSM IodaRacing Team RSV4 2m 7.286s
9. Lorenzo Savadori ITA IodaRacing Team RSV4 2m 7.318s
10. Leon Camier GBR MV Agusta Reparto Corse 1000 F4 2m 7.610s
11. Karel Abraham CZE Milwaukee BMW S1000RR 2m 7.707s
12. Chaz Davies GBR Aruba.it Racing – Ducati 1199R 2m 7.739s
13. Xavi Forés ESP Barni Racing Team 1199R 2m 7.743s
14. Davide Giugliano ITA Aruba.it Racing – Ducati 1199R 2m 7.884s
15. Anthony West AUS Pedercini Racing ZX-10R 2m 8.211s
16. Joshua Brookes AUS Milwaukee BMW S1000RR 2m 9.249s
17. Josh Hook AUS Grillini Racing Team ZX-10R 2m 10.532s
18. Gianluca Vizziello ITA Team GoEleven ZX-10R 2m 10.660s
19. Dominic Schmitter SUI Grillini Racing Team ZX-10R 2m 10.813s
20. Imre Tóth HUN Team Tóth YZF R1 2m 11.390s
21. Pawel Szkopek POL Team Tóth YZF R1 2m 11.458s
22. Saeed Al Sulaiti QAT Pedercini Racing ZX-10R 2m 12.920s
23. Luca Scassa ITA VFT Racing 1199R 2m 13.693s

Sepang official WorldSBK lap records
Best lap: Sylvain Guintoli FRA Aprilia RSV4 2m 3.002s (2013)
Race lap record: Chaz Davies GBR Ducati Panigale R 2m 4.707s (2015)