Superbikes | Barcelona Round, FP2: Bautista sets the best time of the session

The eighth round of the 2022 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship promises to give us a great show and the first day on track proves it. At the end of the Friday of the Catalonia Round, the best time went to Iker Lecuona (Team HRC) but FP2 was dominated by Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) who showed off excellent race pace.

Excellent morning for Iker Lecuona (Team HRC) who flies in his first session as a WorldSBK rider on the Catalan track. In the final part of the afternoon session, among the protagonists we find his boxmate Xavi Vierge who is using one of the tires potentially usable in the race, also reaching the maximum speed of 326km/h. Vierge was seventh at the end of the day.

As expected for this weekend the Ducatis are going strong. Fourth in FP1, Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) was the fastest this afternoon, ahead of his teammate Michael Ruben Rinaldi who won on this circuit in 2021. The Spaniard showed that he has excellent pace.

Positive Friday in Barcelona also for the two official Yamaha riders Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) and Andrea Locatelli. Razgatlioglu has the third fastest time of the day and will undoubtedly also be part of those who will fight for the victory. Sixth time for Locatelli in the combined: will the Lombard be able to snatch important points from his garage partner's rivals?
Second position at the end of the session for six-time world champion Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) who set some good lap times at the end of the afternoon session. The Northern Irishman is fifth in the combined while Alex Lowes occupies eighth position.

Today was not the easiest day for Scott Redding (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) who together with his team aims to fight for a place in the top six positions. His teammate Michael van der Mark suffered a technical problem in FP1 while he changed engine for FP2, finishing only 19th. At the end of the day Redding was tenth and van der Mark 20th.

The only Independent bike present in the top ten is that of Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) while Garrett Gerloff (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) is 11th and precedes Eugene Laverty (Bonovo Action BMW), Lucas Mahias (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing), Philipp Oettl (Team Goeleven) and Loris Baz (Bonovo Action BMW) complete the top 15.

Below are the top ten drivers at the end of the two free practice sessions:

1. Iker Lecuona (Team HRC) 1'41.396
2. Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +0.535
3. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) +0.595
4. Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +0.622
5. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) +0.662
6. Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) +0.689
7. Xavi Vierge (Team HRC)
8. Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)
9. Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing)
10. Scott Redding (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team)