Superbikes | Round Navarra, FP: Rea leads the combined

Fiery debut for the Pirelli Navarra Round, which marks the debut of the Circuito de Navarra in the calendar of the MOTUL FIM SBK World Championship: scorching temperatures accompanied the riders during free practice, especially in the second round, adding a variable on the track.

At the end of the combined, Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) precedes Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) and Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati).

As mentioned, the temperatures rise and for most of the session Rea occupies seventh position while his boxmate Alex Lowes finds himself immediately behind him, making good progress as the temperatures rise. At the checkered flag Rea remained in the lead in the combined even though during the afternoon he lapped a second slower than he did in the morning in FP1 while Lowes closed the top ten.
Leading for most of the afternoon session, Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) performed well this afternoon. Many struggled to improve on the torrid afternoon in Navarra but not him. In Free Practice 2 he was the fastest and second in the combined. His teammate Andrea Locatelli was also excellent and continued to grow, third for most of the session before finishing in fourth place and fifth in the combined standings.
Third fastest time overall at the end of today for Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) who improved a lot in the final stages of FP2 before returning to the pits due to a technical problem in the final minutes of the session. Also progress is made for his teammate Michael Ruben Rinaldi who did better than this morning and this afternoon he finishes behind the English driver who is third in the combined, Rinaldi however is seventh.

This weekend will also be a great fight for Independent teams and riders: Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) is the fastest in the combined but he crashed at turn 4. However, he has to contend with Chaz Davies (Team GoEleven) as they are fourth and sixth respectively in the combined.

Eighth time in the combined time for Alvaro Bautista (Team HRC), who did very well this morning before setting his best lap at the end of FP2. His teammate Leon Haslam was better this afternoon than this morning even though he is 15th in the combined.
Ninth time in the combined for the BMW of Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team), one of many who failed to improve in the afternoon. The driver of the Bavarian manufacturer finds himself less than a second behind the leader while his boxmate Michael van der Mark today failed to enter the top ten. The Dutchman has completed 38 laps and is 11th.

13th provisional position for Jonas Folger (Bonovo MGM Racing) ahead of Tito Rabat (Barni Racing Team) and the returning Lucas Mahias (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) despite a technical problem in FP1 and a crash which occurred in FP2 at turn 15, without any consequences . Kohta Nozane (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) is 17th, putting Christophe Ponsson (Gil Motor Sport – Yamaha) and Leandro Mercado (MIE Racing Honda Team) behind him. Wildcard Naomichi Uramoto (JEG Racing) is 20th fastest ahead of Loris Cresson (OUTDO TPR Team Pedercini Racing) and his teammate, the American Jayson Uribe.
Below are the top ten at the end of the combined FP1 and FP2 times:

1. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing WorldSBK Team) 1'37.629
2. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) +0.123
3. Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +0.164
4. Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) +0.453
5. Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha with BRIXX WorldSBK) +0.468
6. Chaz Davies (Team GoEleven) +0.600
7. Michael Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
8. Alvaro Bautista (Team HRC)
9. Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team)
10. Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing WorldSBK Team)