All eyes on Cremona, put under the magnifying glass for the controversies and doubts that arose before the weekend. The Lombard track made its debut today in the Superbike World Championship with the first free practice sessions on Friday: the riders took to the track in particular conditions that made the track treacherous, just think that in the first session only 5 riders lapped going over 105%.
Alex Lowes, who shone on the Kawasaki, was the one to win on this bizarre Friday. The Briton was one of the few to test the conditions on Friday morning, where he finished behind his brother Sam, before taking the lead in the afternoon session. A great day for the “green lady”, who surprised everyone not only with the Englishman, but also with a Spaniard: Tito Rabat showed off his great experience by taking the fourth fastest time in today’s combined. The Puccetti rider was the author of the best performance of the season, even ahead of the most favored.
Between the two Kawasakis, two Ducatis are inserted: we are talking about Danilo Petrucci, second and best independent of the day, and Nicolò Bulega. The absence of Toprak Razgatlioglu due to injury was felt and the Turk, who wanted to return to the track already in Cremona, is also in doubt for Aragon. Thus, the rookie of the Aruba.it Racing – Ducati team has a great opportunity in its hands and, even in particular conditions, it managed to grab a third position in the combined standings.
Despite the Kawasakis’ flash, Ducati is the master on the home track: in fifth place in the combined standings we find Andrea Iannone, who with the Panigale V4R of the Goeleven team managed to get ahead of the reigning world champion. Alvaro Bautista took sixth place at the end of Friday’s free practice and was one of the few to have also ridden in the morning session. The first session was important to understand his health conditions, because the Spaniard is recovering from a rib injury, which however does not seem to have affected him too much, having remained three tenths from the top.
There is still room for Honda and BMW in the top 10 on Friday in Cremona: Iker Lecuona ended the day with the seventh fastest time, ahead of the M 1000 RR group that, without Toprak, is reduced to a trio. Garrett Gerloff, eighth, was the best representative of the Munich manufacturer, ahead of his teammate Scott Redding. The Bonovo duo preceded Michael van der Mark, eleventh and protagonist of an unpleasant episode with Alessandro Delbianco. The Italian, a wild card with Motoxracing, hit the Dutchman and the two ended up on the ground, fortunately without consequences.
Closing out the top 10 is Axel Bassani, who with the official Kawasaki paid half a second split from the leader of the day and teammate Alex Lowes. The other Italians are in difficulty: Andrea Locatelli is 13th and precedes Michael Ruben Rinaldi, only 14th with the Ducati of the Motocorsa team. Alessandro Delbianco did not go beyond the 19th time, while Nicolò Canepa, substitute for the injured Jonathan Rea, is 21st.
#SBK #Cremona #free #practice #Alex #Lowes #shines #bizarre #Friday
