As we left off in Misano, we set off again in Donington: in the name of Toprak Razgatlioglu. The world championship leader completed the hat-trick in the race almost a month ago now and confirms himself as the man to beat on the English track, where he dominated both free practice sessions, predicting another excellent weekend.
If an injury to his right leg in training had caused concern before the weekend, on Friday at Donington all doubts were dispelled and, with a time of 1’26”013, the BMW rider inflicted two tenths on the second placed in the combined standings: Danilo Petrucci.
It’s not too surprising to see the Barni rider in the top positions, last year he reached the podium in Race 2 and, despite the physical difficulties that affected him in Misano, he proved to be decidedly competitive on this first day of the Donington round.
Petrux he is the first of the independent riders and also the first of the Ducati standard-bearers. The rider from Terni in fact left Nicolò Bulega behind him, third with the Panigale V4R of the Aruba team. A few more difficulties for the rookie, author of several long runs during the sessions, but still third at the end of the day. In fact, only three thousandths separate the two Italians, who are not too far from the top.
The same goes for Alex Lowes, who once again is the best interpreter of Kawasaki. On his home track, the British rider closed Friday with the fourth fastest time, preceding an excellent Scott Redding. A great effort for the Englishman of the Bonovo team, who moved into the top 5 even if he is the first to accuse an already more significant delay from his brand mate.
At the end of Friday, Redding remained 146 thousandths ahead of Alvaro Bautista. The two, who continue to skirmish off-track, remained very close in the combined standings, with the reigning world champion struggling more than usual. On a complicated track for him, the Spaniard did not go beyond sixth place, more than half a second behind the leader and direct rival in the championship, with a crash in the afternoon session, fortunately without consequences.
The first of the Yamaha riders was Andrea Locatelli, who closed Friday in seventh position, followed by Michael Ruben Rinaldi, eighth, and Sam Lowes, ninth. The two Ducati riders, riding the Panigale V4R of the Motocorsa and Marc VDS teams respectively, remained ahead of Axel Bassani, tenth with the official Kawasaki.
Another difficult Friday for Jonathan Rea, who did not go beyond the 12th time, behind Dominique Aegerter, 11th with the Yamaha of the GRT team. The Swiss’s teammate, Remy Gardner, also struggled, 14th behind Michael van der Mark. The last of the BMW riders is Garrett Gerloff, 15th with the M1000 RR of the Bonovo team.
The American precedes Andrea Iannone, who was in a lot of trouble at Donington. For the first time on a Superbike on the English track, the Goeleven rider came within a second of the top spot after a complicated Friday. The Vasto rider closed the first day of the English round in 16th position. Deep night for the Honda riders: Xavi Vierge and Iker Lecuona are 21st and 22nd respectively, ahead of only Adam Norrodin.
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