Nicolo Bulega led a Ducati one-two finish in Friday practice for the 2024 Misano World Superbike round.
However, it was a setback for BMW’s Toprak Razgatlioglu, who dominated the morning session and set the fastest lap of the day but missed the second half of the afternoon after a crash in the final corner.
Razgatlioglu was unharmed, but his car could not be repaired in time.
With Ducati Corse general manager Gigi Dall’Igna watching from the pits, Bulega was quickest for most of the afternoon, ahead of Remy Gardner and Andrea Iannone.
Bulega looked to improve further in the final ten minutes and came off the mark, but remained in top spot.
Reigning champion, team-mate and title leader Alvaro Bautista moved up to second in the closing stages, ahead of Gardner, Andrea Iannone, the absent Razgatlioglu and Iker Lecuona.
Alex Lowes, who has just signed a new contract with Kawasaki for the team’s new Bimota era, was second this morning and seventh in FP2, just ahead of his Marc VDS Ducati-ridden twin brother Sam.
Danilo Petrucci, who sat out the first half of the session to rest a recent injury, recorded the 12th best time, while Jonathan Rea was 13th.
2024 Superbike World Championship, Misano – Friday Practice Results (2) | ||||
POS | rider | NAT | team | time |
1 | Nicolo Bulega | it is | Aruba.it – Ducati | 1:33.511 seconds |
2 | Alvaro Bautista | Supernatural power | Aruba.it – Ducati | +0.402 seconds |
3 | Remy Gardner | Australia | GYTR GRT Yamaha Team | +0.410 seconds |
Four | Andrea Iannone | it is | Go Eleven Ducati | +0.449 seconds |
Five | Toprak Razgatlioglu | Türkiye | ROKiT BMW Motorrad Team | +0.710 seconds |
6 | Iker Lecuona | Supernatural power | Team HRC | +0.711 seconds |
7 | Alex Lowes | England | Kawasaki Racing Team | +0.776 seconds |
8 | Sam Laws | England | ELF Mark VDS Racing Team | +0.871 seconds |
9 | Dominique Aegerter | Sui | GYTR GRT Yamaha Team | +0.873 seconds |
Ten | Michael Rinaldi | it is | Team Motocorsa Ducati | +0.906 seconds |
11 | Andrea Locatelli | it is | patapro meteon yamaha | +0.927 seconds |
12 | Danilo Petrucci | it is | Berni Spark Racing Team | +0.965 seconds |
13 | Jonathan Rea | England | patapro meteon yamaha | +1.033 seconds |
14 | Michael van der Mark | Ned | ROKiT BMW Motorrad Team | +1.081 seconds |
15 | Xavi Bierge | Supernatural power | Team HRC | +1.243 seconds |
16 | Axel Bassani | it is | Kawasaki Racing Team | +1.245 seconds |
17 | Tito Rabat | Supernatural power | Kawasaki Pucetti | +1.283 seconds |
18 | Michele Pirro | it is | Aruba.it – Ducati | +1.292 seconds |
19 | Scott Redding | England | Bonobo Action BMW | +1.321 seconds |
20 | Taran McKenzie | England | Petronas MIE Racing Honda | +1.594 seconds |
twenty one | Garrett Gerloff | united states of america | Bonobo Action BMW | +1.626 seconds |
twenty two | Philippe Ettle | Germany | GMT94 Yamaha | +2.244 seconds |
twenty three | Bradley Ray | England | Yamaha Motocross Racing Team | +3.155 seconds |
twenty four | Adam Norrodin | trout | Petronas MIE Racing Honda | +4.422 seconds |
Alex Lowes, fresh from signing a new World Superbike contract with Kawasaki, was the pacesetter, leading Nicolò Bulega and teammate Axel Bassani in a scorching opening lap.
Toprak Razgatlioglu experienced clutch problems and was slow off the start.
Early in FP1, the red flag was shown after Philipp Ottl’s Yamaha R1 suffered an engine explosion on the exit of Turn 6.
When the session resumed, Razgatlioglu returned to the track and beat the fastest time by 0.3 seconds.
As Razgatlioglu was gaining more and more speed, his teammate Michael van der Mark crashed at Turn 4 and had to pick up his M 1000 RR.
The next rider to fall was Michele Pirro, whose Panigale V4 R’s aerodynamic performance was compromised.
Although several riders were able to make lap times in the second half of the race, Razgatlioglu had no trouble maintaining his advantage, even losing time on the final lap.
2024 Superbike World Championship, Misano, Italy – Free Practice 1 Results | ||||
position | rider | nut | team | time |
1 | Toprak Razgatlioglu | Türkiye | ROKIT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team | 1:33.448 seconds |
2 | Alex Lowes | England | Kawasaki Racing Team World SBK | +0.560 seconds |
3 | Nicolo Bulega | it is | Aruba.It Racing Ducati | +0.581 seconds |
Four | Axel Bassani | it is | Kawasaki Racing Team World SBK | +0.797 seconds |
Five | Andrea Iannone | it is | Go Eleven Ducati | +0.872 seconds |
6 | Alvaro Bautista | spa | Aruba.It Racing Ducati | +0.875 seconds |
7 | Michael van der Mark | Ned | ROKIT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team | +0.988 seconds |
8 | Jonathan Rea | England | Pattaya Yamaha Prometheon WorldSBK | +1.014 seconds |
9 | Remy Gardner | Australia | GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team | +1.014 seconds |
Ten | Michele Pirro | it is | Aruba.it Racing Ducati | +1.067 seconds |
11 | Iker Lecuona | spa | Team HRC WorldSBK | +1.096 seconds |
12 | Andrea Locatelli | it is | Pattaya Yamaha Prometheon WorldSBK | +1.164 seconds |
13 | Dominique Aegerter | Switzerland | GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team | +1.303 seconds |
14 | Danilo Petrucci | it is | Berni Spark Racing Team | +1.409 seconds |
15 | Michael Ruben Rinaldi | spa | Motocorsa Ducati | +1.462 seconds |
16 | Sam Laws | England | Mark VDS Ducati | +1.466 seconds |
17 | Tito Rabat | spa | Pucetti Kawasaki | +1.497 seconds |
18 | Garrett Gerloff | united states of america | Bonobo Action BMW | +1.530 seconds |
19 | Xavi Bierge | spa | Team HRC WorldSBK | +1.631 seconds |
20 | Scott Redding | England | Bonobo Action BMW | +1.661 seconds |
twenty one | Philippe Ettle | Germany | GMT94 Yamaha | +2.154 seconds |
twenty two | Taran McKenzie | England | Petronas Mie Honda | +2.482 seconds |
twenty three | Bradley Ray | England | Motocross Racing Yamaha World SBK Team | +3.375 seconds |
twenty four | Adam Norrodin | Maru | Petronas Mie Honda | +3.951 seconds |