The return of Estoril to the WorldSBK calendar saw an opening day of mixed conditions. A wet Free Practice 1 was followed by a dry afternoon but in both conditions Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) was the rider to beat. The Turkish star completed just 14 laps across both sessions but did enough to lay down a marker to the field by setting the fastest time by over three tenths of a second
Nicolo Bulega, second in the championship, crashed in the wet conditions of the morning. The Aruba.it Racing – Ducati title contender is racing at Estoril for the first time on a Superbike and ended the day sixth fastest. Bulega has qualified on the front row of the grid at all but two rounds this season and he’ll know the importance of Saturday morning’s Tissot Superpole session
Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) ended the day second fastest while Alex Lowes was third fastest in both sessions. The Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK ended the morning session with a crash at Turn 6 and completed 18 laps of the 4.182km circuit throughout the day. It was an encouraging start to the weekend for Kawasaki with Axel Bassani enjoying a strong day to finish seventh fastest
Team HRC continued their strong form with Iker Lecuona fifth fastest and Xavi Vierge ninth fastest. Vierge’s afternoon ended early with a crash at Turn 3 but with both riders enjoying a strong run of form, nine consecutive top ten finishes, they look ready for the Portuguese Round having tested here recently.
Info Source & Photo: WorldSBK