Imola World Superbike FP2 Results: Rinaldi fastest as Gerloff wipes out Baz

Results from Free Practice 2, round eight of the 2023 World Superbike Championship at Imola, Italy.

14 Jul 2023

Michael Ruben Rinaldi, Ducati WorldSBK Imola 2023

FP2 got off to a dreadful start for Bonovo Action BMW as Garrett Gerloff lost control under braking at turn 18, which resulted in him taking down teammate Loris Baz. Gerloff went over to the French rider and apologised immediately for his mistake.

At the front of the field, Jonathan Rea was the early pacesetter before Axel Bassani stuck in a time that was six tenths quicker.

The only rider under the 1m 48s barrier, Bassani then went even faster on his next lap around as he set a 1:47.675s.

More drama unfolded a few minutes later as Gabriele Ruiu crashed at the final chicane. The Italian avoided contact with any of the oncoming riders, but with debris lying on the circuit it meant red flags were deployed.

After a brief delay, on-track action was back underway as Bautista made a quick restart. Down in P12, Bautista jumped up to sixth spot behind Bradley Ray who made a very strong start to FP2.

As was the case with Ruiu, Rea was the next rider to bring out the red flags after going down at the final corner. Gravel was dragged onto the track which is why the session was stopped.

At the beginning of the second restart, Bassani consolidated his lead by setting a time of 1:47.523s.

Bassani then pumped in another fastest lap as Bautista and Rinaldi made it an all-Ducati top four.

With his teammate having already completed several laps following their collision, Gerloff eventually got out of pit lane with 17 minutes remaining.

Threatening to take over top spot, Petrucci ended a lap that saw his post three red sectors in second. That was moments after Alex Lowes also made big gains by jumping up to P3.

Bassani’s time was very nearly beaten with five minutes to go as Razgatlioglu got within half a tenth of the Italian.

With lap times getting faster and faster, the leaderboard finally saw a new name appear at the top as Lowes went quickest by close to three tenths.

A third red flag was deployed when Tito Rabat became the latest to crash at the final corner.

The session got underway with just over two minutes remaining which was enough time for riders to find improvements.

One of those was Rinaldi as the Italian went quickest by over a tenth. Gerloff also found significant gains as he finished third.

2023 World Superbike Imola, Italy - Free Practice (2) Results
Pos	Rider	Nat	Team	Time
1	Michael Ruben Rinaldi	ITA	Aruba.It Racing Ducati	1:47.128s
2	Alex Lowes	GBR	Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK	+0.151s
3	Garrett Gerloff	USA	Bonovo Action BMW	+0.326s
4	Axel Bassani	ITA	Motocorsa Ducati	+0.420s
5	Andrea Locatelli	ITA	Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK	+0.464s
6	Danilo Petrucci	ITA	Barni Spark Racing Team	+0.565s
7	Alvaro Bautista	SPA	Aruba.It Racing Ducati	+0.609s
8	Scott Redding	GBR	ROKIT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team	+0.674s
9	Jonathan Rea	GBR	Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK	+0.702s
10	Toprak Razgatlioglu	TUR	Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK	+0.788s
11	Bradley Ray	GBR	Motoxracing Yamaha WorldSBK Team	+0.854s
12	Loris Baz	FRA	Bonovo Action BMW	+1.312s
13	Philipp Oettl	GER	GoEleven Ducati	+1.558s
14	Remy Gardner	AUS	GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team	+1.566s
15	Xavi Vierge	SPA	Team HRC WorldSBK	+1.621s
16	Leon Haslam	GBR	ROKIT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team	+1.671s
17	Iker Lecuona	SPA	Team HRC WorldSBK	+1.779s
18	Lorenzo Baldassarri	ITA	GMT94 Yamaha	+1.833s
19	Dominique Aegerter	SWI	GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team	+1.857s
20	Gabriele Ruiu	ITA	Bmax Racing BWM	+1.953s
21	Roberto Tamburini	ITA	PETRONAS MIE Racing HONDA Racing	+2.649s
22	Isaac Vinales	SPA	TPR by Vinales Racing	+3.309s
23	Eric Granado	BRA	PETRONAS MIE Racing HONDA Racing	+3.494s
24	Tito Rabat	SPA	Puccetti Kawasaki	+3.619s
25	Oliver Konig	CZE	Orelac Racing Kawasaki	+3.691s