Rea keeps clear of Lowes in Misano

Full WorldSBK FP1 results from Misano

Jonathan Rea has kept hold of top spot following his dominant double victory at Laguna Seca last time out during the opening free practice session at Misano.

The Kawasaki rider notched in a series of early fast laps to set the pace ahead of teammate Tom Sykes before extending his advantage with the fastest lap of the session, 1m 35.128s, to pull out a healthy advantage.

Alex Lowes trimmed the time difference down to less than two-tenths of a second with his penultimate lap of FP1 to jump up to second on the Pata Yamaha following his strong showing at Laguna Seca where the Yamaha has traditionally struggled in recent years.

Marco Melandri led the Aruba.it Racing Ducati charge in third place, also within two-tenths of Rea, with Leon Camier making it four different manufacturers inside the top four for Red Bull Honda.

Sykes was shuffled down to fifth place late on but kept ahead of Chaz Davies on the factory Ducati, while Althea BMW’s Loris Baz caught the eye in seventh place. Xavi Fores claimed eighth place in FP1 for Barni Ducati as Eugene Laverty (Milwaukee Aprilia) and Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha) rounded out the top ten.