San Juan WorldSBK FP2 Results: Rea fights back but Razgatlioglu remains top
Jonathan Rea leads the way during WorldSBK FP2 at San Juan ahead of Toprak Razgatlioglu.
The start to FP2 was delayed following the conclusion of WorldSSP FP2 as track conditions were deemed not ready for action.
After a dominant performance in FP1, Razgatlioglu picked up exactly where he left off as he led the way from Alvaro Bautista in the opening stages.
On their third flying laps, Razgatlioglu and Bautista started an on track battle, of which there are expected to be many this weekend, with an overtake from the reigning world champion at turn one before Bautista repaid the favour on the back-straight.
While the two main title rivals continued their fight - no further overtakes took place - the Kawasakis of Alex Lowes and Rea bolted to the top of the leaderboard.
Continuing his impressive race run, Rea found more time on his eighth lap around as he went +0.118s off Lowes. The six-time WorldSBK champion then took over at the top by the exact same margin of -0.118s from Lowes.
Shortly after, Razgatlioglu headed out of pit lane with the SC0 tyre which brought with it immediate performance, as Razgatlioglu went back to the top of the timingsheets by over half a second.
| 2022 World Superbike San Juan, Argentina - Free Practice Results (2) | ||||
| Pos | Rider | Nat | Team | Time |
| 1 | Jonathan Rea | GBR | Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK | 1:37.707s |
| 2 | Toprak Razgatlioglu | TUR | PATA Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK | +0.071s |
| 3 | Alvaro Bautista | SPA | Aruba.It Racing Ducati | +0.279s |
| 4 | Alex Lowes | GBR | Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK | +0.361s |
| 5 | Axel Bassani | ITA | Motocorsa Ducati | +0.741s |
| 6 | Iker Lecuona | SPA | Team HRC WorldSBK | +0.819s |
| 7 | Michael Van Der Mark | SPA | BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team | +0.894s |
| 8 | Andrea Locatelli | ITA | PATA Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK | +0.899s |
| 9 | Loris Baz | FRA | Bonovo Action BMW | +0.973s |
| 10 | Garrett Gerloff | USA | GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team | +0.994s |
| 11 | Scott Redding | GBR | BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team | +1.039s |
| 12 | Michael Rinaldi | ITA | Aruba.It Racing Ducati | +1.105s |
| 13 | Xavi Vierge | SPA | Team HRC WorldSBK | +1.226s |
| 14 | Eugene Laverty | IRL | Bonovo Action BMW | +1.389s |
| 15 | Philipp Oettl | GER | GoEleven Ducati | +1.698s |
| 16 | Lucas Mahias | FRA | Puccetti Kawasaki | +1.704s |
| 17 | Xavi Fores | SPA | Barni Spark Ducati Team | +1.724s |
| 18 | Kohta Nozane | JPN | GRT Yamaha | +1.778s |
| 19 | Leandro Mercado | ARG | MIE Honda Racing | +2.122s |
| 20 | Oliver Konig | CZE | Orelac Racing Kawasaki | +2.270s |
| 21 | Maximilian Scheib | GER | MIE Honda Racing | +3.403s |
| 22 | Marco Solorza | ARG | Pedercini Kawasaki | +4.792s |
Comparing the two race runs, Razgatlioglu was consistently holding an advantage over Rea of around two tenths of a second per lap, while Bautista was also in the mix.
After closing to within four tenths, Bautista then consolidated his P2 position by moving within two tenths of the Pata Yamaha rider.
Following an impressive FP1, Iker Lecuona continued to show stunning pace considering day-one of the Argentina WorldSBK round was his first vist to San Juan - Lecuona went fifth quickest with just over ten minutes to go on what was his latest race run.
With FP2 entering the time attack phase, Rea managed to overhaul Razgatlioglu with a time of 1:37.707s.
Razgatlioglu found slightly more pace on his final lap, however, it wasn't enough to move ahead of Rea who finished fastest in FP2 and second to the Yamaha man on combined times.
San Juan WorldSBK Records:
Lap record: Scott Redding GBR Aruba.it Ducati 1:37.345s
2021 San Juan Winners
Race 1: Toprak Razgatlioglu TUR Pata Yamaha
Superpole Race: Toprak Razgatlioglu TUR Pata Yamaha
Race 2: Scott Redding GBR Aruba.it Ducati
Marco Solorza is replacing Leon Haslam at Pedercini Kawasaki this weekend, while Maximilian Scheib is stepping in for Hafizh Syahrin who was ruled out due to injury and illness.
San Juan Weekend schedule (UK time)
Friday
Free Practice 1: 14:30-15:15
Free Practice 2: 19:00-19:45
Saturday
Free Practice 3: 14:00-14:30
Superpole: 16:10-16:25
Race 1: 19:00
Sunday
Warm-up: 14:00-14:10
Superpole Race: 16:00
Race 2: 19:00
