Catalunya World Superbike Friday Practice Results: Bautista lays down a marker
World Superbike championship leader Alvaro Bautista was in dominant form during FP2 as he topped the session by over three tenths.
While it was his teammate Michael Ruben Rinaldi who stole the headlines in FP1, Bautista, fresh off a new contract extension with Ducati, was the early pacesetter in FP2.
However, Bautista’s time at the top was brief as Rinaldi set a time of 1:42.049s to go quickest.
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With track temperatures ramping up compared to the morning session, lap times reflected such a change as Rinaldi was four tenths slower than his FP1 effort, which was also set early on.
As Bautista continued to churn out low 1m 42s lap times which others struggled to do, Jonathan Rea was unable to replicate his strong start in FP1 as he sat in P9.
The Kawasaki rider, who is using a new chassis this weekend after upgrades were brought forward by the Japanese manufacturer, was over one second off the pace set by both factory Ducati riders.
As was the case in the recent Catalunya WorldSBK test, Bautista was showing incredible race pace compared to his rivals.
Bautista, who remained in the low-to-mid 1m 42s bracket, seemed to have a few tenths in his pocket.
A corner that has caused many issues over the years, turn five claimed its first crasher as Andrea Locatelli lost the front-end of his R1.
Unlike FP1, several of the big hitters attempted a time attackas Bautista set a stunning time of 1:41.486s.
Garrett Gerloff moved up to third prior to Bautista going quickest, however, no one was able to live with Bautista’s final sector.
| 2023 World Superbike Catalunya, Spain - Free Practice (2) Results | ||||
| Pos | Rider | Nat | Team | Time |
| 1 | Alvaro Bautista | SPA | Aruba.It Racing Ducati | 1:41.486s |
| 2 | Michael Ruben Rinaldi | ITA | Aruba.It Racing Ducati | +0.350s |
| 3 | Jonathan Rea | GBR | Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK | +0.529s |
| 4 | Garrett Gerloff | USA | Bonovo Action BMW | +0.749s |
| 5 | Dominique Aegerter | SWI | GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team | +0.819s |
| 6 | Toprak Razgatlioglu | TUR | Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK | +1.154s |
| 7 | Axel Bassani | ITA | Motocorsa Ducati | +1.169s |
| 8 | Scott Redding | GBR | ROKIT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team | +1.226s |
| 9 | Andrea Locatelli | ITA | Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK | +1.264s |
| 10 | Danilo Petrucci | ITA | Barni Spark Racing Team | +1.267s |
| 11 | Iker Lecuona | SPA | Team HRC WorldSBK | +1.325s |
| 12 | Xavi Vierge | SPA | Team HRC WorldSBK | +1.450s |
| 13 | Loris Baz | FRA | Bonovo Action BMW | +1.578s |
| 14 | Alex Lowes | GBR | Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK | +1.633s |
| 15 | Remy Gardner | AUS | GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team | +1.716s |
| 16 | Philipp Oettl | GER | GoEleven Ducati | +1.948s |
| 17 | Oliver Konig | CZE | Orelac Racing Kawasaki | +1.952s |
| 18 | Hafizh Syahrin | MAL | PETRONAS MIE Racing HONDA Racing | +2.116s |
| 19 | Eric Granado | BRA | PETRONAS MIE Racing HONDA Racing | +2.145s |
| 20 | Lorenzo Baldassarri | ITA | GMT94 Yamaha | +2.416s |
| 21 | Ivo Lopez | POR | ROKIT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team | +2.828s |
| 22 | Bradley Ray | GBR | Motoxracing Yamaha WorldSBK Team | +2.877s |
| 23 | Tom Sykes | GBR | Puccetti Kawasaki | +3.000s |
| 24 | Isaac Vinales | SPA | TPR by Vinales Racing | +3.506s |
| 25 | Gabriele Ruiu | ITA | Bmax Racing | +5.225s |
Catalunya World Superbike records
Lap record - Alvaro Bautista SPA Aruba.it Ducati 1:41.135s
2022 Race Winners
Race 1 - Alvaro Bautista SPA Aruba.it Ducati
Superpole Race - Alvaro Bautista SPA Aruba.it Ducati
Race 2 - Alvaro Bautista SPA Aruba.it Ducati
Rinaldi led the way after Free Practice 1 of the Catalan World Superbike round
| 2023 World Superbike Catalunya, Spain - Free Practice (1) Results | ||||
| Pos | Rider | Nat | Team | Time |
| 1 | Michael Ruben Rinaldi | ITA | Aruba.It Racing Ducati | 1:41.633s |
| 2 | Jonathan Rea | GBR | Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK | +0.019s |
| 3 | Toprak Razgatlioglu | TUR | Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK | +0.086s |
| 4 | Alvaro Bautista | SPA | Aruba.It Racing Ducati | +0.146s |
| 5 | Iker Lecuona | SPA | Team HRC WorldSBK | +0.435s |
| 6 | Andrea Locatelli | ITA | Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK | +0.446s |
| 7 | Dominique Aegerter | SWI | GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team | +0.451s |
| 8 | Xavi Vierge | SPA | Team HRC WorldSBK | +0.462s |
| 9 | Alex Lowes | GBR | Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK | +0.596s |
| 10 | Scott Redding | GBR | ROKIT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team | +0.834s |
| 11 | Remy Gardner | AUS | GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team | +1.016s |
| 12 | Danilo Petrucci | ITA | Barni Spark Racing Team | +1.157s |
| 13 | Axel Bassani | ITA | Motocorsa Ducati | +1.201s |
| 14 | Garrett Gerloff | USA | Bonovo Action BMW | +1.308s |
| 15 | Philipp Oettl | GER | GoEleven Ducati | +1.725s |
| 16 | Eric Granado | BRA | PETRONAS MIE Racing HONDA Racing | +1.790s |
| 17 | Loris Baz | FRA | Bonovo Action BMW | +1.918s |
| 18 | Hafizh Syahrin | MAL | PETRONAS MIE Racing HONDA Racing | +1.943s |
| 19 | Bradley Ray | GRB | Motoxracing Yamaha WorldSBK Team | +2.086s |
| 20 | Oliver Konig | CZE | Orelac Racing Kawasaki | +2.389s |
| 21 | Isaac Vinales | SPA | TPR by Vinales Racing | +2.600s |
| 22 | Lorenzo Baldassarri | ITA | GMT94 Yamaha | +3.041s |
| 23 | Tom Sykes | GBR | Puccetti Kawasaki | +5.011s |
| 24 | Gabriele Ruiu | ITA | Bmax Racing | No Time Set |
| 25 | Ivo Lopez | POR | ROKIT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team | No Time Set |
Stand-in for the injured Michael Van Der Mark, Ivo Lopez completed just one instalation lap before a mechanical issue saw his FP1 come to an early end.
Weekend schedule (UK time)
Friday
Free Practice 1 - 09:30-10:15
Free Practice 2 - 14:00-14:45
Saturday
Free Practice 3 - 08:00-08:30
Superpole - 10:10-10:25
Race 1 - 13:00
Sunday
Warm-up - 08:00-08:15
Superpole Race -10:00
Race 2 - 13:00
