WorldSBK Donington Park, Great Britain - Free Practice Results (2)
Day-one of WorldSBK free practice at Donington Park belonged to circuit debutant Garrett Gerloff.
The American’s stunning time-attack lap of 1:27.524s was over three tenths quicker than top two in the championship Jonathan Rea and Toprak Razgatlioglu.
| WorldSBK Donington Park, Great Britain - Free Practice Results (2) | ||||
| Pos | Rider | Nat | Team | Time |
| 1 | Garrett Gerloff | USA | GRT Yamaha | 1:27.524s |
| 2 | Jonathan Rea | GBR | Kawasaki Racing Team | +0.329s |
| 3 | Toprak Razgatlioglu | TUR | PATA Yamaha | +0.524s |
| 4 | Alex Lowes | GBR | Kawasaki Racing Team | +0.607s |
| 5 | Scott Redding | GBR | Aruba.It Ducati | +0.626s |
| 6 | Michael Rinaldi | ITA | Aruba.It Ducati | +0.800s |
| 7 | Leon Haslam | GBR | Team HRC | +0.871s |
| 8 | Lucas Mahias | FRA | Kawasaki Puccetti | +0.938s |
| 9 | Michael Van Der Mark | NED | Motorrad BMW WorldSBK Team | +1.025s |
| 10 | Andrea Locatelli | ITA | PATA Yamaha | +1.070s |
| 11 | Tom Sykes | GBR | Motorrad BMW WorldSBK Team | +1.145s |
| 12 | Chaz Davies | GBR | GoEleven Ducati | +1.540s |
| 13 | Axel Bassani | ITA | Motocorsa Ducati | +1.835s |
| 14 | Tito Rabat | SPA | Barni Ducati | +1.890s |
| 15 | Alvaro Bautista | SPA | Team HRC | +2.044s |
| 16 | Isaac Vinales | SPA | Orelac Racing Kawasaki | +2.256s |
| 17 | Luke Mossey | GBR | Pedercini Kawasaki | +2.451s |
| 18 | Eugene Laverty | IRL | RC Squadra Corse BMW | +2.564s |
| 19 | Jonas Folger | GER | Benovo BMW | +2.694s |
| 20 | Christophe Ponsson | FRA | Gil Yamaha | +2.729s |
| 21 | Loris Cresson | BEL | Pedercini Kawasaki | +3.879s |
| 22 | Kohta Nozane | JPN | GRT Yamaha | |
Rea and Alex Lowes were the early pacesetters for Kawasaki, before Razgatlioglu took over top spot with 20 minutes remaining.
As was the case in FP1, Tom Sykes’ session began with a second crash of the day. Razgatlioglu then had a huge moment on the brakes heading into turn 12, but was able to stay aboard his Yamaha R1 after running through the grass.
Tito Rabat had an excursion through the gravel at turn eight as he gets reacquainted with the British circuit - last visit to Donington Park was 2009.
Free Practice One
Fresh off a new two-year WorldSBK contract extension with Pata Yamaha, Razgatlioglu was second fastest behind Rea after provisionally topping FP1.
After being stuck in pit lane for 15 minutes due to a technical issue, Razgatlioglu eventually headed out and was immediately on the pace. The 24 year-old went over a tenth quicker than Rea on his final lap, however, the Yamaha rider's time was deleted for exceeding track limits once the session was over.
It means a time of 1:27.841s was good enough for Rea to retain top spot - only man under the 1m 28s barrier.
Nine-time WorldSBK race winner at Donington Park, Sykes, suffered a cold tyre crash less than five minutes in at the Melbourne Loop. However, Sykes remounted to set some blistering laps at the front of the field.
Sykes was fastest for most of the session, before Rea took over with a quarter of FP1 remaining.
More lap times were deleted after the session finished, as Scott Redding who was fourth fastest for Aruba.it Ducati was instead relegated to sixth, behind team-mate Michael Rinaldi and Garrett Gerloff who claimed fifth.
British Superstock rider Luke Mossey is replacing Samuele Cavalieri at Pedercini Kawasaki after the Italian rider and team decided to end their partnership. Mossey finished FP1 17th fastest.
