Honda’s Iker Lecuona led the way at home as WorldSBK free practice fired up at Barcelona-Catalunya on Friday morning. The Spaniard sat over half a second ahead of his nearest rivals after the opening 45-minutes at Montmeló with Aruba.it Ducati’s Michael Rinaldi and reigning champion Toprak Razgatlioglu rounding out the top three.
First practice in Barcelona saw KRT’s Alex Lowes half a second ahead of the pack as he headed the initial times with a 1’42.427.
Teammate Jonathan Rea took over, three-tenths quicker next time around as Pata Yamaha’s Razgatlioglu slotted in between and Alvaro Bautista trailed the leading trio on the Aruba Ducati.
A strong start on home soil found Xavi Vierge circulating fifth from BMW’s Scott Redding with the second Honda of Lecuona in check.