Aruba.it Ducati’s Michael Rinaldi opened his second round account by leading the WorldSBK times in free practice one at Mandalika on Friday. Pata Yamaha’s Toprak Razgatlioglu and Ducati teammate Alvaro Bautista completed the top three, less than two tenths of a second covering the trio after the opening 45-minute session in Indonesia.
A hot and humid Lombok Island found track temperatures already up to 42℃ as the morning practice fired up under 62% humidity.
GRT Yamaha’s Remy Gardner led the opening times with a 1’35.192 effort as he enjoyed his first taste of the Lombok layout aboard the Superbike before Phillip Island hero Bautista hit the top half a second ahead.
Rokit BMW’s Scott Redding sat third with ten minutes dispatched, Bonovo’s Loris Baz the next in line before a crash at turn ten derailed his progress on the M1000RR.