WorldSBK Indonesia: Rinaldi heads Ducati one-two in FP2

Aruba.it Ducati’s Michael Rinaldi continued to dominate the WorldSBK times in Indonesia by heading Alvaro Bautista in Friday’s FP2.

The Italian’s final 1’32.468 effort held off his teammate by three hundredths of a second as the opening day at Mandalika drew to a close, Pata Yamaha’s Toprak Razgatlioglu completing the leading trio 0.157s adrift.

The afternoon action immediately got up to speed as the track registered 53℃ temperatures. Kawasaki’s Jonathan Rea setting the initial 1’33.370 benchmark pace, almost a second clear of Bologna teammates Bautista and Rinaldi with Motocorsa’s Axel Bassani holding fourth on a lap worthy of P1 in FP1.

Bautista was the first to fall as FP2 bedded in. The reigning champion losing the Panigale at turn one on his fourth attempt as Bassani refined his time. GRT Yamaha’s Dominique Aegerter splitting the Ducatis until the number 47 improved yet again, with Rinaldi ahead of his fallen teammate next time around.

Alex Lowes claimed sixth on the second KRT as Pata Yamaha’s Andrea Locatelli advanced to fourth. Razgatlioglu, Garrett Gerloff and Tom Sykes yet to set times in the opening ten minutes with the 2021 champion up to seventh as he joined the action.

The factory Yamaha pairing continued to refine their times as Razgatlioglu captured third. Rinaldi back in charge overall with a 1’33.180 and half an hour on the clock, his teammate returning to the track at the midpoint of the session and instantly bettering by 0.05s.

Rookie Remy Gardner continued to impress on his GRT with a 1’33.3 for fourth. Sykes joining the pack with 20 minutes to go after sitting out the first half of FP2 suffering a bout of food poisoning.

Ninth-placed Michael van der Mark circulated as fastest BMW rider once again