WorldSBK Misano: Bautista tops tight FP2

Aruba.it Ducati’s Alvaro Bautista concluded the opening day in Misano at the top of the WorldSBK times thanks to a 1’34.008 effort.

The Spaniard held off his regular title challengers Toprak Razgatliolgu and Jonathan Rea for Friday honours with teammate Michael Rinaldi just 0.176s adrift in fourth.

A warm and balmy afternoon brought track temperatures in the high-20’s as FP2 kicked off at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli. Kohta Nozane forced to sit out of the opening ten minutes after failing to follow instructions from the Marshalls during the morning practice.

Rea was immediately up to speed with a 1’34.134 on his first flying lap with Razgatlioglu in touch just a tenth back before the effort was deleted. Bautista, Rinaldi and the second KRT of Alex Lowes competed for second as the session bedded in, the championship leader taking the runners up spot half a second off the six-time champ before the Yamaha man took over once again.

Rinaldi bettered his teammate on the Panigale V4 as he ran two-hundredths shy of the reigning champion, in third, with Bautista and Lowes completing the top five with ten minutes dispatched.

Honda’s Iker Lecuona maintained his front running pace in sixth with a duo of home talent behind. Andrea Locatelli heading Axel Bassani for seventh and eighth with Philipp Oettl and Scott Redding rounding out the top ten, a second adrift of the target time.

Track limits continued to play their part as the session unfolded with multiple efforts deleted, mostly at turn one. Garret Gerloff demoting Redding with a quarter of an hour complete as Bautista struck for the lead, but coming up just 0.016 short as the mid-point approached.

Gerloff split the local riders with 20 minutes to go as the American