It was shaping up to be a Free Practice treble by Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) at the end of the third session at the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari di Imola MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship took to the track on Friday. The three time World Champion had dominated the first two sessions and was on course to taking the third, before a final flying lap from Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) left both men with the exact same personal best.
Winner for the last two years here, Davies put in 51 laps over the three sessions which was more than any other rider on track. But it was his final lap – as Rea was already back in pit lane – that shot Davies to the top, a 1’46.686 that perfectly matched his title opponent’s best time. Davies officially takes first place due to his second-best lap (1’46.737) being faster than Rea’s – by one thousandth of a second.
Behind the two Brits, Marco Melandri (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) scored the third fastest time across all three sessions, 0.440 seconds off the leading pace. In fourth, Lorenzo Savadori (Milwaukee Aprilia) improved his FP2 time and proved that he is ready to push up with the Kawasakis and Ducatis.
Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) improved throughout the day to take fifth, with his teammate Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) unable to make it into tomorrow’s Superpole 2 directly, taking the twelfth best time.
Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) was one of only three riders unable to improve their FP1 and FP2 times, but it was still enough to slot him into sixth. Xavi Fores (Barni Racing Team), again the best independent rider out on track, had the seventh best time of the sessions, sixth for the late Free Practice.
Leon Haslam (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) made the best out of his WorldSBK return, coming consistently amongst the top 10 riders before, eventually, finding the pace to record the eighth best time of the day. Haslam, who throughout the weekend is paying tribute to his father Ron Haslam by wearing a replica of the former racer’s helmet, has shown little signs of rust and would be expected to put up a challenge in tomorrow’s Superpole.
Behind Haslam, Jordi Torres (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) and Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Junior Team) completed the top ten who will go through to
tomorrow’s Tissot Superpole directly. Eugene Laverty (Milwaukee Aprilia), amongst the fastest riders on track all throughout the day, could eventually only come in in eleventh when the dust had settled.
WorldSBK bikes will now prepare for a busy Saturday around Imola, as the bikes take to the track from 8:45LT, before Superpole at 10:30 and Race One at 13:00.
WorldSSP: Caricasulo fastest in WorldSSP Imola kickoff
Federico Caricasulo (GRT Yamaha Official WorldSSP Team) pleased his Italian home fans on Friday with the fastest time in Free Practice, as the fifth round of the FIM Supersport World Championship got underway at the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari di Imola.
At the end of both sessions, it was a GRT double at the top. In FP1, Lucas Mahias (GRT Yamaha Official WorldSSP Team) was ahead of Caricasulo and the rest of the pack. The Frenchman, however, was unable to improve in the second set of 50 minutes, while Caricasulo’s lap two minutes from the end was enough to push him ahead.
Behind the pair, Sandro Cortese (Kallio Racing) recorded the third fastest time of the day, with Jules Cluzel (NRT), coming off his win at Assen, in fourth. Randy Krummenacher (BARDAHL Evan Bros. WorldSSP Team), second in the championship standings, went down 13 minutes before the end of FP2, but still barely managed the tenth best time and will be in tomorrow’s Superpole 2.
Five-time Imola race winner Kenan Sofuoglu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) was out of the top 10 for most of both sessions, but a late spurt from the retiring WorldSSP legend left him back at the top, with the fifth fastest lap from Friday
Raffaele De Rosa (MV Agusta Reparto Corse by Vamag), Luke Stapleford (Profile Racing), Ayrton Badovini (MV Agusta Reparto Corse by Vamag) and Hikari Okubo (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) completed the top ten
