Kawasaki’s Jonathan Rea topped the opening free practice session for the Motul FIM Superbike World Championship at Donington Park this morning (Friday).
Rea’s time of 1m27.627s came during a busy final 10 minutes of the 45 minute session, which was affected by light rain. The six time champion was just 0.052s clear of Yamaha’s 2021 champion Toprak Razgatlioglu, whilst Team GoEleven Ducati’s Philipp Oettl was an impressive third fastest and just 0.130s away from the fastest time.
The session started with light spots of drizzle but conditions were still good enough to allow Razgatlioglu to post a faster time than in last year’s equivalent session early on, as riders sampled the resurfaced Donington Park circuit for the first time.
All riders returned to the pits mid-session when the precipitation intensified, but it stopped in time to allow a 10-minute flurry of activity at the end.
Razgatlioglu was the first to improve his time, by around a tenth of a second, with Rea then bettering that with his 1m27.627s with under five minutes remaining.
The rain returned again in the final two minutes, denying any further improvements leaving Rea just half a tenth clear of Razgatlioglu at the top of the times, with Oettl’s late lap rising him from fifth to third.
Behind the top three was Rea’s teammate Alex Lowes, the local rider celebrating a contract extension with Kawasaki this weekend.
Reigning Bennetts British Superbike Champion Bradley Ray was fifth fastest on the Motoxracing Yamaha, 0.430s away from Rea’s pace.
Tom Sykes was the lead BMW runner in sixth, and ahead of Ducati’s championship leader Alvaro Bautista and the Spaniard’s teammate Michael Ruben Rinaldi.
Andrea Locatelli (Yamaha) and Iker Lecuona (Honda) completed the top-10, which was covered by 1.006s.
The second World Superbike session of the day at Donington Park is due to commence at 15.00.
Motul FIM Superbike World Championship, Donington Park, Free Practice 1 result:
1. Jonathan Rea, Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK, 1m27.627s
2. Toprak Razgatlioglu, Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK, +0.052s
3. Philipp Oettl, Team GoEleven (Ducati), +0.130s
4. Alex Lowes, Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK, +0.230s
5. Bradley Ray, Yamaha Motoxracing WorldSBK, +0.430s
6. Tom Sykes, ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team, +0.481s
7. Alvaro Bautista, Aruba.it Racing Ducati, +0.516s
8. Michael Ruben Rinaldi, Aruba.it Racing Ducati, +0.925s
9. Andrea Locatelli, Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK, +0.944s
10. Iker Lecuona, Team HRC Honda, +1.006s
Click here for full results
Tickets for WorldSBK at Donington Park are available upon arrival at the circuit all weekend, with free entry for under-13s. For more information, click here.