WorldSBK Press Office

Marco Melandri (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) kept his Friday lead ahead of Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK), as the Free Practice Three at MotorLand Aragon

The session started with no issues, weather or other, with every rider bar Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) setting out around the track. Fifteen minutes later, however, with rain drops coming down harder and heavier, everyone had made it back to their boxes. Only a small group made it back to the track at any point of the remainder of the session, Loris Baz (GULF Althea BMW Racing Team) running for the last ten minutes.

As such, there were no changes across the top four, with Melandri, Rea, Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) and Davies hanging onto their previously recorded positions, and confirming that the KRTs and Ducatis are the bikes to beat over this weekend.

Behind them, local rider Jordi Torres (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) recorded the fastest lap of the FP3 with the fastest times in the first three sectors, and managing to move up a place to fifth, ahead of Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) who also improved on his FP2 time by four tenths. Behind him remained his teammate Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) in seventh, with leading independent rider Xavi Fores (Barni Racing Team) in eighth after also failing to improve on his FP2.

The biggest change from FP2 to FP3 came in the final two top-ten positions, with Lorenzo Salvadori (Milwaukee Aprilia) and Leon Camier (Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team) both recording better times and just edging Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Junior Team) and the final Panigale into 11th. The Italian, in his Aragon WorldSBK debut, will be disappointed after remaining amongst the fastest riders for most of the first two sessions, and will have to fight back from Superpole 1.

Baz (13th), despite riding out for the end of the session, could not improve his times and will also fight to get into the top 12, alongside Davide Giugliano (Milwaukee Aprilia), who finished twelfth in his 2018 debut. The last non-independent rider, Jake Gagne (Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team), moved up from 17thto 14th, still not enough to make it into tomorrow’s Superpole 2.

WorldSSP

At Round Three of the FIM Supersport World Championship, the fantastic battle from Thailand resumed in Free Practice Two. After just pushing ahead of Lucas Mahias (GRT Yamaha Official WorldSSP Team) on the last bend at the Chang International Circuit, Randy Krummenacher (BARDAHL Evan Bros. WorldSSP Team) again took first place at the last moment at MotorLand Aragon, recording a flying last lap to head the combined sessions.

Mahias had just taken first place on his final lap, but eventually had to make do with second, just two hundredths of a second behind the Swiss challenger to his WorldSSP crown. The Frenchman’s teammate Federico Caricasulo (GRT Yamaha Official WorldSSP Team) was also just beaten to his position, finishing fourth with Sandro Cortese (Kallio Racing) also two hundredths of a second ahead. With these results, the top four in the championship standings also took the first four places in the free practices.

Behind them and completing Yamaha’s top quintet was Jules Cluzel (NRT), who led a good part of the second session and was first at the end of FP1. He was followed by Luke Stapleford (Profile Racing) and Raffaele De Rosa (MV Agusta Reparto Corse by Vamag) in sixth and seventh.

Kyle Smith (GEMAR Team Lorini), Ayrton Badovini (MV Agusta Reparto Corse by Vamag) and Michael Canducci (Team GoEleven Kawasaki) grabbed the final top-10 best times and qualify automatically for the Superpole 2, just ahead of Rob Hartog (Team Hartog – Against Cancer), the first-placed rider of those taking part in the FIM European Supersport Cup.

As with WorldSBK before it, all the WorldSSP challengers improved greatly on their FP1 times, as blue skies took hold of the MotorLand Aragon circuit in the early afternoon. Times in FP1 varied by up to 20 seconds, with the track still drying out after a rainy night and many riders cautious in their approach.