Aruba.it Racing – Ducati’s sensational World Superbike rookie Nicolo Bulega set the ultimate pace in front of his home crowd at Misano on Friday afternoon as ROKiT BMW Motorrad’s Toprak Razgatlioglu crashed out partway through Free Practice 2.
Bulega’s 1:33.511s time was 0.402s clear of second-placed Alvaro Bautista, making it a factory Ducati one-two.
With temperatures likely to be similar in Saturday Race 1 and Sunday Race 2, FP2 was an important session for the riders to gauge their race readiness through long runs.
World SBK rookie Sam Lowes had a temporary mishap with a crash aboard his Marc VDS Ducati at Turns 5 early on but was able to continue.
Andrea Locatelli meanwhile was also caught out, losing the front at Turn 4 on his Pata Prometeon Yamaha and had to return to the pits with a damaged windscreen.
Razgatlioglu then lost control of his M 1000 RR at Turn 16 with 20 minutes of the session remaining.
After going fastest in FP1, the Turkish rider put himself out of contention for the remainder of FP2 with the provisionally fourth fastest time after over-pushing on a new set of tyres.
Coming back into the garage, Razgatlioglu complained he had too much front end on his BMW, leaving his mechanics to tweak his setup.
Danilo Petrucci, riding his Barni Racing Ducati on Friday in an attempt to comeback from injuries sustained in an April motocross incident, waited until the final 16 minutes of FP2 to take to the track.
The Italian was clearly feeling fatigued and it was no wonder considering his April incident prompted surgery to repair a broken jaw and collarbone, forcing him to miss Round 3 of the World Superbike campaign at Assen, but he valiantly fought to claim the 12th fastest time.
Bulega enjoyed the top spot for the majority of the session and as the session drew to a close, he punched several successive fast laps to push the pace even further with his world champion team-mate Bautista providing motivation in a close second.
Bautista could do nothing to trouble Bulega however, who continues to impress in his maiden World Superbike campaign.
Also impressive was GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team rider Remy Gardner.
Gardner got his first podium last time out at Assen and looks to be carrying that form into Misano, setting the third-fastest time aboard his YZF R1, a 1:33.921s effort.
GoEleven Ducati’s Andrea Iannone worked his way into the top five for the second successive session, lapping Misano in 1:33.960s aboard his Panigale V4R.
Despite falling earlier on, Razgatlioglu stayed in the top five as his 1:34.221s lap ensured he featured high on the leaderboard.
The Turkish rider’s effort in FP1 remained the fastest time of the day, prompting speculation he could have topped FP2 had he not fallen from his M 1000 RR machine.
In sixth was Iker Lecuona, impressing aboard the Team HRC Honda CBR1000 RR-R, working well with the new swingarm on his Japanese machine and setting a 1:34.222s laptime.
Next up were the two Lowes twins, led by Kawasaki’s Alex with a 1:34.287s lap with Sam recovering from his early off to finish eighth fastest courtesy of a 1:34382s effort.
GRT Yamaha’s Dominique Aegerter (1:34.384s) and Team Motocorsa’s Michael Ruben Rinaldi (1:34.417s) rounded out the top-10.
FP2 – Full Results
- 1 – N. BULEGA – Aruba.it Racing – Ducati – 1:33.511
- 2 – A. BAUTISTA – Aruba.it Racing – Ducati – 1:33.913
- 3 – R. GARDNER – GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team – 1:33.921
- 4 – A. IANNONE – Team GoEleven Ducati – 1:33.960
- 5 – T. RAZGATLIOGLU – ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team – 1:34.221
- 6 – I. LECUONA – Team HRC – 1:34.222
- 7 – A. LOWES – Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK – 1:34.287
- 8 – S. LOWES – ELF Marc VDS Racing Team – 1:34.382
- 9 – D. AEGERTER – GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team – 1:34.384
- 10 – M. RINALDI – Team Motocorsa Racing – 1:34.417
- 11 – A. LOCATELLI – Pata Prometeon Yamaha – 1:34.438
- 12 – D. PETRUCCI – Barni Spark Racing Team – 1:34.476
- 13 – J. REA – Pata Prometeon Yamaha – 1:34.544
- 14 – M. VAN DER MARK – ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team – 1:34.592
- 15 – X. VIERGE – Team HRC – 1:34.754
- 16 – A. BASSANI – Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK – 1:34.756
- 17 – T. RABAT – Kawasaki Puccetti Racing – 1:34.794
- 18 – M. PIRRO – Aruba.it Racing – Ducati – 1:34.803
- 19 – S. REDDING – Bonovo Action BMW – 1:34.832
- 20 – T. MACKENZIE – PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda – 1:35.105
- 21 – G. GERLOFF – Bonovo Action BMW – 1:35.137
- 22 – P. OETTL – GMT94 Yamaha – 1:35.755
- 23 – B. RAY – Yamaha Motoxracing WorldSBK Team – 1:36.666
- 24 – A. NORRODIN – PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda – 1:37.933
