ROKiT BMW Motorrad’s Toprak Razgatlioglu set the pace in the opening practice session for the Emilia Romagna round of the 2024 World Superbike Championship at Misano.
The Turkish rider’s 1:33.448s lap time bettered the rest of the field by over half a second, with KRT’s Alex Lowes 0.560s back in second place.
Nearly two months after the 2024 World Superbike campaign left Round 3 at Assen, the field roared into life at the Misano circuit in Italy for the first practice of the Emilia Romagna round.
The 45-minute session took place under glorious Italian sunshine but the sun sadly wasn’t shining on Philipp Oettl with the German rider’s GMT94 Yamaha YZF R1 engine blowing on the exit of Turn 6, bringing out a red flag.
After a brief stoppage, the session resumed with 34 minutes on the clock to allow the rest of the field ample time to acclimatise to the Misano circuit.
One rider who had a monetary hiccup was ROKiT BMW Motorrad rider Michael van der Mark who lost the front of his M 1000 RR at Turn 4, prompting him to pick his bike up off from the floor and return to the pits to regroup.
Wildcard Ducati rider Michele Pirro also had an off at the tight Turn 14 hairpin with 10 minutes to go, losing the front of his Panigale V4R, but like van der Mark, the Italian was unhurt and able to continue back to the pits with his bike relatively unscathed.
One rider who had nothing to worry about though was Razgatlioglu who was atop the timesheets throughout the session, carrying his table-topping form from May’s Misano test.
The BMW M 1000 RR rider was approximately three-tenths clear before a final time attack saw him add another two-tenths to the gap.
Behind Razgatlioglu and Lowes – who has newly resigned with KRT as it prepares to partner with Bimota in 2025 – was Italian Nicolo Bulega aboard the Aruba.it – Racing Ducati with a 1:34.029s laptime.
Lowes’ Kawasaki team-mate Axel Bassani was fourth with a 1:34.245s time and it was three Italians inside the top five courtesy of Team GoEleven Ducati rider Andrea Iannone, whose 1:34.320s laptime was 0.872s back from Razgatlioglu’s benchmark.
Championship leader Alvara Bautista was sixth aboard the #1 Ducati with a best effort of 1:34.323s and despite his off early on, van der Mark was able to post the seventh quickest time, a 1:34.436s tour of the Misano circuit.
Pata Prometeon Yamaha’s Jonathan Rea (1:34.462s), GRT Yamaha’s Remy Gardner (1:34.462s) and Ducati wildcard Pirro (1:34.515s) completed the top-10.
The Misano WorldSBK action continues with Free Practice 2 at 15:00 local time.
FP1 – Full Results
- 1 – T. RAZGATLIOGLU – ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team – 1:33.448
- 2 – A. LOWES – Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK – 1:34.008
- 3 – N. BULEGA – Aruba.it Racing – Ducati – 1:34.029
- 4 – A. BASSANI – Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK – 1:34.245
- 5 – A. IANNONE – Team GoEleven Ducati – 1:34.320
- 6 – A. BAUTISTA – Aruba.it Racing – Ducati – 1:34.323
- 7 – M. VAN DER MARK – ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team – 1:34.436
- 8 – J. REA – Pata Prometeon Yamaha – 1:34.462
- 9 – R. GARDNER – GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team – 1:34.462
- 10 – M. PIRRO – Aruba.it Racing – Ducati – 1:34.515
- 11 – I. LECUONA – Team HRC – 1:34.544
- 12 – A. LOCATELLI – Pata Prometeon Yamaha – 1:34.612
- 13 – D. AEGERTER – GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team – 1:34.751
- 14 – D. PETRUCCI – Barni Spark Racing Team – 1:34.857
- 15 – M. RINALDI – Team Motocorsa Racing – 1:34.910
- 16 – S. LOWES – ELF Marc VDS Racing Team – 1:34.914
- 17 – T. RABAT – Kawasaki Puccetti Racing – 1:34.945
- 18 – G. GERLOFF – Bonovo Action BMW – 1:34.978
- 19 – X. VIERGE – Team HRC – 1:35.079
- 20 – S. REDDING – Bonovo Action BMW – 1:35.109
- 21 – P. OETTL – GMT94 Yamaha – 1:35.602
- 22 – T. MACKENZIE – PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda – 1:35.930
- 23 – B. RAY – Yamaha Motoxracing WorldSBK Team – 1:36.823
- 24 – A. NORRODIN – PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda – 1:37.399
