Superbike – Misano – FP2: Rinaldi places Ducati at the forefront

The Italian rider was the fastest in the second free practice session and also took the best time of the day, ahead of the Kawasakis of Alex Lowes and Jonathan Rea.

The Superbike riders returned to action this afternoon as part of FP2 on the Misano circuit. After the best time signed in the morning by Toprak Razgatlioglu, a real affront for Ducati at home which saw a Yamaha supplant its Panigale, the Borgo Panigale manufacturer finally responded well through Michael Ruben Rinaldi, author of the best time during FP2.

 

 

Number 21 also came away with the best time of the day, ahead of the Kawasaki of Alex Lowes and Jonathan Rea during this second session of the day, in that order. The two British drivers will undoubtedly be satisfied with this, they who had not shone much during FP1 this morning, and who have made notable progress this time to appear as credible contenders for victory this weekend.

Razgatlioglu, for his part, fell back in the hierarchy to only be in fourth position. However, the Turk once again occupied first place on the timesheet at the start of the session, before seeing his various competitors pass him in front.

 

Summary of the results of the 2021 edition:

WSBK Superbike Misano	June 2019	June 2021
FP1	1'36.029 Jonathan Rea	1'34.848 Toprak Razgatlioglu
FP2	1'36.021 Michael van der Mark	1'34.334 Michael Ruben Rinaldi
FP3	1'46.484 Loris Baz
Super poles	1'34.596 Jonathan Rea
Race 1	Rea, Sykes, Bautista
Warm Up	1'35.814 Jonathan Rea
Superpole race	Bautista, Lowes, Haslam
Race 2	Rea, Razgatlioglu, Haslam
All time lap record	1'34.596 Jonathan Rea

 

Clear progress for Redding

Conversely, Scott Redding, who had finished beyond the top 10 this morning, has for his part raised the bar well to enter the top 5. He nevertheless remains almost three-quarters of a second behind his teammate, but the The dynamic of the day remains positive for the former MotoGP rider.

Álvaro Bautista takes sixth place, and can congratulate himself on having had a much better Friday than two weeks ago in Estoril, when he fell three times on the first day . The Spaniard is ahead of Tom Sykes and Axel Bassani, while Leon Haslam and Lucas Mahias complete the top 10. The Frenchman limited the damage very well after a fall in turn 16 at the start of the session, and is ahead of Garrett Gerloff and Chaz Davies.

The latter was the victim of a fall at very low speed at the very end of the session in turn 14, just like Tito Rabat only a few seconds later, and who finished 13th in FP2. The top 15 is completed by Michael van der Mark and Eugene Laverty. Christophe Ponsson finished this first day in 20th place.

 

 

Superbike – Misano – FP2 results:

Classification credit: WorldSBK.com