WSBK Jerez Superbike FP2: Alvaro Bautista's celebration begins with one of the many crashes that occurred...

Ducati prepares the party in Jerez, Alvarito slips but nothing serious. Toprak does not lose control, chronicle and times of the only round of the day.

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Alvaro Bautista is just waiting to get his hands on his second Superbike World Championship in a row, with only two points to score out of the 62 available. The Jerez weekend will therefore be a celebration, but it began with a strange fall at turn 6. Without seriousness, the (almost) double world champion was betrayed by an imperceptible patch of humidity, the front axle closing brutally. No need to shake off the dust either, because in the gravel, Alvarito didn't even make it.

At the end of the day, the fastest man on Friday was Toprak Razgatlioglu, in the last lap with his Yamaha: 1'40″312. Baptist only stopped at 320 thousandths of a second, pursued by the other R1 of a Remy gardner in full rise at the end of the season. Provisional fourth place for Michael Rinaldi, eighth beat for Danilo Petrucci.

One session, many falls
The second session was practically the only one of the day, since only four drivers had taken to the track in the morning, the asphalt being neither wet nor damp. Work was interrupted 15 minutes from time when Gabriel Ruiu fell in the last hairpin, also betrayed by a wet area. The pilot limped to his feet.

The tests then resumed after a five-minute stoppage to end normally. Before, Alvaro Bautista, Garrett Gerloff and Alex Lowes had fallen, while at the end of the session, Konig et Baldassarri suffered the same fate, all without physical harm.

A special weekend
This Jerez stage was added at the last minute, replacing the round which was to take place in San Juan, Argentina, but which was canceled due to the financial problems of the local organizers. The atmosphere is a little surreal, because Bautista's lead is such that a new Ducati title is expected. In addition, it will be the swan song for several drivers about to change brands, starting next Tuesday during the first 2024 test. The priority is therefore above all not to get into difficulty and to arrive at the meeting. in great shape. Jonathan Rhea will leave Kawasaki after nine seasons and six world championships, to become the standard bearer for Yamaha: he finishes this Friday in 13th position. No problem for Toprak Razgatlioglu, who will have to wait until December 4 to test the potential of the BMW on the ups and downs of Portimao.

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Paul Gozzi

Classification credit: WorldSBK.com