WSBK Superbike Cremona FP3: Bautista and Iannone turn the tide

A kick fromAlvaro Bautista during the FP3 of the Superbikes in Cremona. After a complicated Friday, Andrea Iannone wakes up: he is also one of the candidates for the podium.

De Paul Gozzi / Corsedimoto.com

Early in the morning, Alvaro Bautista took the lead in the Superbikes and erased a Black Friday complicated by three crashes in two sessions. The Spaniard completed the lap in 1'28″439, just two tenths off the track record set by Danilo Petrucci during the Superpole Race last September. In this edition, also due to the high temperatures, the asphalt seems much slower than before. Andrea Iannone He also woke up, despite his position (ninth), who went under the 1'29" mark and is a candidate for a leading role in the three challenges of Cremona: it was not a foregone conclusion after the problems he had the day before.

Yamahas find their bearings in the cool
The third and final session should be taken with a pinch of salt, both because of its duration (only twenty minutes) and the temperature conditions, which are very different from those the riders will face during race 1 (14 p.m.). In fact, the riders rode in air at 19°C and on asphalt at 25°C, half of what was planned for the race. In the cooler weather, the Yamahas were very present, especially that ofAndrea Locatelli, galvanized by his first victory at Assen in the previous round. But the R1 of Remy Gardner is not left behind (fifth) while Jonathan Rhea is less than a second behind the leader: not bad considering that his world championship starts here, after the serious injury to his left foot during pre-season testing in Australia.

Ten drivers within half a second
Nicholas Bulega also finishes this session ahead of his rival Toprak Razgatlioglu The Ducatist is the favorite, after what he showed on Friday. But with such close numbers, the prediction is obviously difficult: Danilo Petrucci and Andrea Iannone are close and both have the podium in their sights. Remember that Ducati took eight of the nine podium places here last September.

Andrea Iannone believes in it
"The weekend has been quite complex so far.", admits Andrea Iannone. “On Friday morning, the track was very dirty and there was a total lack of grip off the lines, so much so that I even had a slight crash on Friday morning. We worked hard on different parts of the bike and, in the end, I was able to improve my time without changing tires. For now, we are all close in terms of gaps. Now we will analyze all the data carefully and see if we can put ourselves in line to achieve good results.”

Combined results of FP1-FP2-FP3 WorldSBK Superbike in Cremona: