The Turkish driver set the best time at the end of FP1, ahead of Michael Ruben Rinaldi and Jonathan Rea.
The tenth round of the Superbike opened this morning on the Jerez circuit, where the various entrants took part in the first free practice session. On the occasion of this second stage of a series of three events contested in two weeks, the drivers definitively closed the chapter of Catalonia to start from scratch in Andalusia.
The stakes are higher than ever, Toprak Razgatlioğlu and Jonathan Rea continuing their fight to the death at the top of the championship, with only one point separating them. With the end of the season fast approaching, the slightest mistake could well prove fatal from now on and it is therefore a suspenseful round that we will undoubtedly witness this weekend.
Summary of the results of the 2020 edition:
| WSBK Superbike Jerez | July / August 2020 | September 2021 |
| FP1 | 1'40.249 Loris Baz | 1'40.074 Toprak Razgatlioğlu |
| FP2 | 1'40.325 Michael Ruben Rinaldi | |
| FP3 | 1'39.639 Michael van der Mark | |
| Super poles | 1'38.736 Scott Redding | |
| Race 1 | Redding, Rea, Razgatlioğlu | |
| Warm up | 1'39.535 Jonathan Rea | |
| Superpole race | Rea, Redding, Van der Mark | |
| Race 2 | Redding, Davies, Razgatlioğlu | |
| All time lap record | 1'38.736 Scott Redding |
Returns of Baz and Laverty
Two major changes should be noted in terms of entries, all due to accidents that occurred in Montmeló last week. We can thus highlight the return to Superbike of Loris Baz, replacing Chaz Davies, victim of two broken ribs during the last Superpole Race. The Frenchman, who has just finished fourth in MotoAmerica for his first participation this season, thus returns to the championship for motorcycles derived from the series, which he left last year.
The other substitution of note is that of Tom Sykes by Eugene Laverty. The latter, who participated at the start of the season on behalf of the RC Squadra Corse team before it withdrew for restructuring reasons shortly before the round run at Assen, is therefore returning to competition with BMW . The Northern Irishman has raced for the German manufacturer before, as recently as last year, even securing a Superpole in the wet at Magny-Cours.
The course of FP1 was not really innovative, the Kawasaki of Jonathan Rea and Alex Lowes quickly taking control of the session, well followed by Razgatlioğlu, determined to preserve his short lead (or even increase that -ci) this weekend and therefore not to cede any inch of ground to their opponents.
⏱ @toprak_tr54 fastest of FP1 ahead @michaelrinaldi_ and @jonathanrea !#ESPWorldSBK pic.twitter.com/9Z8L0mLDzZ
- WorldSBK (@WorldSBK) September 24, 2021
Rinaldi well placed
The first half hour of driving was calm, with only an error from Andrea Locatelli, who shot straight into the gravel trap in turn 1, being worth mentioning. As for the ranking, we had to wait until the end of the session to see Razgatlioğlu gain the upper hand over Rea and set the first benchmark of the weekend in 1'40.074.
😣 Not the start of the day Locatelli wanted!#ESPWorldSBK pic.twitter.com/g72HIynkSx
- WorldSBK (@WorldSBK) September 24, 2021
The Turkish driver is thus ahead of Michael Ruben Rinaldi, who managed in his last flying lap to relegate Rea to third place ahead of his teammate Lowes. Leon Haslam completes the top 5 ahead of Andrea Locatelli and Michael van der Mark, while the top 10 is completed by Scott Redding, Garrett Gerloff and Axel Bassani.
On the French side, it is Loris Baz who is in the lead for his return to the category. The native of Sallanches actually finished in 11th position, while you have to go down to 16th and 17th ranks to find Lucas Mahias and Christophe Ponsson respectively.
