WSBK Estoril Superbike FP1: Toprak Razgatlioglu leads in the rain, but so many falls!

Wet track during the first free practice of the World Superbike Championship in Estoril: Toprak Razgatlioglu in the lead ahead of Danilo Petrucci and Alex Lowes, but what a number of falls in this FP1!

De Andrea Periccioli / Corsedimoto.com

Rain, wind, fog and low temperatures open the World Superbike weekend at the Estoril circuit and certainly do not make the work of the teams and riders any easier. The opening free practice session of the penultimate round of the season took place, as expected, on a wet track. Even in these conditions, the " usual " Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad Team) monopolized the stage, setting the best time with disarming ease in a tormented FP1, ahead of two specialists in these conditions, Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team Ducati) and alex lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team).

Razgatkioglu sets the pace
Leader of the championship, Toprak Razgatlioglu started the round in Portugal with the right attitude. De facto leader from his first outing on track with the #1000 BMW M 54 RR, the Turkish tightrope walker only needed 6 laps to stop the clock in 1'52″344, making his performance inaccessible. The bad weather does not seem to have bothered the 2021 World Champion, so much so that he gave up 0,306 seconds to his closest pursuer Danilo Petrucci and 4 tenths of a second to alex lowes, victim of a harmless slide at the end of the round (like many others) in the Parabolica.

Ducati waiting
In a session where there was even a red flag due to increasing rain, despite a small fall at the entrance to the corkscrew Jonathan Rea is fifth with the best of the Yamahas behind a surprising Tarran Mackenzie, definitely at ease on a wet track (this is not a new thing) with the Honda of PETRONAS MIE Racing. And the Ducatis? Álvaro Bautista, author of the sixth time at 9 tenths of a second behind the leader, preferred not to take unnecessary risks. It is quite different for his teammate Nicholas Bulega (Razgatlioglu's first pursuer in the championship with 39 points), who fell at the Parabolica, fortunately without consequences.

Estoril Falls Festival
The incessant rain strongly affected the regular running of FP1. In addition Lowes, Rea and Bulega, Andrea Locatelli (8e) Ivo Lopes (19e) and Sam Lowes (17th) also suffered. While waiting for the results of the afternoon's FP2, while the weather forecast does not promise anything good in this regard, Michael Rinaldi is ninth on the timesheet, whileAxel Bassani is eleventh with the second official Kawasaki. Andrea Iannone, fresh from the dazzling Aragon stage, set the 20th time, rediscovering the Estoril of his MotoGP days. Twenty-fourth and final time for Luca Bernardi, who makes his debut on the MotoXRacing team's Yamaha R1.

Results of the FP1 of the Superbikes in Estoril: 

Read the original article on Corsedimoto.com
Andrea Periccioli

Superbike Estoril FP1