Ducati rider Nicolo Bulega and Alvaro Bautista lead the standings in the third free practice session of the World Superbike Championship at Misano – Yamaha factory duo in P16 and P17
Ducati factory rider Nicolo Bulega has set the fastest time in the third free practice session (FT3 result) at the World Superbike Championship in Misano (Italy). The local hero had already set the fastest time in FP2 on Friday (see practice report) and continued his form on Saturday morning
On Friday, Toprak Razgatlioglu (BMW) was the fastest driver in the combined classification of the two practice sessions. In FP1, Razgatlioglu lapped the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli in 1:33.448 minutes. This time was clearly undercut in FP3. Five riders were faster than Friday’s best time.
At 25°C air temperature and 28°C tarmac temperature, Nicolo Bulega held his own at the top of the standings in FP3 with his factory Ducati. The Italian lapped the circuit in 1:33.114 minutes, 0.011 seconds faster than Ducati team-mate Alvaro Bautista.
Remy Gardner (GRT-Yamaha) completed the top three on Saturday morning. Gardner had already moved into the top 3 in FP2 on Friday and was the best non-Ducati rider. The Australian only lost 0.218 seconds on the fastest time in FP3. Andrea Iannone (GoEleven-Ducati) followed in fourth position, 0.229 seconds behind. Toprak Razgatlioglu completed the top five with his works BMW
Yamaha: GRT duo clearly faster than the two factory riders
Dominique Aegerter (GRT-Yamaha) followed in sixth position. Both GRT riders were therefore well ahead of the Yamaha factory riders. Andrea Locatelli only finished FP3 in P16 and Jonathan Rea lined up in P17. Rea already looked disillusioned on Friday.
Garrett Gerloff (Bonovo-BMW) made a big step forward compared to Friday and moved up to seventh position. He was only half a second off the fastest time. Team-mate Scott Redding was unable to improve. The former World Championship runner-up finished 1.829 seconds behind in P21.
Alex Lowes was the best Kawasaki rider in tenth place. Team-mate Axel Bassani was a few thousandths of a second slower and finished in P12. From Honda’s point of view, FP3 was not quite as strong as FP2 on Friday, when Iker Lecuona finished in the top 6. In FP3, Lecuona was the best Honda rider in eleventh place.
The Superpole will follow at 11:00 a.m., race one of the Superbike World Championship in Misano will start at 2:00 p.m.
