BMW rider Loris Baz takes fastest time in windy Saturday morning practice – Alvaro Bautista crashes at turn 9 – Philipp Öttl mingles with top riders
After the opening practice session of the World Superbike Championship at Aragon took place under sunny skies and early summer temperatures on Friday, the 25 WSBK riders had to ride in strong winds and cloudy skies in the third free practice session on Saturday morning. The 30-minute session had a few surprises in store.
BMW rider Loris Baz stormed to the top in FT3, causing jubilation in the Bonovo pit (see FT3 result). With his 1:49.591 lap, Baz moved up to second position in the combined standings. Jonathan Rea’s FT1 best time was not beaten in the third practice session.
For a long time, Ducati factory rider Alvaro Bautista was at the top of the standings. The Spaniard crashed in the final third of FT3 at turn 9, but Bautista was able to get his Ducati back up and continue the session.
🏴 Black Flag for number 1️⃣9️⃣ due to not entering pitlane after crashing in Turn 9️⃣@19Bautista #RiderOK 🙌#AragonWorldSBK 🇪🇸 pic.twitter.com/Epkw0merjd
— WorldSBK (@WorldSBK) April 9, 2022
As the regulations dictate that you have to return to the pits after a crash, Bautista received the black flag and was unable to improve further. Nevertheless, the Spaniard took second position in FT3.
Ducati brand colleague Philipp Öttl was the big surprise of FT3. The German announced already on Friday evening that he would try the SCQ tyre in FT3, which some of his rivals already tried on Friday.
With the soft rear tyre, Öttl moved up to fourth position in the standings. With his FT3 time, Öttl took over sixth place in the combined classification of all three practices.
Superpole in Aragon will start at 11:10am. The start of the first race will be at 14:00.
