Jonathan Rea on top as WorldSBK gets underway at Donington

2022 FIM Superbike World Championship
Round Five – Donington Park – Friday

The first day of action at the Prosecco DOC UK Round has come to a close for the 2022 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship grid setting an electric pace in warm conditions.

Jonathan Rea laid down the benchmark for the chasing pack and finished the day half a second clear of Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK).

Jonathan Rea – P1

“You can never just take a screenshot of the final lap times and understand all the stories. Everybody was on a different strategy today, trying to understand what’s what. But we did good work and we were able to analyse all the tyre options. Both front tyres and all the rears. Unlike Misano, where there were two extra solutions over the weekend, and it confused everything, I feel we have a handle on at least the tyres. In the morning I was really struggling with the front over the bumps, so we changed the weight balance of the bike, the wheelbase. In the beginning of the second session I was able to understand quite quickly the pros and cons of the changes.”

Team-mate Alex Lowes was right on the pace too, with the British rider running second for most of the session and staying out on one tyre, not focusing on the single lap pace but instead looking at longer runs. It was a similar story in FP2, with long runs being the call of the day, before he eventually finished fourth. A strong day for KRT.

Alex Lowes – P4

“The first day went OK even though I had my best lap cancelled. I got a bit greedy on the entrance to the chicane and I think I touched the green track limits marker. It is nice to be back at Donington. The weather has been good and I think it is just going to get better all weekend. There are already quite a few fans here and I really enjoyed it today. The pace is pretty good so that’s nice. If the temperature rises I know which tyre I am going to use, as I did a long run with it in FP2. I am not sure about the front tyre yet.”

Having topped FP1 by over a tenth of a second, Toprak Razgatlioglu was once again in mighty form at what he declared as his “favourite circuit”. The reigning World Champion, who took a career-first podium at Donington Park in 2018 and two wins in 2021, was just over two tenths shy of Rea’s fastest time for most of the session before Rea’s fast lap at the end of the session left Toprak second by more than half a second.

Toprak Razgatlıoğlu – P2

“I’m very happy that we come back again to the UK and Donington Park, because I like this track a lot. Today we try for a good set-up for the race, but we have to keep working because in FP2 I am not really happy – but P2 was not a bad lap time. We need more grip for the rear and after, I’m just riding because you know I enjoy this track! We will try also a new set-up, we will see. This is just the first day, tomorrow we have FP3 and after we will try again a good set-up for the race. Every race weekend this year we see big improvement, everybody is very fast. Important the race, not Friday – so we are just working for this and I hope tomorrow I am fighting for the victory.”

It wasn’t a strong first day at the office for his Pata Yamaha team-mater Andrea Locatelli. The Italian didn’t have a fun time in 2021 and he was only 15th in FP1, before finishing eighth come the close of business on day one and finding pace.

Andrea Locatelli – P8

“The first day was not easy because in FP1 I crashed after five laps and we lost a lot of time. Also the feeling after I returned on track was not really good, but in the end, this afternoon we worked around the bike and the feeling was better and we improved on the lap time as well. In general, it’s a strange feeling here in Donington because I have a lot of problem with the rear grip but for sure, we understand something and tomorrow we can improve the bike so this is a great point for us. It’s not so bad to close day one here in P8 and now try to trust in myself to get some good here results tomorrow, to try to close the gap with the front group and to do a really good Superpole and also Race 1 because it’s important for the championship. So we need to continue our work, focus on the job and push to take some good results.”

With a new swing-arm at his disposal, it was a much brighter day for home-hero Scott Redding (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team). The Englishman was sixth in the first session of the day and was up inside the top three for almost the entirety of FP2. The swing-arm, which has a different stiffness compared to the previous one, seemed to be doing the job for Redding, who finished the day in third. Team-mate Illia Mykhalchyk, who is still deputising for the injured Michael van der Mark, finished his day in 20th, not having the new swingarm on his M1000RR.

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It was a slightly quieter day at Donington Park for Ducati, with Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) finishing the opening session behind team-mate Michael Ruben Rinaldi. However, with track temperatures coming up in the afternoon, Bautista was able to cement himself as top Ducati but was still only fifth overall, more than seven-tenths adrift of Jonathan Rea.

Alvaro Bautista – P5

“It was a very positive day in which we did better than we expected. It’s clear: we still have to fix some details to get closer to Rea, who at the moment seems to be one step ahead of everyone. However, I am very satisfied with the sensations I felt today and I think we have all the chances to take a step forward tomorrow morning to fight for the podium.“

In the closing stages of FP2, Rinaldi, having been third ion FP1 and coming to Donington Park off the back of a double podium at Misano, finished sixth at the end of the day but did suffer a crash at Turn 12, but was able to remount and return to pitlane before getting back out for a practice start.

Michael Rinaldi – P6

“I am satisfied because we did a really good job. The feeling with the bike is good, a confirm that since Misano we have been going in the right direction. Today’s goal was not to make too many changes to the bike and the good feelings in FP1 helped us. There is still something missing to be at the top but I think we are working well.”

In terms of Independent riders, it was Loris Baz (Bonovo Action BMW) who claimed honours with the new swing-arm also in his BMW M1000RR. Setting 22 laps, Baz was just over three-tenths clear of Garrett Gerloff (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team), with the American improving from 14th at the end of FP1 to finish ninth on combined times.

Garrett Gerloff – P9

“It was an interesting day in a lot of different ways. We found something with the electronics which is positive. We finished the day running with used tyres but we still kept improving. This is what counts as we’re trying to be consistent at the end of the race. The overall position is not where I want to be, but there are a lot of positive things to take into tomorrow.”

Completing the top ten was Leon Haslam (TPR Team Pedercini Racing) at a circuit where he’s famously gone strongly at. He was just ahead of Lucas Mahias (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing), just 0.012 behind the Englishman, making it four Kawasakis inside the top 11.

The first Honda was Iker Lecuona (Team HRC), down in 12th place after his first competitive day of action at the Donington Park circuit. Having competed in a track day at the track in between Misano and this round, Lecuona gathered vital data and will hope to put a strong attack in during FP3 and Tissot Superpole in order to get himself up the order.

Iker Lecuona – P12

“The day started very well, after which we got a little lost. A technical glitch this morning slowed things down a bit and then in FP2 I didn’t feel totally right on the bike. We have something to sort out with the set-up; it’s a bit of a slippery track and maybe the conditions are a bit colder compared to when we came testing here three weeks ago, either way I felt a little less comfortable than expected on the bike. I felt a bit tense while riding and that put a lot of strain on my arm, causing some arm-pump. We need to find something that helps us regain those good sensations we had in the test so that we can get back to a more ‘normal’ position, close to the top five”.

Honda Team-mate Xavi Vierge returns from injury after his big Race 2 Misano crash and at a circuit he’s never visited, spent plenty of time getting laps under his belt before finishing 18th on the combined times, with work to do at Team HRC.

Xavi Vierge – P18

“The good thing is that I’m very happy to be back on track and am feeling good enough with my hand at what is a very physical track. I’ve felt OK so far and now just need some laps to adapt and to understand how to go fast here. It was a pity to have missed the tests, which would definitely have helped us a lot, but it is what it is and we just have to focus on the job in hand. We improved quite a lot between FP1 and FP2, especially in terms of race pace. We didn’t use any soft tyre and only worked with the race spec. We are not where we want to be of course, or where we know we can be, but we can be happy in that I can ride as usual, my hand is just fine, and we are doing a good job as a team”.

Besides that, Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) was 13th despite a run-off earlier in the session and there was also a Donington debut for Philipp Oettl (Team Goeleven), with the German rookie finishing in 14th place but he will have to drop three places on the grid for slow riding in FP2, notably getting the ire of Razgatlioglu. He was one place ahead of wildcard Tarran Mackenzie, with the British rider putting in a great effort on the opening day.

Fellow wildcard Peter Hickman (FHO Racing) took 16th place ahead of Eugene Laverty (Bonovo Action BMW), Laverty not using the swingarm that team-mate Baz and factory rider Redding have.

WorldSBK Combined Friday Practice Times

WorldSBK Championship Points

WorldSSP

Friday at Donington Park belonged to Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) with the reigning Champion two-tenths ahead of his nearest rivals.

On his first appearance at the track in WorldSSP, Aegerter was the only rider to post a lap time in the 1’30s bracket throughout both 45-minute sessions to claim top spot with his best time 0.224s clear of Glenn van Straalen (EAB Racing Team) in second place, with van Straalen leaving it until his very last lap of the day to post his best lap. Rookie Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team) was third on his first appearance in WorldSSP at Donington Park; inside the top six, only Aegerter and Bulega do not have prior WorldSSP experience at the historic British circuit.

French rider Jules Cluzel (GMT94 Yamaha) showed strong pace throughout the day, including being top of the leader board at points during FP1, before finishing fourth in the combined classification after posting a 1’31.214s; 0.275s back from Aegerter’s pace. Raffaele De Rosa (Orelac Racing VerdNatura WorldSSP) was fifth and, like Cluzel, showed strong pace throughout FP1 and FP2 as he led both sessions at times. De Rosa was fastest in the morning FP1 session ahead of Cluzel. Three Ducati riders finished inside the top six with Federico Caricasulo (Althea Racing) another who showed good pace across the day, finishing around four tenths back from Aegerter’s time.

Rookie Lorenzo Baldassarri (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team) was seventh after posting a best time of 1’31.388s. Baldassarri, like most riders, was able to improve his time in the afternoon session. Can Oncu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) claimed eighth spot ahead of the Dynavolt Triumph duo of Hannes Soomer and Stefano Manzi. Soomer, who took part in a track day at Donington a couple of weeks ago, spent time in FP1 leading the session as Triumph look for a strong result on home soil.

British rider Tom Booth-Amos (Prodina Racing WorldSSP) had a strong FP2 session despite a late crash at the Turn 8 right-hander of Coppice. Shortly after going into the top ten with his best lap, Booth-Amos lost the front at Coppice but was able to re-join although he did not improve his time as he finished in 11th, ahead of Peter Sebestyen (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team) and Unai Orradre (MS Racing Yamaha WorldSSP). Orradre crashed at Turn 8 during FP1 while Sebestyen, in the same session, crashed at Turn 9. VFT Racing pair Kyle Smith and Marcel Brenner rounded out the top 15, with Smith 14th after a late crash at Turn 1.

Oli Bayliss (BARNI Spark Racing Team) was classified in 24th for the day after he crashed early on in the 45-minute FP” session on the exit of Turn 10, with the Australian rookie able to take his bike back to the pits and he re-joined the session in the final few minutes. Simon Jespersen (CM Racing) did not set a lap time in FP2, with his FP1 time of 1’32.958s enough for 25th place, while Patrick Hobelsberger (Kallio Racing) was declared unfit for the Round after an FP1 crash. Yari Montella (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) was 18th in the combined classification with the Italian rider crashing at Turn 12 in FP2, while Ben Currie (Motozoo Racing by Puccetti) was 22nd after he crashed at Turn 5 during FP2.

Oli Bayliss

“Today was a difficult day, we had a pretty good first session getting comfortable on the bike at this track. Unfortunately in the second session I had a crash on the exit or the chicane tucking the front. Everything felt fine and then out of nowhere I lost the front, so we are trying to figure out what happened.”

WorldSSP Combined Friday Practice Times

WorldSSP600 Championship Points

Yamaha YZF-R3 bLU cRu Cup Superpole Results

Donington Park WorldSBK Schedule
All Times AEST