WorldSBK practice underway in Argentina – Report/Times

2022 FIM Superbike World Championship
Round Ten – San Juan, Argentina

Toprak Razgatlıoğlu topped Friday’s Free Practice with an impressive lap of 1’37.511, as the tenth round of the 2022 FIM Superbike World Championship got underway overnight at Circuito San Juan Villicum nestled in the foothills of the Andes in Argentina.

No other rider could match the defending champion’s pace set in Free Practice 1 on Friday morning, particularly as temperatures rose to around 28 degrees Celsius (nearly 50 on track) for the afternoon session. Tyre degradation, grip and compound choice became the main topic of conversation.

Toprak Razgatlıoğlu – P1

“I love it here in Argentina, I love this track and I’m just enjoying riding today – but just one problem, a little bit hot! Tomorrow a little bit better, but Sunday will be hot again. We had a good start, the position is not really important for me – we need the good lap time and good work to prepare for the race. We see what the other riders are doing and which sectors they are strong, but really just focus on our preparation and now I am feeling ready to race. The race is always long, I know, not easy the race here – but we will see. We are fighting for the win and we need good points for the championship here. I am not thinking about the championship, I just focus on the race. I love the fans here, many fans chanting El Turco! I will try my best to win for them.”

Teammate Andrea Locatelli also had a positive day finishing P5 in the combined standings. The 26-year-old Italian had a good feeling in the cooler conditions and both riders will work together with their crews and Yamaha’s engineers to take a step in preparation for Race 1 tomorrow, as well as hotter predicted temperatures on Sunday.

Charging to the top of the FP2 standings before settling for second on the overall times, Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) was in good form too and pushed hard throughout the opening day. Rea was three tenths behind Razgatlioglu in the standings in FP1 but led the way by just under a tenth in the afternoon, where the Kawasaki ZX-10RR working well in the hotter conditions.

Jonathan Rea – P2

“A positive day. I got off to a decent rhythm straight away and I felt OK with the bike. The grip level surprised us because we never know what we are going to find at this track because it does not get a lot of use. We used the same tyre all the way in FP1 and I did my fastest lap at the end, which was nice. It seems like tyre consumption is not going to be an issue this weekend, even in the heat. In the afternoon we could be quite strong. My rhythm was OK with the SCX rear tyre and I think I have got my front tyre choice figured out for tomorrow. Just a few issues to iron out now to maximise acceleration.”

Team-mate Alex Lowes was also on the pace and finished fourth in FP2, leaving him fourth going into Saturday.

Alex Lowes – P4

“The conditions of the track changed quite a lot this afternoon. I planned to do a long run on the softer front tyre and with the SCX on the rear. I was quite fast but the front was sliding a lot so I came in to make a small chassis change. Some positives and some negatives, but I think we can improve the balance of the bike for tomorrow. In the end my pace was not bad, I am in the mix, so I am quite happy.”

Improving throughout the course of the day Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) was in good form. The Championship leader was fourth in the opening session of the day but improved his time by a couple of tenths of a second in FP2 as he got familiar with the San Juan circuit aboard Ducati machinery once again. One of the fastest in the speed trap, Bautista finished the day in third, nearly half a second down on Razgatlioglu.

Alvaro Bautista – P3

“It was an interesting Friday. We worked well in FP1 to understand the track conditions, which were still very good. It’s clear that having raced with Ducati on this circuit only three years ago, we needed to collect data to make comparisons. So we worked hard on the setup with positive results”.

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It was a solid Friday in San Juan for Iker Lecuona (Team HRC), who got down to business swiftly at a circuit that he’s not visited before. The Valencian rider was top Honda in both sessions and took sixth in FP2, although he didn’t improve his time from FP1, when he was also sixth but nearly a second off; he finished the day in seventh on the combined times. Lecuona had a couple of dramas at Turns 8 and 9, one where he ran off track and the other when he was held up by Philipp Oettl (Team Goeleven).

Iker Lecuona – P7

“I’m a little surprised but also happy because I felt good and fast right away, despite not knowing the track at all. It’s a tricky one but I was able to learn the lines over a few laps. The track is challenging and I had also some problems running wide at some points but I admit I really like it. My plan for tomorrow is to try and improve both the bike and my pace a little in FP3 because at the moment there’s the risk of making too many mistakes and I need to ride more smoothly and be more relaxed on the bike so that I can be more consistent with a view to the races.”

It was a decent start to the weekend for BMW riders, with three bikes inside the top ten – the only manufacturer to enjoy that on Friday. Scott Redding (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) was eighth and just over a second off, whilst his team-mate Michael van der Mark was directly behind him and after 38 laps, just 0.054s split them at the end of the day. Loris Baz (Bonovo Action BMW) took tenth, with just over a tenth of a second covering the BMWs.

Just missing out on a top ten was Garrett Gerloff (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team), with the American in 11th, whilst Eugene Laverty (Bonovo Action BMW) was 14th, a place ahead of Oettl. Lucas Mahias (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) took 16th ahead of the returning Xavi Fores (BARNI Spark Racing Team).

Argentina WorldSBK Friday Practice Combined Times

WorldSBK Championship Points

WorldSSP600

Just 0.009s separate the top two after two free practice sessions at the Circuito San Juan Villicum for the Motul Argentinean Round of the FIM Supersport World Championship.

Reigning Champion Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) topped the times ahead of Federico Caricasulo (Althea Racing) by just 0.009s in a red flagged Free Practice 2 session.

In terms of times being improved between FP1 and FP2, around half the riders were able to find time but Jules Cluzel (GMT94 Yamaha) in third was the highest-placed rider not to improve his time. He posted a 1’43.363s in FP1 to top that session but he was third in the combined classification, only 0.092s behind Aegerter.

Can Oncu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) finished in fourth place in the combined classification, less than two-tenths behind Aegerter but, like Cluzel, did not improve his time from FP1.

Raffaele De Rosa (Orelac Racing VerdNatura WorldSSP) took fifth place and he was also within two tenths of Aegerter’s time. Stefano Manzi (Dynavolt Triumph) took sixth place with a 1’42.592s.

Oli Bayliss (BARNI Spark Racing Team) was 14th ahead of Hannes Soomer (Dynavolt Triumph).

Oli Bayliss – P14

“We had a good day today in Argentina, we made good progress throughout the day and we know what we need to fix, it’s a cool track and I feel good“.

Argentina WorldSSP600 Friday Practice Combined Times

WorldSSP Championship Points

Argentinean WSBK Schedule AEDT

2022 WorldSBK Calendar