Alex Lowes topped a supremely close opening MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship practice session at Donington Park by just a single thousandth of a second as track action got underway this morning (Friday).
Lowes was marginally ahead of Nicolo Bulega in bright and sunny conditions at the East Midlands circuit, lapping the full Grand Prix circuit in 1m26.544s to top the times by just 0.001s. Last year’s Donington dominator Toprak Razgatlioglu wasn’t much further back either, just 0.048s off Lowes’s headline pace in third.
Danilo Petrucci was fourth from Andrea Iannone ahead of the next of the Lowes brothers, Sam in sixth. Sam Lowes was the second of four British contenders in the top-10 during a strong session for the homegrown contingent. Ryan Vickers in eighth and Scott Redding, ninth, were the other Brits featuring towards the top of the times.
Yari Montella was seventh, just behind Sam Lowes with Garrett Gerloff the other rider completing the top-10 just over seven tenths off the leader.
The headline MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship contenders will return to the track for Free Practice 2 at 3pm.
MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship, Free Practice 1
- Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team), 1m26.544s
- Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.It Racing – Ducati), +0.001s
- Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team), +0.048s
- Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team), +0.404s
- Andrea Iannone (Team Pata Go Eleven), +0.477s
- Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team), +0.588s
- Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team), +0.675s
- Ryan Vickers (Motocorsa Racing), +0.710s
- Scott Redding (MGM BONOVO Racing), +0.716s
- Garrett Gerloff (Kawasaki WorldSBK Team), +0.745s
Advance ticket sales for this weekend’s event are now closed, however entry will be available on the gate. Click here for more information.