In idyllic weather conditions the opening Free Practice session of the PATA Riviera di Rimini round of the eni FIM Superbike World Championship was topped by Max Biaggi (Aprilia Racing Team) who dominated on track at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli.

The Italian rider was on form from the start, headed only once during the 45 minutes by Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati SBK Team) who briefly led the standings before eventually finishing 2^nd (+0.472s).

Behind the Aprilia and Ducati riders, championship leader Jonathan Rea was third for the Kawasaki Racing Team (+0.517s), making it 3 manufacturers inside the top 3.

German rider Markus Reiterberger (VanZon Rehema BMW) was impressive, powering to 4^th overall on his final lap after running strong throughout.

Reigning Champion Sylvain Guintoli (PATA Honda World Superbike Team) had an encouraging start to his weekend in 5^th ahead of Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) who was 6^th.

Jordi Torres (Aprilia Racing Team – Red Devils), Alex Lowes (Voltcom Crescent Suzuki), Leon Haslam (Aprilia Racing Team – Red Devils) and Ayrton Badovini (BMW Motorrad Italia) rounded out the top ten riders,

Luca Scassa (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati SBK Team) was 14^th overall on his return to competition.

Michael van der Mark crashed the second PATA Honda to finish 17^th overall just ahead of Randy de Puniet (Voltcom Crescent Suzuki) who was 18^th.

Davide Giugliano’s session lasted less than a minute, the Italian Aruba.it Racing Ducati rider crashing spectacularly in the early stages. The Italian rider, along with MV Agusta’s Leon Camier who was sidelined through a technical issue, will be hoping for better fortune later today.

FP2 is scheduled to start at 1500 local time.