The 2021 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship hit the Circuito de Navarra track on Saturday morning as cooler temperatures welcomed the riders on track for FP3. The Pirelli Navarra Round’s first of two race days got underway with familiar names at the head of the field, with Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) leading the way, as the entirety of the top ten improved on their Friday times.

Yamaha came out the blocks on Saturday in fine form, with Andrea Locatelli storming to top spot in the closing minutes with the fastest lap of the weekend thus far, improving his own personal time by over a second from Friday. Locatelli was also lapping with staggering consistency, with two of his laps in his final run being quicker than anyone else had gone and with him having more than two tenths in-hand over the opposition in the third sector. Leaving it until the final five minutes to improve his overall best time, Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) took second whilst Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) made it three different manufacturers inside the top three. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) was fourth and improved in the closing stages, ahead of fellow Yamaha rider Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team), as the American consolidated his top five pace and took Independent honours ahead of Superpole.

One manufacturer making a good step overnight was BMW, with their three riders all inside the top ten at the chequered flag. Come the end of the session, Michael van der Mark (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) had jumped up to take top BMW honours in sixth. Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) was next up in seventh as he made gains on yesterday’s times, ahead of Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati), Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) and Jonas Folger (Bonovo MGM Racing) in tenth. In contrast to day one, Alvaro Bautista (Team HRC) could only finish 13^th, two places behind teammate Haslam and one place ahead of Chaz Davies (Team GoEleven).

Top six after FP3, full results here:

1 Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) 1’37.060

2. Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +0.236s

3. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) +0.356s

4. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) +0.369s

5. Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) +0.442s

6. Michael van der Mark (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) +0.808s

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