The sun shone strongly at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya for the 2023 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship on Friday, with the field taking to the circuit with a track temperature approaching 50 degrees. Come the end of the day, it was Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) who was in a league of his own, with a strong lap time at the end of the session being the icing on top of a strong race run cake.

DUCATI AND BAUTISTA: the perfect match in Barcelona

With an additional 20 degrees of track temperature, it was somewhat unsurprising to see the Ducatis so strong on Friday afternoon. Alvaro Bautista remains the rider to beat over the long distance however, with a strong race pace in the morning and in the afternoon, with a run of 14 laps achieved in the 1’42s in FP1, more than his rivals. In the afternoon, Bautista did a 16-lap run, all of which were in the low-to-mid 1’42s before going out and setting a 1’41.486 to set the outright best time of the day, which will certainly make his rivals sit up and look. Teammate Rinaldi was second at the end of the day but didn’t improve his time at the end. Fastest in the first session in the morning, Michael Ruben Rinaldi came out the blocks fighting from the start and that translated into the afternoon too, as he was once again one of the riders to beat.

CHASING: Rea leads Kawasaki charge, Razgatlioglu third for Yamaha

Jonathan Rea’s (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) afternoon wasn’t as strong as his morning session, with Rea outside of the top ten in 11^th place for a lot of the session before ultimately finishing third. Due to everyone else struggling to better their opening time, Rea took third overall, but he’ll be fighting for the podium or the top five if race pace from the afternoon is anything to go by. Teammate Alex Lowes was ninth overall, reliant on his morning time, but 14^th in the afternoon. Once more, Kawasaki struggling when temperatures come up and grip is at a premium, although for Rea, he seems to have found some sort of solution.

As for the blue corner, Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) was third on the combined times but was inside the top five throughout FP2, as he enjoyed the heavy braking areas of Turn 1 and Turn 10. The Turk hasn’t won in Barcelona but will hope that he can turn that around this weekend. Teammate Andrea Locatelli’s afternoon saw him strong inside the top nine but he crashed at Turn 5. Losing the front, it was a typical Turn 5 tumble, but it was a costly error, as a new SC0 tyre needed to be tested and time is always of the essence. At the end of the day, Razgatlioglu was third and Locatelli remained sixth.

HONDA’S HOME HEROES: Lecuona and Vierge in the top eight

It was a strong opening day for Iker Lecuona (Team HRC) and Honda, as they always shine in Barcelona – whether it is testing or not. Lecuona’s pace was in the 1’42s, and a solid effort will hope to be rewarded throughout the remainder of the weekend. As for teammate Xavi Vierge, he crashed in FP1 at Turn 1 but remounted but he wasn’t quite there in the afternoon, down in 12^th, one place behind teammate Iker Lecuona. Come the end of the day however, they were still fifth and eighth and that will be filling Leon Camier’s team with confidence going forwards.

INDEPENDENT ORDER: Aegerter shines, Bassani behind

In terms of Independent riders inside the top ten, Dominique Aegerter (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) was the sole representative in seventh place but he had a strong afternoon session once again, whilst top Independent in the standings, Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) was a big improver in FP2 but still only 13^th.

BMW AHEAD OF THE REST: work to do for those behind, Gerloff impressive

For the ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team, their best efforts came from Scott Redding, unsurprising given that he’s the only full-time rider in the team this weekend. Redding was up in eighth in the hotter afternoon session but wasn’t top BMW. That honour went the way of Garrett Gerloff (Bonovo Action BMW), who was up in fourth after FP2, putting him tenth overall. Teammate Loris Baz was 13^th, putting him 15^th overall.

Elsewhere in the pecking order, Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) was only 14^th at a circuit of which he’s had a MotoGP™ podium, whereas Philipp Oettl (Team Goeleven) was only 16^th. The Independent Ducatis no match for their factory counterparts come the end of the session. Eric Granado (PETRONAS MIE Racing HONDA Team) took 17^th ahead of Oliver Konig (Orelac Racing MOVISIO), Hafizh Syahrin (PETRONAS MIE Racing HONDA Team) and Bradley Ray (Yamaha Motoxracing WorldSBK Team). Ray was ahead of Lorenzo Baldassarri (GMT94 Yamaha), Isaac Vinales (TPR by Vinales Racing), Ivo Lopes (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team), Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) and Gabriele Ruiu (Bmax Racing), who had a technical problem at Turn 5.

Top six combined after Friday in WorldSBK, full combined results here:

1. Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) 1’41.486s

2. Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +0.147s

3. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) +0.166s

4. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) +0.233s

5. Iker Lecuona (Team HRC) +0.582s

6. Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) +0.593s

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