The pair of test days at Misano World Circuit “Marco Simoncelli” is officially underway as the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship’s riders have seen the chequered flag on the opening Free Practice 1 of their test. Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) was the fastest on the session, followed by Ducati factory rider Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) and independent Ducati rider Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team).

Looking to repeat his 2024 hat trick in Ducati’s backyard, Razgatlioglu was taking no prisoners in the Misano Test’s FP1. Desperate to find answers to their rear grip problems, Toprak and his BMW team topped the timesheet with his 1’33.034s, almost four tenths of a second faster than Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) in P2, who ran the second most laps of the session. Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) was third fastest on the session, his fastest lap of 1’33.546s clocking in 0.129s slower than Bautista. Lowes did well to recover from a red flag inducing tech issue earlier in the session to record his fastest lap. Later, Michael van der Mark (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) crashed out on the ´Misano 1’ corner, inciting a second red flag on the session as track staff worked to clear oil which had leaked out of the Dutchman’s bike onto the circuit. He was given the all-clear by the medical centre and was quickly back in his BMW box.

The grid’s other Lowes brother, Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team), laid down a strong lap with his KB998 Rimini, 1’33.779s, earning him P4. With a 1’33.866s fastest lap, Iker Lecuona (Honda HRC) carried the flag for the Factory Honda team in P5 as his teammate Xavi Vierge (Honda HRC) will miss the test with a foot injury suffered at Most. Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) was the fastest Yamaha on the session, two positions ahead of his rapidly recovering fellow Yamaha rider and six-time Champion, Jonathan Rea (Pata Maxus Yamaha). With his 1’33.981s lap, Gardner was just 0.007s faster than Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team), who finished seventh-fastest.

 Full results from FP1 here!

Testing action continues into the afternoon! Follow your favourite riders’ times here! And be sure not to miss the upcoming round at Misano June 13th-15th, watch it live with the WorldSBK VideoPass! Now 30% off!