Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) left it late to claim top spot in Free Practice 1 for the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship as the action at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve kicked off. After missing the first 15 minutes or so through a technical problem, the #14 slowly built his speed up throughout the 45-minute session as he beat Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) by 0.004s and twin brother Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) by 0.155s.

Sam Lowes missed out on running at the start of the session due to electronics issues on his Panigale V4R machine, setting his first time around 17 minutes into FP1. Building his speed throughout the session, the British star eventually went fastest on his final lap as he posted a 1’40.287s; although he was shaking out his left hand after crossing the line. This demoted Bulega into P2 although there was little to separate the pair, with just 0.004s between them. Alex Lowes had been quick all session, and let a Bimota 1-2 at points, although found himself demoted to third as riders improved at the end of the session.

Iker Lecuona (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) had a strong session as he finished in P4, although he lost some valuable running time with a tech problem that he suffered around 10 minutes into the session. He re-joined the action once it was repaired and set his best time, a 1’40.663s, to claim P4. Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) continued his excellent Australian Round pace with P5, 0.493s down on Sam Lowes, while Axel Bassani (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) completed the top six.

Garrett Gerloff (Kawasaki WorldSBK Team) heads into Portimao fresh off the back of his wedding, and he also had a good start to the weekend. The Texan took P7 with a 1’40.951s, finishing ahead of Xavi Vierge (Pata Maxus Yamaha) in P8. The Spaniard was the lead Yamaha rider as he finished ahead of Danilo Petrucci (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) and Alvaro Bautista (Barni Spark Racing Team), who completed the top ten.

Home hero Miguel Oliveira (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) was 11^th, although he was just a tenth away from finishing in the top eight. Jonathan Rea (Honda HRC) was 17^th on his Honda return, with Somkiat Chantra (Honda HRC) in 19^th.

The top six from WorldSBK Free Practice 1, full results here:

1. Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) 1’40.287s
2. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) +0.004s
3. Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) +0.155s
4. Iker Lecuona (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) +0.376s
5. Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) +0.493s
6. Axel Bassani (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) +0.502s

Catch all the action from WorldSBK FP2 at 15:00 Local Time (UTC+0) using the WorldSBK VideoPass!