Imola World Superbike FP1 Results: Razgatlioglu holds off Rea, Bautista third

Results from Free Practice 1, round eight of the 2023 World Superbike Championship at Imola, Italy.

14 Jul 2023

Toprak Razgatlioglu, Yamaha World Superbike Imola 2023

Toprak Razgatlioglu made a lightning start to FP1 as he led the way from Alvaro Bautista and Jonathan Rea, before Axel Bassani took over at the front.

Alex Lowes was next to put his name atop the leaderboard before Bassani responded immediately with a mid 1m 48s lap.

Razgatlioglu then moved the benchmark time forward by breaking into the 1m 47s barrier. The Yamaha rider put over half a second between himself and Bassani.

Lowes managed to reduce Razgatlioglu’s lead to just over three tenths, while Bautista, who was on course to challenge for top spot after two sectors, lost half a second in sector three after being caught up behind Philipp Oettl.

As Bautista threatened to challenge Razgatlioglu’s time, Rea jumped up to second ahead of his teammate.

Not the only Ducati rider showing pace in sector one, Michael Ruben Rinaldi and Danilo Petrucci were also setting red sectors earlier on in the lap before eventually fading.

Despite that, Petrucci’s brilliant form from Donington continued as he moved up to sixth spot - seven tenths down on Razgatlioglu.

After exiting pit lane for the final third on FP1 with Rea directly behind him, Razgatlioglu chose to abandon his latest hot lap.

More improvements from Petrucci then saw him move up to fifth as time attacks began. Bassani quickly relagated Petrucci back to P6 after going second, however, Rea then took second spot away from the Ducati rider.

With Rea now leading the way on-track, Razgatlioglu followed the Kawasaki rider closely en route to setting a new fastest lap.

2023 World Superbike Imola, Italy - Free Practice (1) Results
Pos	Rider	Nat	Team	Time
1	Toprak Razgatlioglu	TUR	Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK	1:47.661s
2	Jonathan Rea	GBR	Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK	+0.003s
3	Alvaro Bautista	SPA	Aruba.It Racing Ducati	+0.030s
4	Michael Ruben Rinaldi	ITA	Aruba.It Racing Ducati	+0.184s
5	Axel Bassani	ITA	Motocorsa Ducati	+0.281s
6	Danilo Petrucci	ITA	Barni Spark Racing Team	+0.426s
7	Andrea Locatelli	ITA	Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK	+0.548s
8	Alex Lowes	GBR	Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK	+0.673s
9	Garrett Gerloff	USA	Bonovo Action BMW	+1.033s
10	Scott Redding	GBR	ROKIT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team	+1.071s
11	Loris Baz	FRA	Bonovo Action BMW	+1.256s
12	Bradley Ray	GBR	Motoxracing Yamaha WorldSBK Team	+1.483s
13	Leon Haslam	GBR	ROKIT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team	+1.525s
14	Xavi Vierge	SPA	Team HRC WorldSBK	+1.605s
15	Iker Lecuona	SPA	Team HRC WorldSBK	+1.625s
16	Remy Gardner	AUS	GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team	+1.827s
17	Dominique Aegerter	SWI	GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team	+1.923s
18	Gabriele Ruiu	ITA	Bmax Racing BWM	+1.930s
19	Philipp Oettl	GER	GoEleven Ducati	+2.011s
20	Lorenzo Baldassarri	ITA	GMT94 Yamaha	+2.492s
21	Isaac Vinales	SPA	TPR by Vinales Racing	+3.455s
22	Roberto Tamburini	ITA	PETRONAS MIE Racing HONDA Racing	+3.459s
23	Oliver Konig	CZE	Orelac Racing Kawasaki	+3.837s
24	Eric Granado	BRA	PETRONAS MIE Racing HONDA Racing	+3.844s
25	Tito Rabat	SPA	Puccetti Kawasaki	+5.343s

Imola WorldSBK Records

Fastest Lap - Chaz Davies GBR Aruba.it Ducati 2019 1:45.727s

2019 Race Winners

Race 1 - Jonathan Rea GBR Kawasaki Racing Team

Superpole Race - Jonathan Rea GBR Kawasaki Racing Team

Race 2 - Cancelled

Honda’s struggles continued as Iker Lecuona and Xavi Vierge spent the entire session outside of the top ten. The only faller in FP1 was fellow Honda rider Eric Granado.

Weekend Schedule (UK time)

Friday

Free Practice 1: 09:30-10:15

Free Practice 2: 14:00-14:45

Saturday

Free Practice 3: 08:00-08:30

Superpole: 10:10-10:25

Race 1: 13:00

Sunday

Warm-up: 08:00-08:15

Superpole Race: 10:00

Race 2: 13:00

Our specialist in British and World Superbikes. Robert covers the Toprak Razgatlioglu vs Jonathan Rea rivalry in all its gory detail - just don’t ask him which bike racing championship is the most exciting…