World Superbike championship leader Toprak Razgatlioglu dominated the opening free practice at Mandalika, while Jonathan Rea was only 11th fastest after being limited for track time.
Reigning six-time World Champion Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) had a nightmare, as his team worked on his bike for most of the session, meaning he only completed one full stint and ending the session down in 11th.
Razgatlioglu was one of the first out on track and he took to the Pertamina Mandalika Circuit like a duck to water, with the opposition barely seeing which way he went.
Razgatlioglu got three stints under his belt and set a sensational time of 1’34.985, some 1.5s quicker than Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) in second. Lowes was in good form as he returned to action and was just marginally ahead of Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team). The American came good at the end of the session and will aim to help Toprak if necessary, this weekend.
Fourth place went to Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) as he got dialled in at the new venue, hoping to get on terms with Toprak as he looks to lead Ducati to a manufacturers’ title. Completing the top five was the surprise of the morning Isaac Viñales (Orelac Racing VerdNatura), with the Spaniard looking good on his ZX-10RR and building on the flashes of brilliance he’s shown in recent rounds.
An eager Razgatlioglu made his way past Leon Haslam during the early stages as he set about learning the new Mandalika track.
Razgatlioglu’s first few laps saw him continuously lead Rea by over a second, while Isaac Vinales enjoyed an early run inside the top three.
Sectors three and four seemed to be where Razgatlioglu was making up most of his time on Rea and indeed the rest of the field during the first part of FP1.
WORLD SUPERBIKE MANDALIKA, INDONESIA – FREE PRACTICE RESULTS (1)
POS | RIDER | NAT | TEAM | TIME |
1 | Toprak Razgatlioglu | TUR | PATA Yamaha | 1:34.985s |
2 | Alex Lowes | GBR | Kawasaki Racing Team | +1.544s |
3 | Garrett Gerloff | USA | GRT Yamaha | +1.600s |
4 | Scott Redding | GBR | Aruba.It Ducati | +1.835s |
5 | Isaac Vinales | SPA | Orelac Racing Kawasaki | +2.094s |
6 | Alvaro Bautista | SPA | Team HRC | +2.099s |
7 | Axel Bassani | ITA | Motocorsa Ducati | +2.118s |
8 | Michael Van Der Mark | NED | Motorrad BMW WorldSBK Team | +2.155s |
9 | Michael Rinaldi | ITA | Aruba.It Ducati | +2.195s |
10 | Andrea Locatelli | ITA | PATA Yamaha | +2.305s |
11 | Jonathan Rea | GBR | Kawasaki Racing Team | +2.401s |
12 | Leon Haslam | GBR | Team HRC | +2.438s |
13 | Chaz Davies | GBR | GoEleven Ducati | +2.496s |
14 | Tito Rabat | ITA | Kawasaki Puccetti | +2.797s |
15 | Samuele Cavalieri | SPA | Barni Ducati | +2.832s |
16 | Christophe Ponsson | FRA | Gil Yamaha | +2.899s |
17 | Tom Sykes | GBR | Motorrad BMW WorldSBK Team | +3.082s |
18 | Leandro Mercado | ARG | MIE Honda Racing | +3.435s |
19 | Kohta Nozane | JPN | GRT Yamaha | +4.096s |
20 | Oliver Konig | CZE | Pedercini Kawasaki | +8.235s |