Alvaro leads the pack again setting the fastest lap in Free Practice 2 this morning at Prosecco DOC Catalunya Round 4 at Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona. Bautista edged out Aruba.it Racing teammate Michael Ruben Rinaldi by 4 tenths in the session setting a 1:41.486s to Rinaldi’s best 1:41.836s. Iker Lecuona (Team HRC) show signs of improvement in Barcelona. Lecuona’s pace was in the 1’42s, ranking him 5th in FP2. Honda Teammate Xavi Vierge crashed in FP1 but was able to bounce back with an 8th fastest lap in FP2. There are signs that Honda is improving since the start of the season. Historically they have been successful here as the Spanish circuit seems to suit their bikes well in competition.
Jonathan Rea’s (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) afternoon wasn’t ideal as he ranked higher in best time in the morning session. Rea struggled in 11th place for the majority of the session but ultimately ran 3rd fastest. However, on track reports are that multiple riders were not able to fire up their tires and really put down effective and accurate lap times for race performance so it is yet to be determined if Rea is indeed as competitive as the FP2 results say he is this weekend. He will be in podium contention if these struggles continue for the rest of the grid. Teammate Alex Lowes was ninth overall. As predicted, Kawasaki struggling when temperatures come up and grip is at a premium. Rea seems to have found some short term success so we will see if it translates to the rest of the weekend.
Top six combined after Friday in WorldSBK
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
Full FP2 Results are below
Watch the Prosecco DOC Catalunya Round unfold in style with the WorldSBK VideoPass! The Prosecco DOC Catalunya Round 4 at Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona features a 2.894 mile course with 14 turns. Average daytime temperatures are around 27°C (80°F) and average minimum temperatures at night are around 14°C (57°F).