Nicolo Bulega was quickest during FIM Superbike World Championship Free Practice 1 Friday morning at TT Circuit Assen, in The Netherlands. Riding his Pirelli-shod Aruba.it Racing Ducati Panigale V4R on the 2.82-mile (4.54 km) track, the Italian recorded a 1:33.952 to lead the field of 23 riders.
His teammate, Iker Lecuona was the best of the rest with a 1:34.208. Sam Lowes was third-fastest with a 1:34.428 on his ELF Marc VDS Racing Ducati Panigale V4R.
Danilo Pettruci got 6th on his ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team M1000RR with a lap time of 1:34.737.
American Garrett Gerloff finished the opening session in 14th with a 1:35.301 on his Kawasaki ZX-10RR.
fp1 wsbk
More from a press release issued by WorldSBK:
Bulega heads Lecuona and Sam Lowes in WorldSBK FP1 at Assen, both BMWs crash towards the end of the session. Championship leader Nicolo Bulega laid down a marker as he claimed top spot in the opening WorldSBK session of the weekend.
Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) started as he aims to go on with top spot in Free Practice 1 for the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship. The #11 was the only rider to lap in the 1’39s bracket as he claimed P1 ahead of teammate Iker Lecuona (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) and fellow Ducati rider Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) at the TT Circuit Assen for the Pirelli Dutch Round.
Despite Ducati being hit with a 0.5kg/h fuel flow reduction by the FIM, it didn’t stop Bulega topping the times with a 1’33.952s; the only rider to lap in the 1’39s. He finished 0.256s clear of teammate Lecuona in second as the #7 looks to continue his Portimao form at Assen. Sam Lowes, now feeling considerably better with his left wrist, claimed third with a 1’34.428s as Ducati locked out the top three positions.
Lorenzo Baldassarri (Team GoEleven) put in a late lap to move into fourth place after setting a 1’34.527s, starting off the weekend strongly. Another rider who posted a late lap to move up the order was Xavi Vierge (Pata Maxus Yamaha), who followed Alvaro Bautista (Barni Spark Racing Team) around to set a 1’34.713s and claim P5, with Danilo Petrucci (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) in sixth. Petrucci was the lead BMW rider in Free Practice 1 as he posted a 1’34.737s, 0.785s behind Bulega’s pacesetting time, although he crashed at Turn 16 when on course for his best time of the session.
Bautista had been running in the top five but found himself dropping down to P7 as he lapped 0.001s than Petrucci, the rider he replaced at Barni Ducati. Like Ducati, Bimota have also been hit by a 0.5kg/h fuel flow reduction, with Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) finishing in eighth place with a 0.865s margin to Bulega. Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) finished in ninth with Tarran Mackenzie (MGM Optical Express Racing) rounding out the top ten.
Miguel Oliveira (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) was 12th after he crashed with around 12 minutes remaining in the session, losing the front at Turn 10. Last year’s Race 2 winner, Andrea Locatelli (Pata Maxus Yamaha), was 13th while wildcard Twan Smits (Team Apreco) was 17th on his WorldSBK debut.
The top six from WorldSBK FP1, full results here:
1. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) 1’33.952s
2. Iker Lecuona (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +0.256s
3. Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) +0.476s
4. Lorenzo Baldassarri (Team GoEleven) +0.575s
5. Xavi Vierge (Pata Maxus Yamaha) +0.761s
6. Danilo Petrucci (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) +0.785s
Don’t miss any action from WorldSBK FP2 at 15:00 Local Time (UTC+2) using the WorldSBK VideoPass!
