Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) claimed first place in Free Practice 3 for the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship field ahead of teammate Nicolo Bulega. The session was red-flagged with just under seven minutes to go at MotorLand Aragon, with Bautista setting his lap time after the session resumed. He was just under two tenths clear of Bulega while Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) claimed third ahead of Saturday’s action at the Tissot Aragon Round.
Bautista posted a 1’48.332s to take P1 ahead of teammate Bulega, whose 1’48.518s was enough to secure second ahead of Razgatlioglu in third, as the top three in the Championship – in reverse order – secured their places at the top of the timesheets. The trio were separated by just four tenths after the #54 set a 1’48.774s. All three riders improved their time in FP3 compared to what they were able to achieve on Friday.
Iker Lecuona (Team HRC) continued to show strong pace for Honda as he took fourth. The #7 posted a 1’48.922s to finishing just 0.005s clear of Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK), who had been top before the red flags were shown. Andrea Iannone (Team GoEleven) was sixth despite a Turn 13 crash around halfway through the session and the Italian rider didn’t return to the track following the incident.
American star Garrett Gerloff (Bonovo Action BMW) has continued to show good pace at Aragon, finishing seventh in FP3 as he set a 1’48.994s, finishing just 0.028s behind Iannone. Andrea Locatelli (Pata Prometeon Yamaha) was eighth with Xavi Vierge (Team HRC) ninth and Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) completing the top ten. Michael van der Mark (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) finished 11th despite a tech issue on his M 1000 RR briefly bringing out the red flags so track conditions could be checked, with smoke and flames coming out the back of his M 1000 RR.
The top six from WorldSBK FP3, full results here:
1. Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) 1’48.332s
2. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +0.186s
3. Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) +0.442s
4. Iker Lecuona (Team HRC) +0.590
5. Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) +0.595s
6. Andrea Iannone (Team GoEleven) +0.634s
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Source: WorldSBK.com