Image: Supplied.

Friday practice in Portimao’s third round of the 2020 Motul Superbike World Championship (WorldSBK) saw Toprak Razgatlioglu set the pace with his time set in FP1.

Razgatlioglu’s 1m42.103s was enough to prove quickest for the day as he topped the time-sheets ahead of Loris Baz (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha).

Baz was able to top FP2 as the top Independent rider, his time being four-tenths off Razgatlioglu’s time from the morning. Razgatlioglu’s teammate, Michael van der Mark, ended the day sixth fastest overall.

Third fastest was reigning champion Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) as he made it two manufacturers in the top three, while Kawasaki teammate Alex Lowes finished in eighth place overall.

Michael Ruben Rinaldi’s impressive form continued as he finished fourth for the day, ahead of points-leader Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing Ducati) as the lead factory Ducati rider in fifth place, with his teammate Chaz Davies further back in 12th.

In seventh position was Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team), followed by Lowes, Alvaro Bautista (Team HRC) and Eugene Laverty (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team), who completed the top 10.

There was a familiar name on top of the time-sheets in World Supersport as Italian rookie Andrea Locatelli (Bardahl Evan Bros. WorldSSP Team) went fastest at 1m45.598s, leading Jules Cluzel (GMT94 Yamaha) and Isaac Vinales (Kallio Racing). Australia’s Lachlan Epis rode his Yamaha to P18.

World Supersport 300 was led by Scott Deroue (MTM Kawasaki Motoport) with a 1m57.400s set in the first free practice session as he struck first ahead of two races this weekend. Deroue led Mika Perez (Prodina Ircos Team WorldSSP300) by just 0.006s, as Ana Carrasco (Kawasaki Provec WorldSSP300) was third. Kawasaki-mounted Tom Edwards was 19th.

Detailed results