It was a BMW 1-2 on Friday at Aragon as Garrett Gerloff (Bonovo Action BMW) led Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) by the barest of margins at MotorLand Aragon. The American rider set a lap time of 1’49.017s, pipping Toprak by just 0.004s as the Tissot Aragon Round commended for the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship field.

Gerloff put on a fresh tyre right at the end of FP1 to claim second place, behind Razgatlioglu, with a 1’49.486s. He was able to continue that form into the afternoon FP2 session with a 1’49.017s as he beat the #54’s FP1 time to claim top spot overall by barely any margin and conclude a strong day for the German manufacturer. The Texan has been in good form lately and that looks set to continue at Aragon.

Reviewing his Friday, Gerloff said: “It’s so nice to start the weekend off like this. It’s just nice for things to be clicking. We didn’t have that at all at the beginning of the year, but now things are flowing so it’s nice to have that.”

Gerloff also discussed the return of Razgatlioglu to WorldSBK action after the Turkish star missed the French and Italian Rounds through the injury he sustained in France. The #54 has been pivotal to BMW’s success this season, winning 15 of their 16 victories and 18 of their 20 podiums, as he leads the Riders’ Championship with three rounds to go.

Commenting on Toprak’s return at the Aragon Round, Gerloff said he is more than happy to have him back: “I am super happy. For sure he can’t be 100%, to have a lung injury like that can’t be easy. It’s so nice to have him back and I am happy he has been able to come back as early as he has, he is the man out here, he is the reference, so now we can see where we really are!”

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Source: WorldSBK.com