Sykes ends Day 1 on top at Donington Park; contenders battle at the back: World SBK

Donington Park, 5 July 2019: With beautiful sunshine beating down on the Donington Park circuit, WorldSBK took to the track for their second Free Practice session of the day. With a flurry of activity early in the session, most of the top riders improved before settling down for the remainder of the 50-minute encounter. Like in FP1, Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) ended the session on top, confirming his pace and putting himself as a firm favourite for success throughout the rest of the weekend.

Coming into FP2 as the man to beat, Sykes took to Donington Park and showed his prowess and why he is the King of Donington Park. The Huddersfield rider, who has nine victories at the circuit in WorldSBK, set a lap time with 13 minutes to go and improved his time from the morning session. His teammate for this weekend, Peter Hickman, put in a good day’s work at Donington Park and finished the day in 12th.

In second position was Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team), who was flying the Yamaha flag high inside the top three. The British rider put in a strong lap time at the end of the session to finish just 0.018s away from Tom Sykes at the top. Lowes’ teammate, Michael van der Mark, made his return to action and had a comparably quiet FP2, finishing in eleventh position come the end of the day.

Toprak Razgatlioglu (Turkish Puccetti Racing) was improving steadily all the way through the session, with his incremental steps rewarding him with second at the end of the session and less than half a tenth of a second behind Sykes at the top. He ended the day as top Independent rider, despite a small crash at the end of the session, ahead of the likes of Sandro Cortese (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK) in seventh, Loris Baz (Ten Kate Racing – Yamaha) in eighth and Jordi Torres (Team Pedercini Racing) in tenth.

Fighting hard to try and get an advantage on his rivals, Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) was in fourth at his home event. The four-time WorldSBK champion was less than a tenth off the pace but down in fourth, at a track which he has won at only once for Kawasaki, during Race 2 in 2017. Home-hero teammate, Leon Haslam, was solidly placed inside the top five, looking to get back on the podium at home.

The ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati team finally came to play, although not with the scorching pace they’ve sported at other rounds this season. Alvaro Bautista only managed to get into sixth come the end of the day, having finished down in 11th after the morning session. The championship leader has work to do, especially with main championship rival Jonathan Rea ahead of him after day one. Chaz Davies’ struggles continued, although the Welshman placed ninth at the end of the day.

Notable names outside the top ten included Marco Melandri (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK), who was only 13th, whilst Michael Ruben Rinaldi (BARNI Racing Team) was down in 15th. Top Honda honours went to Alessandro Delbianco (Althea Mie Racing Team) in 16th, whilst Eugene Laverty (Team Goeleven) was 18th and last on his return, following nearly two months on the sidelines with two broken wrists.

#GBRWorldSBK at Donington Park: Friday
1. Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) 1’27.733
2. Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team) 1’27.751
3. Toprak Razgatlioglu (Turkish Puccetti Racing) 1’27.775

WorldSSP: Cluzel concludes day one on top in WorldSSP
Seven nationalities, four manufacturers and two wildcards make up an extremely close top ten at the end of day one at Donington Park!

In the final WorldSSP session of the day, it was once again a raging battle at the head of the field, with Jules Cluzel (GMT94 YAMAHA) maintaining his advantage ahead of the chasing pack. With the sun beating down, Cluzel was able to improve incrementally through the session before finding a third of a second in the final ten minutes of the day to maintain the first position ahead of Saturday.

Having looked the dominant force throughout the opening day, Jules Cluzel’s search for his second win of the season continues. The Frenchman was the only rider to dip into the 1’30 bracket on Friday, continuing to push on right the way through the session. Having dropped points in recent rounds, Donington Park acts as a make or break round for the Pirelli Thai Round winner. Randy Krummenacher (BARDAHL Evan Bros. WorldSSP Team) was in second position, whilst Hannes Soomer (MPM WILSport Racedays) impressed once again in third.

Fourth position will have to be good enough for Lucas Mahias (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing), as the Frenchman slipped a couple of positions, compared to his FP1 start. The 2017 WorldSSP champion proved his worth however and proved that he was back at the front of the championship, looking as competitive as ever. Fifth place may be an uncharacteristic position for Federico Caricasulo, as the Italian struggled to break into the top positions like he had done before. Raffaele De Rosa (MV AGUSTA Reparto Corse) was sixth.

Back in seventh place, it was Ayrton Badovini (Team Pedercini Racing) will hope to be firmly inside the top ten for the rest of the weekend, as the veteran Italian gets better session-by-session. Wildcard Jack Kennedy (Appleyard Macadam Integro) was in eighth and consolidated his top ten pace, proving the strength of himself and the team at their home circuit. Ninth place belonged to Isaac Viñales (Kallio Racing) whilst Brad Jones (Appleyard Macadam Integro) completed the top ten, backing his teammate up with good pace – just over one second from top spot.

Thomas Gradinger (Kallio Racing) was only 11th, whilst Hikari Okubo (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) was down in 13th, with home-hero Kyle Smith (Team Pedercini Racing) in 15th position.

#GBRWorldSBK WorldSSP at Donington Park: Friday
1. Jules Cluzel (GMT94  YAMAHA) 1’30.888
2. Randy Krummenacher (BARDAHL Evan Bros. WorldSSP Team) 1’31.078
3. Hans Sommer  (MPM WILSport Racedays) 1’31.308