MirSBK
The first day of racing in the 2024 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship is finally here and what a great way to start the day in Phillip Island. The 20-minute FP3 welcomed WorldSBK as the last event on track before the Tissot Superpole and, as in the tests, the protagonists were Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) and Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team). is in the lead, this time with the Italian.
The Ducati riders excelled: Nicolo Bulega set a new record for the first time over the weekend thanks to optimal track conditions. This club was joined by Razgatlioglu, who, after spending the first ten minutes of the session in the penalty area, finished second, behind “Bulegas” and just ahead of the Italian Andrea Locatelli (Pata Prometeon Yamaha), the first Yamaha. Dominik Aegerter (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) was fourth, followed by teammate Remy Gardner, fifth at home in the final session before the Tissot Superpole.
Next up is another BMW, this time from Garrett Gerloff (Bonovo Action BMW), which takes a big step forward from yesterday. Friday’s fastest Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) was seventh and the last rider to drop to 1’28, just 0.274 seconds behind Bulega, although he was slower than in the official test earlier in the week. Philipp Ettl (GMT94 Yamaha) was ninth, ahead of Michael van der Mark (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team), tenth, and Andrea Iannone (Team GoEleven), eleventh. Jonathan Rea (Pata Prometeon Yamaha) continued to have problems and ended up 13th.
A difficult start to the day for the two Brits, with Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) taking a heavy hit at Turn 12 entering the Gardner Straight. He was able to get up and walk away on his own two feet. Moments later, Scott Redding (Bonovo Action BMW) crashed exiting turn six, but without serious physical consequences.
Top 6 WorldSBK FP3, full results here:
1. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) 1’28.716s
2. Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) +0.003 s.
3. Andrea Locatelli (Pata Prometeon Yamaha) +0.007 pp.
4. Dominik Egerter (Team GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK) +0.124 s.
5. Remy Gardner (Team GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK) +0.221 sec.
6. Garrett Gerloff (Bonovo Action BMW) +0.256 s.
Enjoy the WorldSBK Tissot Super Course on Saturday starting at 13:00 local time (UTC+11) with WorldSBK VideoPass!