A strong showing by Michael. Alvaro fast despite a crash, Razgatlioglu 3rd, Bassani 9th, Petrucci 15th
A standout Friday for Ducati, and particularly for Michael Ruben Rinaldi. On day one of practice at Mandalika it was the Italian who dominated proceedings, topping the timesheets in both FP1 and FP2. His best time of the day was a 1’32”468, the rider very quick despite an innocuous crash at turn 10 in FP1.
And the good news continued for Ducati, in that Alvaro Bautista placed second in the day’s combined standings, just 0.029 of a second from his team-mate. He too suffered a small crash, at turn 1 during FP2. Rounding out this virtual front row was Toprak Razgatlioglu, the Ducati duo’s closest rival, just 0.157 from the front.
Rea and the rest of the pack play catchup
Fourth place for Jonathan Rea, who closed more than seven tenths back, followed by a strong Michael Van Der Mark, easily the best BMW rider. The Dutchman was followed by Remy Gardner, who shone in both the day’s sessions to finish ahead of Alex Lowes and Andrea Locatelli.
Axel Bassani made an encouraging start, at least with respect to Phillip Island, ninth ahead of Scott Redding and Xavi Vierge, the best Honda rider. This was also down to difficulties suffered by Iker Lecuona, who crashed in both the morning and the afternoon’s session, through turns 16 and 10 respectively, and appears less than happy with the situation.
It was a day of learning for Danilo Petrucci, 15th on his first appearance on Lombok, while Lorenzo Baldassarri – who fell in the morning – rounded out his first day on Indonesian soil in eighteenth position.
Friday’s combined standings
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