Home race Fridays seem to suit Lorenzo Savadori (Milwaukee Aprilia). If at Imola the Aprilia rider was only beaten by three other riders, today he went unmatched at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli. Savadori was the sole rider to go below 1’35.000, ending the day 0.440 seconds faster than his teammate Eugene Laverty (Milwaukee Aprilia).

The Italian had already topped Free Practice at Phillip Island, but a crash in that round’s Superpole 2 kept Savadori off the track for the rest of the weekend. The 25-year-old will hope a different fate awaits him tomorrow, as he seeks the first Tissot Superpole of his career.

“It was a positive day”, claims Savadori after the Free Practice 3 washout. “It’s nice to return to P1, for me, for the team and for Aprilia. Of course, it’s more important to do it tomorrow and Sunday, but today was positive”.

While at Laguna Seca Laverty was riding out front and completing his best round in years, Savadori struggled, crashing three times in two races and picking up just two points in Race 1. After such a disappointing weekend, the Italian believes it was vital to bounce back at home: “It was important to get a great result today, because I only took two points at Laguna Seca in two races. Step by step, we want to try and improve anything”.

Can Savadori take his first ever WorldSBK podium this weekend? Find out Live and OnDemand and relive the Italian’s scorching fastest lap thanks to the WorldSBK VideoPass.