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DAY 2 AS IT HAPPENED: minute-by-minute coverage from WorldSBK's Misano test!

Thursday, 30 May 2024 07:06 GMT

Keep up-to-date with every moment of action from the official WorldSBK test in Misano!

A week on from the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship paddock descending on Italy, some teams ventured across the European country to the Misano World Circuit "Marco Simoncelli" while others arrived just for this two-day test. The vast majority of the field is at the iconic circuit, as well as some WorldSSP squads, and it's set to be another busy test. Read a full preview of the test HERE.

18:00 And that will do it! The chequered flag drops at Misano, bringing an end to two days of testing on the Adriatic Coast. Once again, Toprak Razgatlioglu sets the pace, with an epic time of 1'32.557s. Yamaha rider Jonathan Rea claimed an extremely impressive P2, whilst Nicolo Bulega rounds out the top three. 

17:59 - And now he's gone even quicker! Toprak breaks his own best lap time by nearly half a second, setting a time of 1'32.535s!

17:54 - TOP-RAK! The Turkish superstar claims the spot at the summit, and is also the first rider to go sub-1'33s, with a time of 1'32.918s!

17:51 - And now Nicolo Bulega takes Locatelli's spot in the top three! The Aruba.it Racing . Ducati rider sets a time of 1'33.256s!

17:39 - Another Yamaha joins the top three. Rea's teammate Andrea Locatelli takes P3 with a time of 1'33.319s.

17:22 - Welcome to the party, Jonathan Rea! The Ulsterman now goes TOP, with a time of 1'33.113s. Looks like those improvements on the R1 might be starting to take shape!

17:15 - Alvaro Bautista crashes AGAIN! The World Champion has now crashed four times in two days; hope it buffs out...

17:00 - ONE HOUR TO GO! Alex Lowes remains the fastest man on track, followed by Alvaro Bautista and Toprak Razgatlioglu!

16:39 - And now Alex Lowes goes top! The Kawasaki rider sets a best time of 1'33.458s to (temporarily) secure top spot in the standings!

16:15 - Tito Rabat goes second in the overall standings!

15:58 - Nicolo Bulega, Axel Bassani, Dominique Aegerter and bith HRC riders are now on track. 

15:35 - Michele Pirro and Yamaha's Philipp Oettl are now the two riders out on track. 

15:15 - And we're back to all riders being in the pits.

15:07 - Interestingly, that is Bautista's third crash in two days...

15:05 - The reigning World Champion also suffered a crash earlier on the last corner. Bautista is fine, thankfully.

15:01 - Alvaro Bautista heads back out on track. He is also now the sole rider on track.

14:52 - Michele Pirro is now the sole rider on track.

14:31 - And we're now joined by Alvaro Bautista! The reigning World Champion rolls out of the pits at Misano.

14:16 - And Lecuona is now joined on track by Team HRC teammate Xavi Vierge.

14:14 - We still only have one rider out on track, but this time it's Team HRC rider Iker Lecouna. 

14:10 - Axel Bassani remains the only rider currently out on track at Misano.

14:02 - Kawasaki Racing Team's Axel Bassani is the first rider to venture back out onto the track.

14:00 - All riders currently remain in the pits here at Misano. 

13:35 - The #62 of Manzi did several laps in the wet, but is now back in the box. And once again, the track is empty...

13:15 - Stefano Manzi is the first rider to test the track out this afternoon.

13:00 - The green lights are on for the afternoon session... but there's not a huge clamour to be out on track.

12:10 - The new schedule means the morning session finished at 12:00 Local Time (UTC+2), and the afternoon session will start at 13:00 and run until 18:00. No time lost with the early stoppage, and an hour longer to the afternoon action.

12:06 - It seems the lunch break has been brought forward now due to the rain, so everyone's in the box. At the end of the session, it's Razgatlioglu leading ahead of Rabat with Locatelli, Sam Lowes and Petrucci completing the top five. In WorldSSP, Manzi is in P1 ahead of Huertas and Montella.

11:58 - Gardner's headed straight back in, so there's now no one out on track. Around an hour left in the morning session...

11:55 - Although that didn't last long... however, Remy Garner's now headed out.

11:52 - The entire grid took a 30-minute break but Philipp Oettl and Bayliss have returned to the track now.

11:22 - Everyone's returned to their box now after that flurry of activity.

11:16 - More riders are venturing out now, with the track getting a little bit busier.

11:12 - He's now been joined by reigning WorldSBK Champion Alvaro Bautista.

11:09 - One rider's ventured onto track - Oli Bayliss. He's only testing for one day, he wasn't on track yesterday.

10:56 - There's some rain falling now at Misano, with everyone back in the box.

10:48 - Razgatlioglu has reclaimed top spot from Rabat, setting a 1'33.748s. Locatelli is third ahead of Sam Lowes.

10:33 - Danilo Petrucci has headed out on track today as he continues his recovery from injury. You can read about his Day 1 thoughts here.

10:14 - We're back to green flag running.

10:09 - Some info for you: Rabat's time, a 1'33.856s, was set on an SCQ tyre.

10:07 - We have a red flag out on track.

09:58 - We weren't expecting him here, but Michael Ruben Rinaldi is at Misano. He'll do some laps on his street bike as he gets a feel for Misano ahead of next month's round. Meanwhile, at the top, Tito Rabat leads Toprak Razgatlioglu by around 0.020s.

 

 

09:30 - As you'd expect, times getting quicker all the time. Razgatlioglu's just moved into P1 with a 1'33.898s, ahead of former teammate Andrea Locatelli.

09:23 - Times are, understandably, well off yesterday's pace with riders yesterday evening using the SCQ tyre. As it stands now, Tito Rabat leads the way ahead of Rea and Lecuona.

09:03 - There's been a flurry of track action early on, with Lecuona, Mackenzie and Rea on track from WorldSBK, and Mahias, Bayliss and Edwards from WorldSSP.

 

 

 

 

09:00 - Welcome back to Misano for Day 2 of the test. Yesterday was a rapid day, with the fastest times in the mid-1'32s - read the full report HERE and catch up on all the Day 1 action below. We're now green for Day 2, with the final day underway.

Day 1:

18:00 - So, Day 1 is done and dusted! A late flurry of laps means the #54 BMW of Toprak Razgatlioglu leads the way with a scarcely believable 1'32.663s. Second went to Nicolo Bulega after he set a 1'32.731s late in the day, with Bautista in third in the 1'33s.

17:35 - The times keep tumbling! Razgatlioglu's done a 1'32.663s to extend his lead to half-a-second and he's now a huge four tenths under the 2023 pole time.

17:31 - Razgatlioglu's back in P1! He's just done a 1'32.999s to go back into first, and the first rider into the 1'32s AND the first to go under last year's pole time. Also, Jonathan Rea has gone into third with the 'Titanic Trio' making up the top three places.

17:28 - Our journalist on the ground reports Bautista's last stint was with the SCQ tyre.

17:15 - A rapid end to the day coming, with Bautista now reclaiming P1 with a 1'33.151s. We're closing in on last year's pole time...

17:19 - Bautista's been out and posted a 1'33.339s, with just 0.005s between the current top two of Razgatlioglu and Bautista...

17:11 - A new name on top as Razgatlioglu sets a 1'33.334s for P1, around two tenths clear of Bulega! He's only around three tenths away Bautista's 2023 pole time (1'33.017s).

16:43 - The two Ducati riders have switched again, with Bulega in the box and Bautista on track. Gardner and Razgatlioglu, both in the top four, are also on circuit.

16:22 - Bautista's opted to come in after being on track with Iannone for a while, but teammate Bulega has decided to go out.

16:10 - Although Bautista has just joined the party.

16:08 - Razgatlioglu and Bassani, along with Sam Lowes, are still circulating. Most riders are back in the box.

15:44 - It's gone a bit quiet again at Misano, with Bautista leading teammate Bulega. Only the two Ducati riders, Tarran Mackenzie and Adam Norrodin, Yari Montella and Lucas Mahias - who had a crash earlier - are on track.

15:20 - A change in the order as Bulega moves into second, ahead of Razgatlioglu. He's set a 1'33.925s, becoming the third rider to break into the 1'33s barrier.

15:06 - The track's getting busier now, with more riders heading out. There's just under three hours left in the day.

14:41 - A bit more action as reigning Champion Alvaro Bautista heads out. He was fastest in this morning's session.

14:37 - We're back to green and we have some WorldSBK action! Alex Lowes has hit the track on his ZX-10RR. He's joined by Stefano Manzi from WorldSSP.

14:24 - Although Sofuoglu has just run into some technical problems and brought out the red flags.

14:20 - So far, the only track action has come in WorldSSP, with Bahattin Sofuoglu and Federico Fuligni completing laps right now.

14:00 - We're back to green at Misano and the afternoon session is underway... but there's not a big rush to head out on track just yet.

13:00 - And that will do it for the first morning test session at Misano. Reigning World Champion Alvaro Bautista leads the way with a 1'33.751s, ahead of Toprak Razgatlioglu and Nicolo Bulega in P2 and P3 respectively. Remy Gardner and Andrea Locatelli confirm a solid start for Yamaha, securing P4 and P5, whilst Alex and Sam Lowes finish in P6 and P7. Jonathan Rea and Danilo Petrucci round out the top ten. 

12:42 - We have our first crash of the Misano test. Philipp Oettl of the GMT94 Yamaha team has binned his R1. Thankfully, the rider is fine. The bike on the other hand....

12:36 - The Lowes brothers are both enjoying success so far in Misano. Alex Lowes is currently the highest ranking Kawasaki, currently sitting in P6, whilst brother Sam is currently in P7; they are separated by just over a hundredth of a second. Fine margins!

12:17 - Nicolo Bulega makes a jump back towards the top, clinching P3 with a time of 1'34.051s.

11:59 - Remy Gardner is back into the top four, with the Australian posting a time of 1'34.072s.

11:37 - Jonathan Rea has had a positive morning, with the Ulsterman moving into P5 with a time of 1'34.331s.

11:18 - At the moment, the majority of the grid are currently pitted. 

11:07 - And what a lap from Danilo Petrucci! The Italian, returning from a nasty injury, has just gone P5 with a time of 1'34.508s.

11:06 - Michael Van Der Mark has been quietly putting together an impressive morning session. The BMW rider currently sits P6 with a time of 1'34.545s.

11:01 - Toprak becomes the third rider this morning to break into the 1'33s, grabbing P2 with a time set of 1'33.967s.

10:52 - It's now an Aruba.it Racing - Ducati 1-2, as Nicolo Bulega goes to P2 with a time of 1'34.051s.

10:37 - And now Bautista takes the lead again, breaking into the 1'33s! He sets a time of 1'33.937s.

10:33 - And Toprak is top again! He sets a morning-best time of 1'34.097s.

10:24 - Bautista's teammate, Nicolo Bulega, appears to be making steady progress. The Italian has now climbed up to P8 in this morning session with a time of 1'35.138s.

10:18 - Alvaro Bautista regains the summit, setting a time of 1'34.217s.

10:12 - Kawasaki Puccetti Racing's Tito Rabat continues his consistent testing form from Cremona, currently running just outside the top ten in P12. 

10:00 - So, after the first hour here at Misano, Toprak remains top of the standings, with Alvaro Bautista and Sam Lowes hot on his heels. Andrea Locatelli, Jonathan Rea, Remy Gardner and Dominique Aegerter all currently occupy P4 through P7, whilst Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK's Alex Lowes, the BMW of Michael Van Der Mark and Philipp Oettl round out the top 10. 

9:53 - And just as we say that, Toprak tops the standings, setting a time of 1'34.253s.

9:51 - The ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team boys are back! For the first time since Assen, Toprak Razgatlioglu and Michael Van Der Mark are back on track. 

9:47 - Another Ducati, another fast time! This time, ELF Marc VDS Racing Team's Sam Lowes heads out on track and snatches P2, with a time of 1'34.708s.

9:44 - Danilo Petrucci heads back out on track.

9:43 - The reigning World Champion makes an appearance! Alvaro Bautista is out for his first taste of the Misano test...and immediately sets the fastest lap of the morning so far, with a 1'34.342s.

9:38 - Nice to see Danilo Petrucci back after his injury! However, the Barni Spark Racing Team rider is back into the pits after just one lap.

9:30 - Yamaha have enjoyed a strong start to their morning, with GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team riders Remy Gardner and Dominique Aegerter currently occupying P1 and P3. Pata Prometeon Yamaha's Andrea Locatelli continues his strong from from Cremona, currently occuping P2 after the first half-hour. 

9:00 - Good morning, ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to our live blog of the official WorldSBK test live from Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli in Misano, Italy. The green flag is out and we are underway!