Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) put in a stunning late lap in Free Practice 3 to take first place ahead of Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) at Donington Park as Saturday’s MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship action got underway. The Australian star, fresh from a MotoGP™ return last week, broke the existing lap record on his way to top spot in a thrilling FP3 for the Prosecco DOC UK Round.

Gardner has been Yamaha’s form rider heading into the UK Round and that continued in FP3 as he topped the 30-minute session. His final lap was a 1’25.823s to secure P1 ahead of Razgatlioglu, while he also broke the existing lap record by around six hundredths of a second. There was just 0.082s separating Gardner and Razgatlioglu, with the 2021 Champion in second, and Scott Redding (Bonovo Action BMW) claiming an impressive third as he looks for a rostrum return at his home round. Redding was 0.365s away from Gardner’s best time. Razgatlioglu’s focus was on a long run while Gardner’s best time came at the end of a two-lap stint.

Andrea Locatelli (Pata Prometeon Yamaha) claimed fourth despite a small issue in the early stages of the session, slowing on his R1 before being able to get it going again. He was just over half-a-second away from the #45 ahead, while he was only 0.025s ahead of teammate Jonathan Rea in fifth as the six-time Champion looks to return to the top. Dominique Aegerter (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) made it four Yamahas in the top six – a contrast from Friday where there was one R1 in the top ten – as he finished in P6, 0.626s down on his teammate.

Garrett Gerloff (Bonovo Action BMW) put his M 1000 RR seventh as BMW had a strong morning, with the #31 finishing ahead of Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team). ‘Petrux’ was the first of two Ducatis inside the top ten on Saturday morning as he set a 1’26.577s, finishing around a tenth ahead of Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) in ninth. Andrea Iannone (Team GoEleven) completed the top ten with Aruba.it Racing – Ducati duo Nicolo Bulega and Alvaro Bautista 12^th and 14^th respectively.

The top six from WorldSBK FP3, full results here:

1. Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) 1’25.823s

2. Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) +0.082s

3. Scott Redding (Bonovo Action BMW) +0.365s

4. Andrea Locatelli (Pata Prometeon Yamaha) +0.510s

5. Jonathan Rea (Pata Prometeon Yamaha) +0.535s

6. Dominique Aegerter (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) +0.626s

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