A sunny first day of action at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, stage this weekend of the Pirelli Emilia Romagna Round, saw Alvaro Bautista and Michael Rinaldi close in first and fourth place, respectively.
After FP1 ended with Rinaldi in second place and Bautista third – behind Toprak Razgatlioglu (Yamaha) – in the afternoon, the Spaniard found the ideal conditions to push hard, as he notched a time of 1’33.825, allowing him to take first place.
Michael Rinaldi also did well on the opening day of his home round as he showed an incisive race pace by finishing FP2 458 thousandths behind his teammate.
Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati #1)
“In FP1, we worked on tyre management using a solution that isn’t exactly my favourite. In the afternoon, however, we went on track with the choice I prefer, and the feeling improved greatly. The feeling is excellent, but it won’t be easy tomorrow because Michael and Toprak have shown a very good race pace”.
Michael Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati #21)
“It has been a positive day all in all. We have worked a lot also because, following the rain that fell in the last few days, we found the circuit in different conditions to those of the test. The feeling is good, but it’s clear that, for the moment, we’re missing something to be at Alvaro’s level. Tomorrow morning we will try the new qualifying tyre to see if it will be suitable for the Superpole Race”.
WorldSSP
It was a great Friday for Nicolò Bulega and the Panigale V2 of the Aruba.it Racing WSSP team. The Italian rider finished at the top of the combined standings with a time of 1’37.267 and an advantage of 707 thousandths over Simone Corsi (Yamaha).
Nicolò Bulega (Aruba.it Racing WSSP #11)
“It’s always good to end a Friday in first place as it gives lots of confidence heading into the weekend’s races. We worked a lot, also on the tyre choice. Of course, we still need to improve because a few rivals will definitely make a step forward tomorrow”.
- From Ducati Media House
