Razgatlioglu maintains advantage ahead of WorldSBK qualifying

WorldSBK Portimao – Free Practice Results 3

Toprak Razgatlioglu maintained his place at the head of the timesheets in final free practice for the third round of the 2020 WorldSBK Championship at Portimao.

The Turk was the dominant force on Friday with a best lap some four tenths faster than his rivals around the Portuguese circuit aboard the Pata Yamaha.

Though times were notably quicker overall in the short 20-minute FP3 session, it was still Razgatlioglu out front as he heads into this morning’s qualifying session seeking his maiden WorldSBK pole position.

He headed up a Yamaha 1-2 with Michael van der Mark following up in second position, two tenths adrift of his team-mate, with Jonathan Rea keeping himself in contention in third position aboard the Kawasaki.

Loris Baz made it three Yamahas inside the top fourth with fourth on the sister Ten Kate Racing R1, ahead of championship leader Scott Redding, the Briton visibly wrestling with the Ducati to haul it up the timesheets around the unfamiliar Portimao circuit.

Tom Sykes led the way for BMW again in sixth, the Brito faring better than team-mate Eugene Laverty, who stopped with technical issues early on.

Michael Ruben Rinaldi maintained his strong start to the weekend in seventh position, ahead of Alex Lowes, with top Honda rider Alvaro Bautista and Chaz Davies on the second factory Ducati rounding out the top ten.

Behind the prematurely halted Laverty, Garrett Gerloff turned in the 12th best time ahead of Leon Haslam on the second of the factory Hondas, Federico Caricasulo and Xavi Fores.