Rinaldi makes it three from three in WorldSBK Teruel FP3

2020 WorldSBK Teruel Aragon - Free Practice Results (3)

Michael Ruben Rinaldi heads into qualifying for Round 5 of the 2020 WorldSBK Championship as the keen favourite for pole position after topping all three free practice sessions at Motorland Aragon.

Coming into the event looking to build on his head-turning performance around the Spanish venue last weekend by challenging for a maiden WorldSBK podium, the Italian picked up where he left off from Friday to turn in a 1m 49.574s lap.

The fastest time of the weekend thus far, he was almost four tenths quicker than factory Ducati counterpart Scott Redding in second position, the Briton nonetheless showing strongly ahead of Superpole to get the better of title rival Jonathan Rea on the factory Kawasaki.

Michael van der Mark was once more Yamaha’s quickest representative in fourth place, ahead of British pairing Chaz Davies and Leon Haslam on their respective Ducati and Honda machines.

In seventh place, Federico Caricasulo put in one of his most convincing practice laps of the year with a confident run to seventh fastest, placing him ahead of Alvaro Bautista, who will look to build on scoring Honda’s first podium finish in almost four years last weekend.

Yamaha pair Loris Baz and Garrett Gerloff completed the top ten on their respective Ten Kate and GRT Racing-run R1s, comfortably clear of factory counterpart Toprak Razgatlioglu, who continues to struggle down the order in 13th.

BMW’s best performer was Tom Sykes but down in 11th position, while Alex Lowes - third fastest on Friday - sat out the session due to a stomach bug. The Kawasaki man will be assessed ahead of Superpole before a decision is taken on whether he can compete this weekend.