2022 World Superbike Estoril, Portugal - Free Practice Results (1)

Garrett Gerloff stunned Toprak Razgatlioglu late on to make it a Yamaha 1-2 in World Superbike FP1 at Estoril.

While Razgatlioglu led the way following the initial flurry of laps, Michael Van Der Mark suffered a nasty crash in the final sector. 

Van Der Mark, who remains less than 100% fit, was seen struggling to get back to his feet before a red flag was deployed. 

Once on-track action recommenced, championship leader Alvaro Bautista wasted no time in jumping to the top of the times as he went six tenths clear of Razgatlioglu. 

Scott Redding, Jonathan Rea and Alex Lowes split the two leaders, however, neither rider was able to get within three tenths of Bautista. 

That did change when GRT Yamaha rider Gerloff set a time of 1:37.770 - +0.120s off the Ducati rider’s time. 

While Gerloff was pushing the limits of Yamaha R1 on more than one occasion, Razgatlioglu regained top spot by just -0.034s. 

Following a strong test in Portimao, BMW continued to make strides forward as Redding cemented himself inside the top five. 

Winner of two World Superbike races at Estoril in 2020, Razgatlioglu continued to show impressive pace as he completed several laps quicker than Gerloff’s best P3 effort. 

Surprisingly off the pace, Rea’s third stint was one where the six-time world champion was lapping four tenths off Razgatlioglu.

To highlight how strong Razgatlioglu’s pace was, the Pata Yamaha rider was significantly ahead of Gerloff [third], Rea and Eugene Laverty despite losing time in sector three compared to all three riders.

After fitting Pirelli’s softer tyre option, a compound that Razgatlioglu and Yamaha tend to use in the race, Razgatlioglu set a stunning time of 1:36.861s - six tenths clear of Bautista. 

The Ducati rider did manage to improve moments later, however, the former MotoGP rider remained half a second down on the reigning world champion. 

With Razgatlioglu’s time looking unbeatable, Gerloff found time in sectors two, three and four to not onyl challenge the Turkish rider, but instead move -0.227s clear of his fellow Yamaha rider. 

With that said, Razgatlioglu was the only rider consistently setting sub 1m 37s laps.

Estoril WorldSBK Records

Fastest Lap - Jonathan Rea GBR Kawasaki Racing Team 1:35.876s (2021)

Race Lap Record - Toprak Razgatlioglu TUR Pata Yamaha 1:36.594s (2020) 

2021 Winners 

Race One - Scott Redding GBR Aruba.it Ducati 

Superpole Race - Jonathan Rea GBR Kawasaki Racing Team 

Race Two - Jonathan Rea GBR Kawasaki Racing Team 

After taking part in a private test earlier this week, Bonovo Action BMW rider Eugene Laverty has been passed fit to begin the weekend. Roberto Tamburini has not on the other hand and will be replaced at Motoxracing Yamaha by Endurance World Championship rider Marvin Fritz. 

Estoril WorldSBK Weekend Schedule

Friday 

15:00-15:45 - WorldSBK FP2

Saturday 

09:00-09:30 - WorldSBK FP3 

11:10-11:25 - WorldSBK Superpole

14:00 WorldSBK Race 1 

Sunday 

09:00-09:15 WorldSBK Warm-up

11:00 WorldSBK Superpole Race 

14:00 WorldSBK Race 2