Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) drew first blood at the Misano World Circuit “Marco Simoncelli” as he claimed P1 by more than half-a-second despite losing a small amount of time at the start of the 45-minute Free Practice 1 session. After setting the pace in testing here a couple of weeks ago, the 2021 Champion continued that form in FP1 for the Pirelli Emilia-Romagna Round with the only lap times in the 1’33s bracket.

Despite a small issue costing him time before the red flag – Team Principal Shaun Muir confirming during FP1 that the #54 had a problem with his quickshifter – Razgatlioglu rocketed to top spot in Free Practice 1 with a 1’33.448s on his final lap despite a huge slide through Curvone, finishing more than half a second clear of Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) in second fresh off the back of his renewal with KRT. Razgatlioglu’s long-run pace was also impressive, racking up nine laps in the 1’33s bracket in an 11-lap stint, all of which were faster than any of his rivals managed all session. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) was the lead Ducati rider as he claimed third, 0.381s behind Razgatlioglu but only 0.021s slower than Lowes.

Axel Bassani (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) stated on Thursday that he hoped he found a step heading into Misano and the FP1 evidence suggests that could be the case as he took fourth place with a 1’34.245s. He was around three tenths slower than teammate Lowes, while he was less than a tenth ahead of Andrea Iannone (Team GoEleven) in fifth. Championship leader Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) completed the top six with 1’34.323s, 0.675s slower than his title rival.

Michael van der Mark (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) claimed seventh despite a slow-speed crash at Turn 4, with the Dutchman able to bring his M 1000 RR into the pits following the spill, before re-joining the session later. Yamaha’s charge was led by Jonathan Rea (Pata Prometeon Yamaha) in eighth and Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) in ninth. Both riders set a 1’34.462s, but Rea claimed the higher position due to his second-best time being quicker. Wildcard Michele Pirro (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) completed the top ten with a 1’34.515s, with the #51 having a crash at Turn 14 but, like van der Mark, he was able to take his bike back to the pits.

The session was red flagged 10 minutes into the session when Philipp Oettl's (GMT94 Yamaha) Yamaha R1 suffered a big technical issue between Turns 6 and 7, with the session brought to a temporary halt due to track conditions.

The top six from WorldSBK Free Practice 1, full results here:

1. Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) 1’33.448s

2. Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) +0.560s

3. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +0.581s

4. Axel Bassani (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) +0.797s

5. Andrea Iannone (Team GoEleven) +0.872s

6. Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +0.875s

Don’t miss WorldSBK FP2 from Misano at 15:00 Local Time (UTC+2) using the WorldSBK VideoPass!