Michael van der Mark topped World Superbike Free Practice Two (FP2) Friday afternoon at Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours, in France. Riding his ROKiT BMW Motorrad M 1000 RR on Pirelli control tires, the Dutchman lapped the 2.7-mile track in 1:36.010 to lead the field of 23 riders.
Rookie sensation Nicolo Bulega was the best of the rest with a 1:36.159 on his Aruba.it Racing Ducati Panigale V4 R.
American Garrett Gerloff backed up his P2 performance in Free Practice One (FP1) with a third-fastest 1:36.390 on his Bonovo Action BMW in FP2.
The big news in FP2, however, was the crash by van der Mark’s teammate Toprak Razgatlioglu. The current World Championship point leader started the session late and as he attempted his first flying lap he crashed in Turn 15 and his fast-sliding body struck a trackside barrier. The incident brought out a red flag. The Turkish rider was initially evaluated at the track’s medical center and diagnosed with contusion on his back, but he was later transported to a local hospital for further examination.
Watch a video clip of Razgatlioglu’s crash here: https://twitter.com/SPOTVMY/status/1832081856344228303
More, from a press release issued by Dorna:
Highs and lows for BMW: van der Mark leads the times while Razgatlioglu crashes
WorldSBK Free Practice
Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) ended with a heavy crash at Turn 15 on his first flying lap of the afternoon. The championship leader, who had been the fastest in FP1, was taken to the medical centre for an assessment before being brought to Moulins Hospital for further checks on a back contusion. Razgatioglu, third fastest on the combined times, will need to undergo a medical review ahead of Saturday morning
Michael van der Mark ended the day fastest with the Dutch rider setting a time of 1’36.010 to lead the way from Nicolo Bulega with Garrett Gerloff third fastest. Van der Mark set his fastest time during his final stint to give the ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team encouragement following Razgatlioglu’s crash.
Gerloff (Bonovo Action BMW) was third fastest in both FP1 and FP2 to show great consistency. The Texan is the lap record holder at Magny-Cours and looks to be in strong form again this weekend
Bulega led the way for most of the afternoon session and once again was the leading Ducati rider. His Aruba.it Racing – Ducati teammate, Alvaro Bautista, ended the day seventh fastest but also suffered a slow speed crash at Turn 8
Alex Lowes was the leading Kawasaki rider with the Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK rider fourth fastest. His teammate Axel Bassani had an encouraging start to the French Round with the eighth fastest time in the afternoon
More on worldsbk.com
P1 | Michael van der Mark | ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team
“Magny-Cours is a track I’ve always enjoyed coming to but today I enjoyed it even more! From my first lap this morning the bike was feeling good and we didn’t change it a lot today. I was trying to be precise with my riding and to find a good pace. Every weekend I hope to be on the podium. We were close in Portimao and we’ve started this weekend off very well. The bike feels fantastic and I’m feeling very good. We’ll just see what happens with the weather and how the conditions are during the weekend but my confidence is building.”
P2 | Nicolo Bulega | Aruba.it Racing – Ducati
“I feel good because, honestly, sometimes my first day on a new track with this bike is a bit more difficult but today I started really well. I felt good on the bike from the first laps so I’m happy. I will try to improve again tomorrow.”
P4 | Garrett Gerloff | Bonovo Action BMW
“It feels nice to show up at a track and for it to feel right and not feel like you’re chasing your tail trying to figure out what the big problems are. We obviously have some good information from last year when things also went well. From the start I was just out there doing laps, feeling comfortable and it’s been so far, so good for this weekend. I just want to have a solid qualifying and be on the front two rows.”
