An extremely positive free practice day for the Aruba.it Racing – Ducati riders.
Michael Rinaldi and Alvaro Bautista ended the Catalunya Round Friday in second and fourth position respectively after working consistently and incisively in both FP1 and FP2.
Michael Rinaldi got off to a strong start in the morning practice; he was able to hold the lead in FP1 for a long time until Lecuona set his (Honda) fastest time (although with the SCQ tire).
In the afternoon the Italian rider worked with his team mainly on tire choice and set-up ahead of the weekend’s races.
The race pace recorded by Alvaro Bautista in FP2 (P1) was extremely incisive. Like his team-mate, the Spanish rider also completed many laps trying out different solutions in terms of tires.
P2 – 1’41.931 (+0.535)
Michael Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati #21)
“We did a good job ahead of the race taking into account what the weather variables might be. I’m satisfied with how things went and the feeling I had in both sessions. We were fast even though we didn’t try the time attack and that is a good sign”.
P4 – 1’42.018 (+0.622)
Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati #19)
“It was a positive Friday. We worked a lot on tire choice, tried different tire solutions, and managed to gather some very interesting data. The race pace was incisive and consistent, especially in FP2. We don’t know what kind of weather we will find tomorrow, but we are ready and we have confidence whatever the conditions are.”
- WorldSSP
A very difficult day for Nicolò Bulega. Following a crash in FP1, in FP2 the Aruba.it Racing WSSP team rider had to deal with technical issues that did not allow him to put together a good number of laps in FP2. Returning to the track for the final run, however, Bulega managed to set the second fastest time (P3 in the combined standings).
P3 – 1’45.522 (+1.015)
Nicolò Bulega (Aruba.it Racing WSSP #11)
“I’m quite disappointed because I wasn’t able to put many laps together today. The only positive note is the time I finished FP2 in second place setting a good lap time. This gives us confidence ahead of qualifying and tomorrow’s race”.