The free practice for the Catalunya Round, fourth weekend of the 2023 WorldSBK season, ended with the Aruba.it Racing – Ducati team at the top of the standings thanks to Alvaro Bautista‘s first place and Michael Rinaldi‘s second.
The Spanish rider focused on race pace, completing two long runs in both FP1 and FP2, during which he also had the chance to test the new front tyres brought by Pirelli.
Rinaldi got off to a good start in FP1, setting the fastest time, and then finished a solid Friday in second place in both FP2 and the combined standings.
Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati #1)
“We worked a lot on the race pace and the results were very positive. We are still missing some information to have a clear choice of tyres for Race 1. The feeling, however, is positive and I am very confident ahead of tomorrow and Sunday’s races.”
Michael Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati #21)
“It was a positive day for me and for the team. We found the feeling we lost at Assen. We have always been aware of our potential and I had a lot of fun riding today and trying different tyre solutions, especially on the front. Tomorrow we will have to take another step forward to fight for the win.”
- WorldSSP
A convincing start for Nicolò Bulega and the Ducati Panigale V2 of the Aruba.it Racing WSSP team. After finishing third in FP1, the Italian rider pushed hard in FP2 to close Friday in first place.
Nicolò Bulega (Aruba.it Racing WSSP #11)
“I couldn’t find the best feeling in FP1. That’s why we decided to go back to our base setup and things went better straight away. In FP2 the pace was very good and we also had the chance to work on the tyres ahead of tomorrow’s race”.
