In today’s third WorldSBK free practice at Buriram, Barni Ducati’s Xavi Fores and Eugene Laverty had a heavy collision that led to a tangle of machines and riders, and then the inevitable crash for both.

Each of them had exceeded most people’s expectations on day one at Chang – until that point. Fores had been fastest of all in FP1, Laverty top man on the Milwaukee Aprilia in FP2, but they ended up only eighth and ninth respectively at the end of a dramatic day.

It was also a painful day for Fores, who had to go and get medical treatment on his ground-down foot. “My small toe is without skin,” said Fores, “but the positive is that I lost some weight - so I am faster on the straight! I had to go to the Clinica Mobile for some time so I was not able to do a lot of laps after that.”

In the accident with Laverty, Fores went on an inside line to make his apex, Laverty went outside. They met at the apex itself. “I was keeping my line, trying to overtake him, and he closed the line again,” said Fores.

“It was impossible to see him. It is not easy to see who made a mistake because he was wide and I was so close to the inside, but anyway sometimes these things happen. And it is better that it happens now than in the race!”

At a circuit Ducati riders have sometimes not been well-rewarded at, Fores was more than happy to find Buriram pace he did not expect. “Our pace was good and for me this was a surprise because I have struggled a lot on this track. This morning I felt so good on the bike and with the pace, I felt so strong. When I was able to come back on the track after the crash I was able to improve my lap times, which means that we have a good package for tomorrow.

“From last year, the last race in Qatar, we found a good set-up on the bike, a bit different from the races before. I have kept this set-up through the winter tests, Australia, here in Thailand, and I feel so good on the bike. We have a good package for sure because we have more or less the same as the Ducati factory guys. We are working in a good direction, but in the end there will be some tracks that will be worse for our bike - but I am surprised that at this track we have been able to be strong.”

It may take some time to make a final judgement on how effective the latest technical rules have been in levelling up the WorldSBK riders from first to last, but the early Friday pace from Fores – and others such as Laverty – are certainly ticks in the plus box for 2018 being the most unpredictable season in recent memory.