Factory Yamaha’s Toprak Razgatlioglu barged his way to the top of the WorldSBK timesheets at Catalunya with his final lap and led a Yamaha clean sweep of the top three.
The Turkish rider set a 1’42.140 with his 15th lap of the Barcelona circuit which pushed team-mate Michael van der Mark off the top of the pile by 0.169s.
Garrett Gerloff was the third Yamaha in the mix, taking his GRT bike to a 1’42.478 which pushed Alvaro Bautista into fourth place despite setting a top speed of 203.4mph on the pit straight.
Reigning champion Jonathan Rea had an off-track excursion at turn one before collecting himself to finish in fifth place on a 1'42.614 but it would appear turn two at Catalunya is going to be the problem with more than ten riders having laps cancelled due to exceeding track limits. Loris Baz was the biggest offender, having five laps deleted.
Michael Rinaldi, who could be announced at the second factory Ducati rider this weekend, finished in sixth place, 0.052s behind Alex Lowes who topped the timesheets early doors with a 1'42.688 which he didn't better.
Tom Sykes put his BMW into eighth place with a 1'42.799 with Scott Redding down in a surprising ninth and seven-tenths off the pace. Surprising given his track experience.
Ten Kate Yamaha's completed the top ten with Chaz Davies in 11th with a 1'42.873. Eugene Laverty, Xavi Fores, Federico Caricasulo and MotoGP race winner Jonas Folger rounded out the top 15.
Luckless Tati Mercado was back from injury for just over five minutes before he crashed at turn 14 and was taken to hospital with a right wrist injury.
Top ten top speeds
1 19 A. BAUTISTA Honda CBR1000RR-R 325,3
2 7 C. DAVIES Ducati Panigale V4 R 320,5
3 45 S. REDDING Ducati Panigale V4 R 318,6
4 50 E. LAVERTY BMW S1000 RR 318,6
5 21 M. RINALDI Ducati Panigale V4 R 317,6
6 60 M. VAN DER MARK Yamaha YZF R1 316,7
7 22 A. LOWES Kawasaki ZX-10RR 315,8
8 1 J. REA Kawasaki ZX-10RR 315,8
9 91 L. HASLAM Honda CBR1000RR-R 314,9
10 36 L. MERCADO Ducati Panigale V4 R 314,9
