Motorsports
Bautista sets second fastest practice time at Mandalika
Reigning Superbike World Champion and leader Alvaro Bautista (Ducati) sets second best time on opening day of free practice at Indonesian Grand Prixthe second test of the season at the Mandalika circuit.
Despite being hit by a crash at Turn 1 of the Indonesian track, Bautista beat team-mate Italian Michael Ruben Rinaldi by 29000ths, stopped the clock at 1:32.468. Turkey’s Toprak Razgatlioglu (Yamaha) finished 3rd with 0.157, followed by Great Britain’s Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki, 0.735).
Rinaldi was fastest in the first session, ahead of Razgatlioglu (0.056 behind) and Bautista (0.170 behind) in 12:34.613.All improved their performances in the second round, with the Italians maintaining the upper hand and Bautista going up one place to damage the Ottomans, albeit suffering an insignificant fall.
Xabi Bierge (Honda) from Spain was 11th with 1,325 seconds behind Rinaldi.Iker Lecuona (Honda), who had stomach problems and suffered two crashes, could not go from 17th to 1,984.
This Saturday, the third free practice session, the Superpole and the first race of the weekend will start at 6:30.
Source: Mundo Deportivo
I am a writer at Sportish, where I mainly cover sports news. I’ve also written for The Guardian and ESPN Brasil, and my work has been featured on NBC Sports, SI.com and more. Before working in journalism, I was an athlete: I played football for Colgate University and competed in the US Open Cross Country Championships.