Toprak Razgatlioglu’s quest to seal his first WorldSBK Championship title got off to the best possible start as he topped the timesheets in Friday free practice ahead of the 2021 season finale at the new Mandalika Circuit.
The Turk comes into the concluding three races of the season armed with a 30 point advantage over Jonathan Rea, who by contrast faces an uphill task to reel off an unprecedented seventh consecutive WorldSBK title this weekend.
The series’ first visit to the brand-new Mandalika Circuit on the Indonesian island of Lombok, the unfamiliar surroundings did little to check the stride of the in-form Razgatlioglu, who was in fine form out of the blocks in FP1 with a time some 1.6secs faster than anyone else.
Though the field bunched back up again for the faster FP2 session, it was still the Turk on top aboard the Pata Yamaha, stopping the clock at 1m 34.230secs.
Having missed out on track time in FP1 with issues, Rea bounced back in FP2 to run Razgatlioglu closest, though he’d still be 0.2secs shy of his key rival at the end of day one.
Garret Gerloff led the independent contingent with a strong run to third quickest on the GRT Yamaha, while Honda enjoyed arguably its best Friday of the season with Alvaro Bautista and Leon Haslam - in their swansong for the team this weekend - fourth and sixth best.
Scott Redding split the pair in fifth position as the highest-placed Ducati rider, with Alex Lowes, Andrea Locatelli, Michael van der Mark and Axel Bassani completing the top ten.
His final race outing before heading into retirement, Chaz Davies was 15th quickest on the Go Eleven Ducati, while Tom Sykes was back on track for BMW in what will be his final outing with both the team and - for the time being - in WorldSBK.
The 2013 WorldSBK Champion was 13th fastest but did suffer a crash, as did Lowes and debutant Oliver Konig, the Czech youngster stepping up from WorldSSP 300 for Pedercini Kawasaki.
2021 WorldSBK Indonesia | Mandalika Circuit | Friday Free Practice RESULTS
| 2021 WorldSBK Indonesia | Mandalika Circuit | Friday Free Practice RESULTS | Round 13 / 13 | |||||
| Pos | Rider | Nat. | WorldSBK Team | Superbike | Timing |
| 1 | Toprak Razgatlioglu | TUR | Pata Yamaha by BRIXX | Yamaha YZF-R1 | 1m 34.230 |
| 2 | Jonathan Rea | GBR | Kawasaki Racing Team | KawasakI ZX-10RR | 1m 34.404 |
| 3 | Garrett Gerloff | USA | GRT Yamaha WorldSBK | Yamaha YZF-R1 | 1m 34.455 |
| 4 | Alvaro Bautista | ESP | Team HRC Honda | Honda CBR1000RR-R | 1m 34.460 |
| 5 | Scott Redding | GBR | Aruba Racing Ducati | Ducati Panigale V4 R | 1m 34.579 |
| 6 | Leon Haslam | GBR | Team HRC Honda | Honda CBR1000RR-R | 1m 34.601 |
| 7 | Alex Lowes | GBR | Kawasaki Racing Team | Kawasaki ZX-10RR | 1m 34.758 |
| 8 | Andrea Locatelli | ITA | Pata Yamaha by BRIXX | Yamaha YZF-R1 | 1m 34.877 |
| 9 | Michael van der Mark | NED | BMW Motorrad WorldSBK | BMW M1000RR | 1m 34.938 |
| 10 | Axel Bassani | ITA | Motocorsa Racing | Ducati Panigale V4 R | 1m 34.954 |
| 11 | Michael Ruben Rinaldi | ITA | Aruba Racing Ducati | Ducati Panigale V4 R | 1m 34.957 |
| 12 | Isaac Vinales | ESP | Orelac VerdNatura Racing | KawasakI ZX-10RR | 1m 34.972 |
| 13 | Tom Sykes | GBR | BMW Motorrad WorldSBK | BMW M1000RR | 1m 35.411 |
| 14 | Kohta Nozane | JPN | GRT Yamaha WorldSBK | Yamaha YZF-R1 | 1m 35.416 |
| 15 | Chaz Davies | GBR | Team GoEleven | Ducati Panigale V4 R | 1m 35.436 |
| 16 | Leandro Mercado | ESP | MIE Racing | Honda CBR1000RR-R | 1m 35.591 |
| 17 | Christophe Ponsson | FRA | Gil Motorsport | Yamaha YZF-R1 | 1m 35.637 |
| 18 | Tito Rabat | ESP | Kawasaki Puccetti Racing | KawasakI ZX-10RR | 1m 35.850 |
| 19 | Samuele Cavalieri | ESP | Barni Racing Team | Ducati Panigale V4 R | 1m 35.936 |
| 19 | Oliver Konig | CZE | TPR Team Pedercini Racing | KawasakI ZX-10RR | 1m 38.922 |
