WorldSBK Argentina Practice Results: Toprak Razgatlioglu tops FP3

Puccetti Kawasaki's Toprak Razgatlioglu set the pace in third and final free practice for the penultimate round of the 2019 World Superbike Championship at San Juan Villicum in Argentina.

A circuit that hasn’t been used much since WorldSBK inaugurated the brand-new circuit, situated in the picturesque city of San Juan, the riders had to contend with slick, dusty conditions initially, so much so that most riders waited until the final minutes to venture out of FP1 and FP2 proved significantly quicker. The circuit proved even quicker in FP3 as Razgatlioglu ended up top ahead of Superpole.

Free Practice 3 [Saturday]

With riders complaining about the state of the San Juan Villicum track following Friday practice, the teams received additional time for FP3 and, as expected, lap times were significantly quicker - around four seconds - once again. 

Depsite contending with a painful foot, the legacy of his crash at Magny-Cours two weeks ago, Razgatlioglu powered to the head of the timesheets, demoting both Alvaro Bautista and Jonathan Rea to second and third positions.

A late improvement by Michael van der Mark saw him get the better of Pata Yamaha team-mate Alex Lowes in fourth position, ahead of Chaz Davies, Loris Baz and Sandro Cortese. Michael Ruben Rinaldi and Leon Haslam rounded out the top ten. 

Free Practice 2 [Friday]

With lap times up to three seconds quicker in FP2, each rider improved their time in the afternoon session with Bautista leaving it until his final lap to leapfrog former title rival Rea with a best time of 1m 43.614secs.

That placed him a tenth up on the Kawasaki rider, the newly crowned champion surrounded by Ducati riders, including satellite Barni rider Rinaldi and Davies in third and fourth, who proved quickest though the speed traps on the Panigale V4 R.

Tom Sykes made the biggest gains between sessions to scale to fifth position on the BMW, heading off Razgatlioglu and Haslam, the latter bouncing back after a nasty high-side on his out-lap at the start of the session. 

Sandro Cortese – who is rumoured to be out of his ride at GRT for WorldSBK 2020 – was the top Yamaha in eighth, ahead of R1 counterparts Lowes and van der Mark.

Free Practice 1 [Friday]

As such, the best lap times came in the closing stages – and were comfortably down on the FP1 equivalent from 2018 – with Ducati’s Bautista marking his debut at the venue to top the timesheets on the Panigale V4 R.

Newly crowned champion Jonathan Rea briefly led the way in the final minutes before Bautista popped back ahead with a lap time almost a full second quicker.

With the Ducati tipped to go well on the circuit with its long straights, privateer Barni entrant Michael Ruben Rinaldi turned in the third quickest time, ahead of Magny-Cours double winner Toprak Razgatlioglu, who in turn was officially passed fit following his crash in Race 2 last time out in France.

Jordi Torres completed the top five on the Pedercini Kawasaki, ahead of new KRT signing Alex Lowes, Michael van der Mark, Loris Baz, Sandro Cortese and Marco Melandri.

WorldSBK Argentina FP1 - FP2 - FP3 Results [Combined]