2024 World Superbike Misano Test - Day 1 Results

The last two riders to win around Misano, day-one of the WorldSBK test began with reigning world champion Alvaro Bautista and Toprak Razgatlioglu exchanging top spot.

Bautista came out of the blocks fastest before Razgatlioglu went quickest thanks to a time of 1:34.253s.

However, Bautista lowered the benchmark by over a tenth as he creeped closer to a sub 1m 34s lap aboard his Panigale V4 R.

It was also a strong start for GRT Yamaha rider Remy Gardner, with the Australian slotting into third just after an hour of action.

Not to be out done, Razgatlioglu snapped straight back at Bautista with a time of 1:34.102s, which was again a tenth quicker than his main title rival managed.

Less than four minutes after Razgatlioglu went top, Bautista responded in kind with a first sub 1m 34s lap of the test.

Bautista and Ducati’s early pace was then backed up by team-mate Nicolo Bulega who shot up the order to second behind the Spaniard.

Bautista then went even quicker as he set a time of 1:33.753s before Razgatlioglu joined him in breaking under the 1m 34s barrier.

However, Bautista’s time was still two tenths faster than what the BMW rider managed.

In the afternoon, Nicolo Bulega found more time to narrowly sneak past Razgatlioglu, making it a factory Ducati 1-2 once again.

Back from injury, Danilo Petrucci was back in the thick of the action as he went into the top five late on during the morning session.

Other big movers were the Lowes’ brothers, with Alex leading Sam for much of the day in sixth and seventh, behind Andrea Locatelli.

There was a big change just before the final hour when Bulega went to the top of the leaderboard for the first time, setting a time of 1:33.513s - over two tenths clear of Bautista.

Like earlier in the day, the change at the top promted more rapid lap times to be set as Razgatlioglu narrowly missed out on top spot, going second ahead of Bautista in the process.

Razgatlioglu did eventually get the better of both Ducati’s as he began closing in on a sub 1m 33s lap.

But Razgatlioglu didn’t stay top for long as Bautista came back with a time of 1:33.151s, while Jonathan Rea leapt into third spot to become top Yamaha.

Then came a big statement lap from Razgatlioglu as the BMW rider smashed his way into the 1m 32s window.

Razgatlioglu’s lap time was four tenths under the pole position time last season at Misano.