So, Friday at the Cremona Circuit brought an unexpected pace-setter at the top of the timesheets as Iker Lecuona (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) dominated the opening day of the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship weekend. Lecuona locked down P1 in the combined classification after leading both Free Practice 1 and Free Practice 2, laying down a 1’28.108s that left the rest of the field chasing.
Right behind him was teammate Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati), who can wrap up the title on home soil this weekend. But it was a messy, dramatic day for the #11 machine. Bulega suffered two separate falls during the day's running—first going down at Turn 10 in FP1, and then hitting the asphalt again at Turn 8 in FP2. Thankfully, he walked away unharmed on both occasions, salvaging a 1’28.362s to sit just over two tenths adrift of his teammate.
Looking for a maiden WorldSBK rostrum at the EICMA Italian Round, rookie Alberto Surra (Motocorsa Racing) pulled off a stunning third place overall. The #67 grabbed his 1’28.569s on his final lap in FP2, knocking Lorenzo Baldassarri (Team GoEleven) down to fourth. Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) rounded out the top five with a 1’28.752s, ahead of Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) in sixth. Montella had his own wild day with two crashes, visiting the gravel at Turn 13 in FP1 and Turn 1 in FP2. Tommy Bridewell (Superbike Advocates) took seventh, while Alvaro Bautista (Barni Spark Racing Team) ended up down in 11th, and Loris Baz (MGM Optical Express Racing) filled in for Tarran Mackenzie to place 20th.
Further down the order, Garrett Gerloff (Kawasaki WorldSBK Team) put the Kawasaki inside the top ten with an eighth-place finish thanks to a late effort in FP2. Miguel Oliveira (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) bounced back from difficult rounds to take ninth with a 1’28.922s after BMW worked on the ergonomics of his bike. Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) fought through limited running after a crash at Turn 6 just as FP2 resumed following a red flag, still managing to finish as the lead Bimota rider in tenth. His teammate Axel Bassani finished 12th.
It was a busy hospital pass of a day for the rest of the paddock. Xavi Vierge (Pata Maxus Yamaha) led the Yamaha runners in 13th despite crashing late in FP2 at Turn 11. Jake Dixon (Honda HRC) led the Honda charge in 14th, though he too tasted the gravel at Turn 2 with two minutes left on the clock. Stefano Manzi (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) took 15th for his home round, just ahead of teammate Remy Gardner, whose early crash at Turn 2 brought out a red flag and kept him from setting an afternoon time. Somkiat Chantra finished 17th for Honda, Andrea Locatelli was 18th for Yamaha, Mattia Rato (Motoxracing WorldSBK Team) took 19th, Danilo Petrucci was 21st, and Rato's teammate Twan Smits brought up the rear.
