Source: Supplied.

Eugene Laverty (Milwaukee Aprilia) completed a brilliant first day at Losail’s final round of the 2018 Motul FIM Superbike World Championship (WorldSBK), taking first position in the combined free practice timesheets, having managed to beat both Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) and Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) in the final minutes of FP3.

Both KRT riders had finished outside the top two in the second session and returned to the track determined to recover their advantage under the Qatari floodlights. First it was Sykes who moved into the lead inside the opening 10 minutes – Rea followed fifteen minutes later, inching ahead by just 30 thousandths of a second.

Sykes would tighten the gap further in the dying stages of FP3 to just eight thousandths of a second. But it was Laverty who managed to steal the top spot one minute before the chequered flag came down, setting a fastest lap of 1m57.323s, nearly two tenths of a second faster than the two ZX-10RRs.

After also topping FP1 and getting pipped to P1 by just 0.025 seconds in FP2, the Irishman seems set to leave his mark on the final round of 2018. Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) completed the front quartet, although he was unable to improve upon his best FP2 time. Topping the second session earlier in the evening, the Englishman seems set to end his season on a high at Losail.

Lorenzo Savadori (Milwaukee Aprilia) was fifth fastest on Thursday, moving inside the top spots at the end of the third practice. He moves into tomorrow’s Superpole 2 ahead of Loris Baz (GULF Althea BMW Racing Team), sixth fastest in Qatar.

In the final round of the Panigale R before its four-cylinder brother arrives next season, Marco Melandri (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) was only able to finish seventh fastest, with teammate Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) in ninth and Xavi Fores (Barni Racing Team) 12th in the other red machine, with the independent riders champion forced to battle his way through Superpole 1 on Friday.

Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) seemed destined for that first qualifying shootout after crashing in FP1 and struggling through FP2 and most of FP3 – however the Dutchman found some late form in the closing session and recorded the eighth fastest time for the day.

Closing the top 10 for free practice was Toprak Razgatlioglu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing), the Turkish rider extending his good momentum into the Qatar as the top independent rider on Thursday. Leandro Mercado (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) however fell just short of the Superpole 2 positions in 11th, as did both Red Bull Honda World Superbike riders – Jake Gagne 13th, Leon Camier 14th.

Lucas Mahias (GRT Yamaha Official WorldSSP Team) continued to show phenomenal free practice form at Losail in WorldSSP, recording the fastest time on Thursday. FIM Supersport World Championship leader Sandro Cortese (Kallio Racing) followed close behind in second position, with both riders head and shoulders above the rest of the field as Randy Krummenacher (BARDAHL Evan Bros. WorldSSP Team) claimed third.

The biggest news of the day arrived shortly after the green lights turned on for FP1, yet it happened off track – Mahias has been officially reinstated as the winner of the Nolan Portuguese Round following an appeal to the CAS. This decision comes with one huge knock-on effect – the gap between Jules Cluzel (NRT) and Cortese has been reduced to five points, turning Saturday’s race into a winner-takes-all affair.

Detailed results