World Superbike Championship, Donington, FP2: Bulega 1st – serious crash for Mackenzie

World Championship leader Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Ducati) was the fastest in the first free practice session of the Superbike World Championship at Donington Park on Friday morning, clocking a time of 1:25.870 minutes. He was followed in second place by his team-mate Iker Lecuona. The third-fastest time was set by Britain’s Sam Lowes (Ducati) of the Marc VDS team. His brother Alex followed in fourth place on his Bimota.

During the second 45-minute free practice session in the afternoon, temperatures were high at Donington Park. Iker Lecuona set the first notable fastest time of 1:26.490. Kawasaki rider Garrett Gerloff was in second place after five minutes. Lecuona improved his time to 1:25.710 minutes a lap later. By way of comparison, the fastest lap at Donington on a Superbike was set by Toprak Razgatlioglu in the 2024 season with a time of 1:24.629 minutes.

Shortly afterwards, the Ducati riders Yari Montella and Nicolo Bulega moved into second and third place.

After just under ten minutes, Bulega set a new fastest time of 1:25.460 min. The top five at that point were: Bulega, Lecuona, Montella, Mackenzie and Baldassarri. Behind them came three British riders: Bridewell and the two Lowes brothers.

Halfway through the session, the order at the top remained unchanged. Wildcard rider Jonathan Rea was in 13th place at this stage. The BMW riders Danilo Petrucci and Miguel Oliveira were in 14th and 16th places respectively.

Nine minutes before the end, Tarran Mackenzie crashed at Turn 12. Initially, the yellow flag was waved, but shortly afterwards the session was abandoned. The red flag was waved because the British rider had been thrown violently from his Ducati. The medical car drove over to Mackenzie and the marshals rolled his battered bike off the track.

Then came the first reassurance: Mackenzie was conscious. He sat slightly dazed at the side of the track whilst being attended to by medical staff. Shortly afterwards, he was taken to the Medical Centre by ambulance.

Just under 20 minutes after the session was halted, it resumed. The riders had eight minutes left to gain further experience on the fast and flowing circuit.

Alvaro Bautista (Ducati) shot up to eighth place. Shortly afterwards, Jonathan Rea caused a minor surprise by setting the seventh-fastest time. A little later, Bimota rider Alex Lowes moved into third place.

Two minutes before the end, Gerloff set the seventh-fastest time.