World Superbike championship leader Alvaro Bautista was in dominant form during FP2 as he topped the session by over three tenths. 

While it was his teammate Michael Ruben Rinaldi who stole the headlines in FP1, Bautista, fresh off a new contract extension with Ducati, was the early pacesetter in FP2.

However, Bautista’s time at the top was brief as Rinaldi set a time of 1:42.049s to go quickest. 

With track temperatures ramping up compared to the morning session, lap times reflected such a change as Rinaldi was four tenths slower than his FP1 effort, which was also set early on. 

As Bautista continued to churn out low 1m 42s lap times which others struggled to do, Jonathan Rea was unable to replicate his strong start in FP1 as he sat in P9.

The Kawasaki rider, who is using a new chassis this weekend after upgrades were brought forward by the Japanese manufacturer, was over one second off the pace set by both factory Ducati riders.

As was the case in the recent Catalunya WorldSBK test, Bautista was showing incredible race pace compared to his rivals.

Bautista, who remained in the low-to-mid 1m 42s bracket, seemed to have a few tenths in his pocket.

A corner that has caused many issues over the years, turn five claimed its first crasher as Andrea Locatelli lost the front-end of his R1.

Unlike FP1, several of the big hitters attempted a time attackas Bautista set a stunning time of 1:41.486s. 

Garrett Gerloff moved up to third prior to Bautista going quickest, however, no one was able to live with Bautista’s final sector.

2023 World Superbike Catalunya, Spain - Free Practice (2) Results
PosRiderNatTeamTime
1Alvaro BautistaSPAAruba.It Racing Ducati1:41.486s
2Michael Ruben RinaldiITAAruba.It Racing Ducati+0.350s
3Jonathan ReaGBRKawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK+0.529s
4Garrett GerloffUSABonovo Action BMW+0.749s
5Dominique AegerterSWIGYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team+0.819s
6Toprak RazgatliogluTURPata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK+1.154s
7Axel BassaniITAMotocorsa Ducati+1.169s
8Scott ReddingGBRROKIT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team+1.226s
9Andrea LocatelliITAPata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK+1.264s
10Danilo PetrucciITABarni Spark Racing Team+1.267s
11Iker LecuonaSPATeam HRC WorldSBK+1.325s
12Xavi ViergeSPATeam HRC WorldSBK+1.450s
13Loris BazFRABonovo Action BMW+1.578s
14Alex LowesGBRKawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK+1.633s
15Remy GardnerAUSGYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team+1.716s
16Philipp OettlGERGoEleven Ducati+1.948s
17Oliver KonigCZEOrelac Racing Kawasaki+1.952s
18Hafizh SyahrinMALPETRONAS MIE Racing HONDA Racing+2.116s
19Eric GranadoBRAPETRONAS MIE Racing HONDA Racing+2.145s
20Lorenzo BaldassarriITAGMT94 Yamaha+2.416s
21Ivo LopezPORROKIT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team+2.828s
22Bradley RayGBRMotoxracing Yamaha WorldSBK Team+2.877s
23Tom SykesGBRPuccetti Kawasaki+3.000s
24Isaac VinalesSPATPR by Vinales Racing+3.506s
25Gabriele RuiuITABmax Racing+5.225s

Catalunya World Superbike records 

Lap record - Alvaro Bautista SPA Aruba.it Ducati 1:41.135s

2022 Race Winners

Race 1 - Alvaro Bautista SPA Aruba.it Ducati

Superpole Race - Alvaro Bautista SPA Aruba.it Ducati 

Race 2 - Alvaro Bautista SPA Aruba.it Ducati

Rinaldi led the way after Free Practice 1 of the Catalan World Superbike round 

2023 World Superbike Catalunya, Spain - Free Practice (1) Results
PosRiderNatTeamTime
1Michael Ruben RinaldiITAAruba.It Racing Ducati1:41.633s
2Jonathan ReaGBRKawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK+0.019s
3Toprak RazgatliogluTURPata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK+0.086s
4Alvaro BautistaSPAAruba.It Racing Ducati+0.146s
5Iker LecuonaSPATeam HRC WorldSBK+0.435s
6Andrea LocatelliITAPata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK+0.446s
7Dominique AegerterSWIGYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team+0.451s
8Xavi ViergeSPATeam HRC WorldSBK+0.462s
9Alex LowesGBRKawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK+0.596s
10Scott ReddingGBRROKIT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team+0.834s
11Remy GardnerAUSGYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team+1.016s
12Danilo PetrucciITABarni Spark Racing Team+1.157s
13Axel BassaniITAMotocorsa Ducati+1.201s
14Garrett GerloffUSABonovo Action BMW+1.308s
15Philipp OettlGERGoEleven Ducati+1.725s
16Eric GranadoBRAPETRONAS MIE Racing HONDA Racing+1.790s
17Loris BazFRABonovo Action BMW+1.918s
18Hafizh SyahrinMALPETRONAS MIE Racing HONDA Racing+1.943s
19Bradley RayGRBMotoxracing Yamaha WorldSBK Team+2.086s
20Oliver KonigCZEOrelac Racing Kawasaki+2.389s
21Isaac VinalesSPATPR by Vinales Racing+2.600s
22Lorenzo BaldassarriITAGMT94 Yamaha+3.041s
23Tom SykesGBRPuccetti Kawasaki+5.011s
24Gabriele RuiuITABmax RacingNo Time Set
25Ivo LopezPORROKIT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK TeamNo Time Set

Stand-in for the injured Michael Van Der Mark, Ivo Lopez completed just one instalation lap before a mechanical issue saw his FP1 come to an early end.

Weekend schedule (UK time) 

Friday

Free Practice 1 - 09:30-10:15

Free Practice 2 - 14:00-14:45

Saturday 

Free Practice 3 - 08:00-08:30

Superpole - 10:10-10:25

Race 1 - 13:00

Sunday 

Warm-up - 08:00-08:15

Superpole Race -10:00

Race 2 - 13:00