---
title: "Torres tops first practice at Lausitzring"
canonical: "https://readmotorsport.com/2016/09/16/torres-tops-first-practice-lausitzring/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Lewis Duncan"
section: "SBK"
published: "2016-09-16T09:47:11Z"
modified: "2016-09-16T10:17:35Z"
---

# Torres tops first practice at Lausitzring

The World Superbike paddock was back in action today at the EuroSpeedway Lausitzring following a nine-week summer break. This weekend marks the first visit to Germany for the series since 2013 and the first at the 4.2km Lausitzring since 2007.

The opening hour-long practice session ahead of the tenth round of the World Championship was topped by Althea BMW’s Jordi Torres. The former Moto2 Grand Prix winner took over top spot late in the session with a lap of 1m37.775s to go just under a tenth of a second clear of the field.

Pata Yamaha’s Alex Lowes was second fastest this morning. The British rider comes into this weekend off the back of two races as Bradley Smith’s replacement at the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 team in MotoGP and felt that the experience will aid him in in the latter part of the season. MV Agusta’s Leon Camier was quietly confident prior to this weekend after showing well at a test at the Lausitzring during the summer break. The Briton completed the top three with a lap of 1m37.914s.

![Mirco Lazzari gp/Getty Images Sport](https://media.readmotorsport.com/readmotorsport/2016/09/601775368.jpg)

Dutch rider Michael Van der Mark announced over the summer break that he will be moving to Yamaha next year in WorldSBK, with current Aprilia MotoGP rider Stefan Bradl taking his place at the Ten Kate team. Van der Mark was fourth fastest this morning ahead of Honda team-mate Nicky Hayden.

Tom Sykes will be looking to carry on his momentum from the US round of the season nine weeks ago, after a win in race two and a DNF for team-mate and standings leader Jonathan Rea saw him close the gap to the Irishman to 46 points. The Kawasaki rider was sixth fastest in FP1 with a 1:38.302, seven-thousandths of a second quicker than the second Althea bike of home hero Markus Reiterberger.

Chaz Davies was the first of the Ducati riders in eighth while the returning Sylvain Guintoli was ninth. The Frenchman has been absent since Imola following a huge crash during the Superpole session. Guintoli ended his first session back on his YZF-R1 half a second clear of tenth-placed Rea.

Davide Giugliano comes into this final stretch of the 2016 season with his future up in the air and will be keen to continue his run of strong results this weekend in Germany to keep himself in the shop window for 2017. The Italian was 11th fastest in FP1, with Xavi Fores, Alex De Angelis, Ant West and Lorenzo Savadori completing the top 15.

See picture below for full FP1 results from the Lausitzring.

![2016-09-16](https://media.readmotorsport.com/readmotorsport/2016/09/2016-09-16.png)