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Dominique Aegerter kicked-off the season’s finale at the Circuito de Jerez with a strong fifth place on Friday.

Overnight rain showers caused a delayed start to the final race weekend of the 2023 FIM Superbike World Championship. Under cloudy skies and no wind, the track dried out only very slowly, so that no reasonable set-up work was possible in the morning in mixed conditions. In the afternoon, conditions for the second free practice session were much better, even if in some places had to go around damp spots until the end.

Dominique Aegerter and his experienced technical crew from Italy's GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team approached the task with appropriate care, but the 32-year-old Swiss left no doubt that he coped well with the track’s tricky conditions to finish fifth, just half a second off the day's fastest time. 

The third free practice session is still on the agenda on Saturday morning before Aegerter aims to secure a good grid position in Superpole for the first main race of the weekend. Starting time is at 02:00pm. In German-speaking countries, ServusTV and Eurosport are live on air, as is the paid stream on worldsbk.com, where all the sessions can be seen.

#77 Dominique AEGERTER (GYTR GTR Yamaha WorldSBK Team, Yamaha YZF R1)
FP1: - / FP2: P5 - 1´40.823

"This morning we had to be a little patient because the track conditions were difficult to assess. Only a few riders went out on track with rain tyres, while we decided to stay in the garage. Fortunately, we were able to do some laps in the afternoon in good conditions, even though there were some dangerous wet spots until the end. At least we were able to try all the rear tyre options available for this weekend, and it also paid off that we were here at the beginning of the season. So, we could start with the electronics setup we worked out then."

"Fortunately, I was able to safe a scary moment in turn six when I lost control of the rear hitting a wet patch. It started harmlessly, but then turned into a dangerous situation. In the end we ended up in fifth place, which is a good start to the weekend, even though the afternoon session resembled an FP1 because grip conditions were still very low and the track’s conditions overall, were far from perfect. I think the weather will be a bit better on Saturday and Sunday, and hopefully tomorrow at the time of FP3 the light conditions will be good enough, because today at 08:30 it was still very dark here."

#SPAWorldSBK - WSBK Combined Free Practice Times (FP1/FP2):
1 Toprak RAZGATLIOGLU / TUR / Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK / Yamaha YZF R1 / 1´40.312 (FP2)
2 Remy GARDNER / UAS / GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team / Yamaha YZF R1 / 1´40.556 +0.244 (FP2)
3 Alvaro BAUTISTA / SPA / Aruba.it Racing - Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4R / 1´40.632 +0.320 (FP2)
5 #77 Dominique AEGERTER / SWI / GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team / Yamaha YZF R1 / 1´40.823 +0.511 (FP2)

#SPAWorldSBK - WSBK Time Schedule for Saturday October 28th:
09:00 - 09:30 FP3
11:10 - 11:25 Superpole 
14:00 Race 1 (20 Laps - 88.460 km)