The opening day of the UK Round of the 2017 FIM Superbike World Championship has come to a close, with the Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team on track for Friday’s traditional two free practice sessions at Donington Park. Stefan Bradl, who turned a wheel at this track today for the first time in eight years, is 17th in the combined times of the two hours of practice and, therefore, will take part in tomorrow’s Superpole 1.

On the other side of the garage, Nicky Hayden’s Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP2 machine was on full display, with his #69 helmet on top of the fuel tank.

With gorgeous weather blessing England’s East Midlands area, Bradl took his time to find his braking marks and riding line around the undulating strip of asphalt of the spectacular 4.023km track, which is known for requiring a lot of work in search of a good set-up for all sectors. The 27-year-old German rider was able to improve on his FP1 time towards the end of the second session by logging a 1’29.400secs lap.

World Superbike action at Donington Park will resume tomorrow morning at 9:05 local time (GMT +1) for the 25-minute FP3 session, with Superpole 1 (11:00) and race one (15:00) to follow. At 2pm, the whole paddock and many fans will gather together on the grid for a minute’s silence in honour of Nicky Hayden.