Tag Archives: WSSP

Razgatlioglu tops WSBK Portimao Test Day Two

WSBK Portimao Test Day Two

Toprak Razgatlioglu has proven the man to beat at the Portimao Test as the Turk topped the timesheets for Pata Yamaha. That man Jonathan Rea though and KRT were not present in Portugal, and were instead at Montmelo near Barcelona for their own test session.

Jonathan Rea

“It has been so nice to get this extra day after Jerez, because we got really decent weather, the track was dry and we managed to put in a lot of laps. We were able to back-to-back some items that we were not sure about with the weight balance of the bike in Jerez. In the end we tried something on the front suspension and did some practice starts. The big positive is that I really enjoyed the track and the bike works really well here. I think it sets us up in a good frame of mind now. I feel fast and consistent and this positive test has prepared us to go to Australia, where we will start the new season. Thanks to the team for pulling out all the stops to get us a proper test day here because I know it was not in the plan. Next is the team launch where we get to be all excited about our new colours and then move on.”

WSBK KRT Montmelo test

WSBK KRT Montmelo test

Kawasaki Racing Team had their own separate test at Montmelo

Alex Lowes

“I want to say a big thank to KRT for working really hard to get us this extra test. Obviously I have not had too many chances to have dry laps this winter so I really appreciate this extra day at Montmelo. The track is fantastic. It is always exciting coming to a track for the first time. I am getting old now so there are not many tracks I have not ridden! I have really enjoyed it today and I probably learned more about the bike than in the other tests, so that is really positive for me going into Phillip Island. I really enjoyed working with the team and I cannot wait to start racing now.”

WSBK Jerez Test Nov Lowes

WSBK Jerez Test Nov Lowes

Alex Lowes

With KRT absent from Portimao it was Razgatlioglu topping the timesheets from Scott Redding by just 0.079s as the test came to a close.

Scott Redding

“It was a good day even though, to be honest, I couldn’t find the ideal pace. On a few occasions, I found traffic on the track and when I tried the new tyres, the four almost consecutive red flags didn’t allow me to lap consistently. The result of the test is still very positive, considering that this is a circuit where I only rode once in the past and it can’t be considered the most favourable for Ducati. All things considered, we have worked very well and I am satisfied.”

Portimao Test D Scott Redding

Portimao Test D Scott Redding

Scott Redding

Michael Van Der Mark was fourth fastest, focusing on conserving tyre life, in a move likely to pay dividends at Phillip Island.

Chaz Davies completed the top five as the second Ducati, with Yamaha otherwise dominating the top five, with three of the fastest five riders.

Chaz Davies

“It’s been a busy couple of days. We were lucky because the weather helped us to carry on our work. We tried new solutions: some of them gave positive results, while on other aspects we will have to work further. The lap-times? We will return to Portugal in September and the track conditions will be completely different so the crono wasn’t our first target. In view of the first Grand Prix in Australia, I feel much more ahead of what I felt last year.”

Portimao Test D Chaz Davies

Portimao Test D Chaz Davies

Chaz Davies

Leon Haslam was the fastest Honda, ahead of BMW’s Tom Sykes and Eugene Laverty.

Leon Haslam

“We’ve made some good steps today and have got through a lot of the things we had down to test. We didn’t perhaps make the step that others did with the soft qualifying tyre, but all in all the lap times aren’t too bad and I was pretty happy with the race tyres. We have a lot of work ahead of us of course and we’re not yet at the stage where we’re fine-tuning the bike, as we’re still testing fundamental components. I can’t wait to get to Phillip Island now, it’s one of my favourite circuits. The test there will be very important too, and then the aim for the race weekend is to try to be competitive right from the outset.”

Portimao Test D Leon Haslam

Portimao Test D Leon Haslam

Leon Haslam

Both BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team riders had two bikes at their disposal, allowing Sykes and Laverty and their respective crews to evaluate more new components and different set-up configurations, working on the best possible basis set-up in time for the start of the season.

Tom Sykes

“I’m very happy with the two tests. Jerez obviously was very challenging on the weather front but we were able to utilise that and do some little fundamental things. It then was much more consistent here in Portugal and we were just able to do a lot of work with our BMW S 1000 RR. We just had to turn a bit of a blind eye to what was going on on track and focus on what we are doing. We worked really hard on different chassis set-ups, on the brakes, electronic strategies… and the list goes on. A big credit to the entire BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team, the boys have worked really hard over these days. Now it’s time to go back home and get everything ready for Phillip Island and where we can focus more on performance.”

Portimao Test D Tom Sykes

Portimao Test D Tom Sykes

Tom Sykes

Eugene Laverty

“I am really delighted and optimistic coming away from the test. The November test was a bit of a tough one as I got a few surprises when I rode the RR for the first time. The work that the guys have done since is incredible. That’s the nice thing of being involved with a factory team again: the progress is so quick and these guys are so intelligent. I give my comments but in the end my comments are only backing up what they already know. These guys understand very well how to make the bike work. The focus in Spain had been power delivery and traction control and when we arrived at Portimão, we started to play around with the chassis setting. The performance in the end was really good. So after these tests, I’m very happy, we’re in a good position.”

Portimao Test D Eugene Laverty

Portimao Test D Eugene Laverty

Eugene Laverty

Top Kawasaki performer was Xavi Fores, but that was due to the Kawasaki Racing Team testing at Montmelo, instead of at the Portimao Test.

Portimao Test D Xavi Fores

Portimao Test D Xavi Fores

Xavi Fores

Alvaro Bautista worked non-stop across both Sunday and Monday in order to make headway with a intense schedule and provide the engineers with as much information as possible so as to facilitate bike development work, and was 16th fastest.

Alvaro Bautista

“These tests have been tough for us because in Jerez we could not test much due to the bad weather. So we had to concentrate all the work here in Portimao, basically trying to complete four days of work in just two days. That meant we were forced to spend more time inside the garage than on track and this of course is a bit frustrating when you just want to have everything ready, put in a new tyre and go for it. Anyway, this is the kind of job that has to be done with a new project. I think we now have a lot of data that can be useful in developing the bike and we’ll see how the next step goes in Australia. Those tests prior to the first round will be very important.”

Portimao Test D Alvaro Bautista

Portimao Test D Alvaro Bautista

Alvaro Bautista

The final pre-season tests will take place at Phillip Island, the venue for the opening round in Australia, just a few days before the start of a whole new racing season.


WorldSBK Portimão Test Day Two Unofficial Times

Pos. Rider Man. Time/Gap
1 Toprak Razgatlioglu  Yamaha 01:40.8
2 Scott Redding  Ducati +0.079
3 Loris Baz  Yamaha +0.19
4 Michael Van Der Mark  Yamaha +0.622
5 Chaz Davies  Ducati +0.795
6 Leon Haslam Honda +0.851
7 Tom Sykes  Bmw +0.982
8 Eugene Laverty  Bmw +1.186
9 Federico Caricasulo Yamaha +1.226
10 Garrett Gerloff Yamaha +1.241
11 Michael Rinaldi Ducati +1.505
12 Leandro Mercado Ducati +1.658
13 Xavi Fores  Kawasaki +1.998
14 Sylvain Barrier Ducati +2.654
15 Pohssom Christophe Aprilia +2.676
16 Alvaro Bautista Honda +2.755
17 Sandro Cortese  Ducati +3

WorldSSP

Jules Cluzel leaves the Portimao test as the man to beat in the World Supersport class, closing out the test ahead of Andrea Locatelli and Steven Odendaal, although it bears mentioning it was Locatelli’s first time at Portimao.

Portimao Test D Jules Cluzel

Portimao Test D Jules Cluzel

Jules Cluzel

Steven Odendaal also worked on coming to terms with the WSSP Yamaha, while Lucas Mahias was the top non-Yamaha rider in fourth on the Kawasak Puccetti Racing machine.

Corentin Perolari made for another Yamaha in the top five on the GMT94 Yamaha, while Philipp Oettl was sixth.

Portimao Test D Philipp Ottl

Portimao Test D Philipp Ottl

Philipp Ottl

Top Honda was Hikari Okubo in seventh, having made the move from Kawasaki in 2019 to Dynavolt Honda for 2020.

WorldSSP Portimão Test Day One Unofficial Times

Pos Rider Man Time
1 Jules Cluzel Yamaha 01:44.4
2 Andrea Locatelli Yamaha 01:44.7
3 Steven Odendaal Yamaha 01:44.8
4 Lucas Mahias Kawasaki 01:44.8
5 Corentin Perolari Yamaha 01:45.6
6 Phillip Ottl Kawasaki 01:45.9
7 Hikari Okubo Honda 01:45.9
8 Can Oncu Kawasaki 01:46.3
9 Danny Webb Yamaha 01:47.1
10 Jaimie Van Sikkelerus Yamaha 01:47.4
11 Patrick Hobelsberger Honda 01:47.5

had their own separate test at MontmeloJonathan worked on balance and overall set-up on his Ninja ZX-10RR machine while Alex learned not just a new track layout but also more aspects of his Ninja ZX-10RR’s character to take into the first competitive round.

Source: MCNews.com.au

WSBK Aragon R1 | Another 15-second victory for Bautista

2019 WSBK
Round Three – Aragon


WSBK Superpole
Pos .Rider Bike Time Gap
1 A. BAUTISTA Ducati Panigale V4 R 1’49.049 0.000
2 S. CORTESE Yamaha YZF R1 1’49.414 0.365
3 T. SYKES BMW S1000 RR 1’49.557 0.508
4 A. LOWES Yamaha YZF R1 1’49.563 0.514
5 M. RINALDI Ducati Panigale V4 R 1’49.689 0.640
6 E. LAVERTY Ducati Panigale V4 R 1’49.722 0.673
7 M. REITERBERGER BMW S1000 RR 1’49.779 0.730
8 C. DAVIES Ducati Panigale V4 R 1’49.970 0.921
9 J.  TORRES Kawasaki ZX-10RR 1’49.984 0.935
10 J.  REA Kawasaki ZX-10RR 1’50.013 0.964
11 M. VAN DER MARK Yamaha YZF R1 1’50.264 1.215
12 L.  HASLAM Kawasaki ZX-10RR 1’50.383 1.334
13 M. MELANDRI Yamaha YZF R1 1’50.560 1.511
14 L.  CAMIER Honda CBR1000RR 1’50.812 1.763
15 L.  MERCADO Kawasaki ZX-10RR 1’50.822 1.773
16 T. RAZGATLIOGLU Kawasaki ZX-10RR 1’50.985 1.936
17 R. KIYONARI Honda CBR1000RR 1’52.716 3.667
18 A. DELBIANCO Honda CBR1000RR 1’52.769 3.720

WorldSBK Race One

Alvaro Bautista got a dream start, blasting clear into the lead by Turn 1. However, there was drama behind as Jonathan Rea and Markus Reiterberger collided on the line, leaving the German rider on the floor in the middle of the pack. He was able to get up, but his race was certainly over.

WSBK Aragon R Rea
Bautista cleared out and left the rest of the field to battle for the podium positions

Tom Sykes was able to give some positivity to the German manufacturer, as he got into second position, ahead of Alex Lowes. There was more carnage on the opening lap, as Leandro ‘Tati’ Mercado and Alessandro Delbianco crashed at Turn 12.

Chaz Davies was moving up the order very quickly, into fourth by Lap 2, racing up from eighth on the grid. Jonathan Rea had also made a great start, up to fifth position, whilst the rider who had suffered the most in the opening laps was German, Sandro Cortese, who was now down to seventh as Michael van der Mark moved through on his Yamaha compatriot.

As the race progressed, a mistake from Alex Lowes at the final corner allowed Jonathan Rea and Tom Sykes to come through, whilst Chaz Davies also got in on the action. Four riders, representing four manufacturers, side-by-side down the straight for second position. Meanwhile, way out in the lead, Bautista achieved a new lap record, with 1’49.755 cementing his position as the rider to beat in WorldSBK.

WSBK Aragon R Davies Rea Lowes VdMark
Davies, Rea, Lowes

Tom Sykes soon dropped back behind the main protagonists but Eugene Laverty was right in the mix, picking up places and soon, was amongst the leading group. The Irishman made it into fifth position in the final third of the race, before also making a bold move with three laps to go on Lowes at Turn 12. The Irishman was now fourth and looking good for a podium.

Jonathan Rea was looking good for second place and continuously hounded Chaz Davies through Turns 3, 4 and 5. Rea led the battle going on to the final lap, with Davies all over the rear-end of the reigning four-time champion. Eugene Laverty was able to make his way to the back of the duo, looking hard for a way ahead of Davies. Into Turn 14, Davies was lining Rea up for a move down the back straight before Eugene Laverty clipped him and crashed out. Davies stayed aboard but the damage had been done.

WSBK Aragon R Davies Rea Lowes
Davies, Rea, Lowes

Completing the race without any such drama, Alvaro Bautista took a seventh win, whilst Jonathan Rea took a seventh second position and Chaz Davies in third place – his first podium of the 2019 season. Laverty’s crash promoted Alex Lowes to fourth and a resurgent Tom Sykes, who picked off Cortese and van der Mark in the closing laps. Thus Sykes was fifth with the Dutch and German stars behind, eighth place was taken by Toprak Razgatlioglu, ahead of a disappointing Leon Haslam in ninth and top Kawasaki after Tissot Superpole, Jordi Torres; the 31-year-old Spaniard taking his first back-to-back top tens of the season.

WSBK Aragon R Bautista
Alvaro Bautista

Outside of the top ten, it was Leon Camier (Moriwaki Althea Honda Racing) ahead of a dejected Marco Melandri (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK), with second-row starter Michael Ruben Rinaldi (BARNI Racing Team) down in 13th. Ryuichi Kiyonari (Moriwaki Althea Honda Racing) and disappointed Eugene Laverty concluded the points.

Bautista’s win makes it 348 for Ducati, meaning an iconic 350 at Aragon this weekend can still happen. It is his seventh consecutive win and Spain’s first at a Spanish circuit since Ruben Xaus in Race 1, at Valencia in 2007 – also riding a Ducati. Chaz Davies’ podium means it is the first time two Ducati riders have been on the same podium in almost an entire year: MotorLand Aragon Race 2.

Alvaro Bautista – P1

“It’s a fantastic feeling to win a race but to do it in your home race is even more special, and I’m so happy for all the Spanish fans. I tried from the beginning to set my pace and get some advantage from lap 1, trying not to lose concentration. Although I had a comfortable lead on the others, I really enjoyed myself a lot with the bike today, sliding into and exiting the corners but I was always focussed on my riding. At the end to win the race and become the first Spanish rider to win in Aragón is truly a dream, especially with all my family and friends here!”

WSBK Aragon R Bautista Celebrate
Alvaro Bautista – P1

Jonathan Rea – P2

“The race position today could not be any better and we achieved the maximum, even from tenth place on the grid. It was an eventful race for me and very exciting, with a lot of passes. All in all, we are very happy with the points and being on the podium, but still a little bit disappointed and bemused by the gap to the front, which is too big. In Superpole we made some mistakes as a team, both myself and the guys, from a time management side. We planned for two laps on the qualifying tyre but I was released a little bit too late then I made a mistake on my first lap and sat up in sector one, thinking to conserve the tyre for one last effort. But, when I came across the line, I realised my Superpole lap time was from the race tyre in the earlier laps.”

WSBK Aragon R Rea
Jonathan Rea – P2

Chaz Davies – P3

“I’m really satisfied with today’s result, more so for my team and my side of the garage than me, because they’ve been working so hard all through the winter. It’s not easy when things are not going so well, but we’re always working hard looking for answers and trying our best whether its tenth or here on the podium. I had a nice battle with Johnny and Alex, I really enjoyed it. It felt like I probably had better pace but I wasn’t able to get out of the group. I had a couple of issues at the end of the race that kept me out of the fight for second otherwise things were quite solid with the guys running for the podium this season.”

WSBK Aragon R Davies VanderMark
Chaz Davies – P3

Alex Lowes – P4

“It was a good battle today. It’s a shame it wasn’t at the front; there was someone a bit too far up the road, but I felt with six or seven laps to go I could hold on to second place. Even when Johnny Rea came past me, I still felt like I had the pace to fight back but then, with just three laps to go, there was a big drop in rear grip and I couldn’t keep the same pace. It was a little disappointing at the end of the race but, apart from that, I enjoyed it and it was good to get a strong race under our belt to give the guys some information, because with the cooler weather this morning we’ve not had too much consistent track conditions this weekend. Now I’m looking forward to trying to improve the R1 a little bit more, ready for tomorrow.”

WSBK Aragon R Lowes Sykes
Alex Lowes – P4

Tom Sykes – P5

“I think for how early we are in the project, the programme has just started a few months ago, it is really impressive what the whole BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team has achieved so far. We’ve made small changes to the bike, of course now we are playing a bit with the electronics, but I think the biggest difference to the previous rounds is that we have a lot more corners here, I think it’s clear to see that we are consistent in the first sectors and we are only losing out in the last sector. In Superpole, I was a bit angry with myself going wide on the last corner as it could have been pole position but the target was front row and then top 5 for the race and we have achieved that. On the grid, as the temperatures were quite cool, I opted for the harder rear tyre. It wasn’t too bad but after a few laps I could see that the sun would come out and temperatures rose. But I enjoyed the race. I was battling with some guys who were on the softer tyre but the RR chassis is certainly working really well. I am enjoying riding the BMW S 1000 RR and I’m quite satisfied. It was my decision on the tyre and I just got caught out a bit with the rising temperature. But we definitely got some good information for tomorrow. I’m really excited what’s to come during the season and for now I still think we can make a better race tomorrow.”

WSBK Aragon R Sykes
Tom Sykes – P5

Michael van der Mark – P6

“We made some changes to the bike this morning, but we still didn’t find the right setting for me and that impacted on my Superpole performance. For the race we decided to take a bit of a gamble with the set-up and, even on the way to the grid, I knew it was one that would pay off. I got a good start, but then Reiterberger crashed right in front of me and I hit something, so I lost a bit of time there. Right from the start I had a better feeling with the bike and my pace was much better, but I was struggling on corner entry, with the rear locking and sliding a bit too much. It meant I could stay with the guys battling for second in front of me, but it was difficult to find somewhere to put in a pass. I tried a few times, but as soon as the grip dropped then I was struggling even more on corner entry and couldn’t maintain the pace. I lost a position at the end, which is a shame, but the positive is that we made a massive step with the bike and we’re in a much better position now for the two races tomorrow.”

WSBK Aragon R VanDerMark
Michael van der Mark – P6

Sandro Cortese – P7

“I think today was a good day. P2 was our best result in qualifying so far and in the race we closed the gap to the front guys a lot. In Race 2 in Thailand the gap to the podium was 25 seconds and here it was only eight seconds that separated me from Johnny Rea, who was on the podium. In both races I was seventh, but it was two different seventh places and it’s the gap to the front that is important. So far I think we’ve made a really good job, we learnt a lot about what we need to improve for and I’m looking forward to the two races tomorrow.”

Leon Haslam – P9

“We have been struggling to get the bike to stop and I think I chose the wrong tyre for the race, the hard one. We knew that it was a good 0.6 or 0.7 per lap slower initially but I have not had the laps to do a race run on a soft one. With the temperatures being cool we did not go for it – and it looks like everyone else did. So there was a little bit of a mistake there and I think it cost me a lot. I got a real bad initial start. I think my pace after that wasn’t that bad, even though I was on the harder tyre and it was maybe enough to battle with that group fighting for fifth, that sort of area. We need to re-think things for tomorrow.”

WSBK Aragon R Haslam
Leon Haslam – P9

WSBK Race 1
Pos Rider Bike Gap Rel.
1 19 A. BAUTISTA Ducati Panigale V4 R 0.000 0.000
2 1 J.  REA Kawasaki ZX-10RR 15.170 15.170
3 7 C. DAVIES Ducati Panigale V4 R 15.650 0.480
4 22 A. LOWES Yamaha YZF R1 18.204 2.554
5 66 T. SYKES BMW S1000 RR 20.165 1.961
6 60 M. VAN DER MARK Yamaha YZF R1 22.419 2.254
7 11 S. CORTESE Yamaha YZF R1 23.333 0.914
8 54 T. RAZGATLIOGLU Kawasaki ZX-10RR 27.929 4.596
9 91 L.  HASLAM Kawasaki ZX-10RR 28.243 0.314
10 81 J.  TORRES Kawasaki ZX-10RR 28.411 0.168
11 2 L.  CAMIER Honda CBR1000RR 39.126 10.715
12 33 M. MELANDRI Yamaha YZF R1 39.240 0.114
13 21 M. RINALDI Ducati Panigale V4 R 47.782 8.542
14 23 R. KIYONARI Honda CBR1000RR 59.879 12.097
15 50 E. LAVERTY Ducati Panigale V4 R 1’37.121 37.242
Not Classified
RET 52 A. DELBIANCO Honda CBR1000RR //// ////
RET 36 L.  MERCADO Kawasaki ZX-10RR //// ////
RET 28 M. REITERBERGER BMW S1000 RR //// ////
WSBK Aragon R Podium Bautista Rea Davies
#AragonWorldSBK at MotorLand Aragon: Race 1
1. Alvaro Bautista (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati)
2. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) +15.170
3. Chaz Davies (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati) +15.650

WSBK Championship Points

  1. Alvaro Bautista (ESP) Ducati (149 points)
  2. Jonathan Rea (GBR) Kawasaki (118 points)
  3. Alex Lowes (GBR)Yamaha (82 points)

World Supersport

The World Supersport championship returned to the MotorLand Aragon circuit in dry conditions for the Tissot Superpole session. A flurry of action at the end of the session saw Thomas Gradinger (Kallio Racing) become the first Austrian to secure a pole position in the history of the WorldSSP championship.

The Austrian rider put in a great lap with a masterful last sector to secure Austria’s first pole position in WorldSSP history. Gradinger also becomes the first Austrian since Christian Zaiser at EuroSpeedway Lausitz in 2007 to start on the front row. Second position on the grid went to Federico Caricasulo (BARDAHL Evan Bros. WorldSSP Team), whilst his teammate, Randy Krummenacher, completed the all-Yamaha front row.

WSBK Aragon WSS Caricasulo
Federico Caricasulo

Heading up row two, championship leader Jules Cluzel (GMT94 YAMAHA) will hope for a fast start in order to battle hard to retain his championship lead, with him and Krummenacher level on points. Isaac Viñales (Kallio Racing) was fifth, with Raffaele De Rosa (MV AGUSTA Reparto Corse) in sixth, the first non-Yamaha on the grid.

WSBK Aragon WSS Krummenacher
Randy Krummenacher

Row three will see 2017 WorldSSP champion Lucas Mahias (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) in seventh and less than half-a-second from pole position. Corentin Perolari (GMT94 YAMAHA) finished in eighth place despite a fast crash at Turn 16, with Japanese star Hikari Okubo (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) in ninth. Completing the top ten was Hannes Soomer (MPM WILSport Racedays) for Honda, making it the second time in three Superpole sessions in 2019 that all four manufacturers have enjoyed top ten representation.

The leading Europe Supersport Cup rider was Kyle Smith (Team Pedercini Racing), in 13th place, as he makes his return to the WorldSSP field.

Pole position – Thomas Gradinger (Kallio Racing)

“We had a very positive start to the weekend. This is not one of my favorite track but I like it a lot and we did a very good job. It was a pity that the second free practice was held in wet condition but we were able to find a good setup and this makes us very confident for the race”.

WSBK Aragon WSS Gradinger
Thomas Gradinger
WSSP Superpole
Pos No.  Rider Bike Time Gap
1 36  T. GRADINGER Yamaha YZF R6 1’53.972 0.000
2 64  F. CARICASULO Yamaha YZF R6 1’54.091 0.119
3 21  R. KRUMMENACHER Yamaha YZF R6 1’54.227 0.255
4 16  J.  CLUZEL Yamaha YZF R6 1’54.361 0.389
5 32  I.  VINALES Yamaha YZF R6 1’54.392 0.420
6 3 R. DE ROSA MV Agusta F3 675 1’54.436 0.464
7 44  L.  MAHIAS Kawasaki ZX-6R 1’54.446 0.474
8 94  C. PEROLARI Yamaha YZF R6 1’54.774 0.802
9 78  H. OKUBO Kawasaki ZX-6R 1’54.894 0.922
10 38  H. SOOMER Honda CBR600RR 1’55.280 1.308
11 86  A. BADOVINI Kawasaki ZX-6R 1’55.591 1.619
12 80  H. BARBERA Yamaha YZF R6 1’55.604 1.632
13 11  K. SMITH Kawasaki ZX-6R 1’55.639 1.667
14 22  F. FULIGNI MV Agusta F3 675 1’55.690 1.718
15 56  P. SEBESTYEN Honda CBR600RR 1’55.924 1.952
16 74  J.  VAN SIKKELERUS Honda CBR600RR 1’55.938 1.966
17 84  L.  CRESSON Yamaha YZF R6 1’56.311 2.339
18 95  J.  DANILO Honda CBR600RR 1’56.556 2.584
19 30  G. VAN STRAALEN Kawasaki ZX-6R 1’56.631 2.659
20 6 M. HERRERA Yamaha YZF R6 1’56.715 2.743
21 48  X. NAVAND Yamaha YZF R6 1’56.775 2.803
22 10  N. CALERO Kawasaki ZX-6R 1’57.066 3.094
23 4 C. STANGE Honda CBR600RR 1’58.236 4.264
24 15  A. COPPOLA Honda CBR600RR 1’58.254 4.282
25 67  G. MATERN Kawasaki ZX-6R 2’01.101 7.129

World Supersport 300

Two frenetic WorldSSP300 Tissot Superpole sessions saw action and drama right the way through, with Manuel Gonzalez (Kawasaki ParkinGO Team) qualifying on pole position from Group A.

WSBK Aragon WorldSSP Sat DeCancellis
Hugo De Cancellis

Joining him on the front row also from Group A is Indonesian rider, Galang Hendra Pratama (Semakin Di Depan Biblion Motoxracing) who is second, with fellow Group A rider Hugo De Cancellis (Team Trasimeno) completing the front row. With a gap of just 0.020 between first and second, it really is going to be a hard race to call on Sunday.

WSBK Aragon WorldSSP Sat Hendra Pratama
Galang Hendra Pratama

Row two sees Marc Luna Bayen (Kawasaki GP Project) in fourth place, ahead of the first of the Group B riders, Andy Verdoia (BCD Yamaha MS Racing), as the 16-year-old placed well in his fourth WorldSSP300 race of his career. Completing the second row is Guillem Erill (DEZA – BOX 77 RACING), making it three Spanish riders on the front two rows at home in Aragon.

Reigning champion Ana Carrasco (Kawasaki Provec WorldSSP300) will start 13th, whilst fellow title rival and 2018 3rd-placed overall Scott Deroue (Kawasaki MOTOPORT) is only 15th. Marc Garcia, the returning 2017 WorldSSP champion could only manage 24th at his home circuit on his come back, just ahead of young Australia Tom Edwards.

The first ever WorldSSP300 last chance race was a thrilling encounter, as we awaited the six riders to come through to join the main grid on Sunday. Winning the race for the first time, Dutchman Jeffrey Buis (MTM Racing Team) was able to hang on the leading group of three, which consisted of Italian Jacopo Facco (Semakin Di Depan Biblion Motoxracing) and Brazilian, Eliton Gohara Kawakami (BCD Yamaha MS Racing).

Behind the leading trio, a familiar name but a different rider: Bahattin Sofuoglu (Turkish Puccetti Racing by TSM) finished 10 seconds behind the winner but in fourth place, meaning he had done enough to get himself on the grid for the main race on Sunday. Joining him, Australian Tom Bramich (Carl Cox-RT Motorsports by SKM-Kawasaki) and Frenchman, Joseph Foray (Prodina IRCOS Kawasaki).

Just missing out behind the second trio was French rider, Romain Dore (Team MHP Racing-Patrick Pons) and Portuguese rider, Tomas Alonso (Kawasaki GP Project).

With six different nationalities from this race going through to compete in tomorrow’s main WorldSSP300 race, it highlights the international mix to the championship, whilst also the parity that it can bring to the motorcycling world.

Pole Position – Manuel Gonzalez (Kawasaki ParkinGO Team)

“We worked a lot during the winter test and yesterday and today it was a good Tissot Superpole. My lap was not perfect but it was enough to get me into pole position. I am sure tomorrow we will be able to fight for the win or for the podium. Thanks to everybody and I am looking forward to tomorrow”.

WSBK Aragon WorldSSP Sat Group
WorldSSP300

WorldSSP300 MotorLand Aragon Tissot Superpole
  1. Manuel Gonzalez (Kawasaki ParkinGO Team) 2’06.938
  2. Galang Hendra Pratama (Motoport Kawasaki) 2’06.958
  3. Hugo De Cancellis (Team Trasimeno) 2’07.532

Source: MCNews.com.au