The FIM Supersport World Championship started with the first Free Practice session from Phillip Island. With the track starting off damp but drying throughout the session, most riders who set a time left it until the last 15 minutes before leave joining the track. It was Andrea Locatelli (Bardahl Evan Bros. WorldSSP Team) who was fastest during the session after completing just four laps.

Locatelli, who had finished the Official Test fastest after topping every session, led the way despite little track time. Corentin Perolari (GMT94 Yamaha) was second quickest, almost 0.7s back from Locatelli, after being the first rider to switch to slick tyres during the session. Teammate Jules Cluzel finished in third place with Estonian rider Hannes Soomer (Kallio Racing) in fourth place. South African rider Steven Odendaal (EAB Ten Kate Racing) rounded out the top five.

Spanish rider Isaac Viñales (Kallio Racing) finished the session in sixth place with Philipp Oettl (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) ended the 45-minute session in seventh. Reigning champion Randy Krummenacher (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) was eighth with Lucas Mahias (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) and Turkish rookie Can Öncü (Turkish Racing Team) in ninth and tenth respectively. Britain’s Danny Webb (WRP Wepol Racing) was 11^th on his WorldSSP debut.

Wildcard Oli Bayliss (CUBE Racing) finished the session in 13^th place. Raffaele de Rosa (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) and teammate Federico Fuligni did not set a time during the session along with Hikari Okubo (Dynavolt Honda), who had an incident on track but returned to the pits.

Top six from FP1, full results here!

1. Andrea Locatelli (BARDAHL Evan Bros. WorldSSP Team) 1’34.061
2. Corentin Perolari (GMT94 Yamaha) +0.684
3. Jules Cluzel (GMT94 Yamaha) +0.807
4. Hannes Soomer (Kallio Racing) +0.810
5. Steven Odendaal (EAB Ten Kate Racing) +0.829
6. Isaac Viñales (Kallio Racing) +1.145

You can catch all the action from Phillip Island with the WorldSBK VideoPass.