FIM Supersport 300 World Championship action continued with the Motul Portuguese Round with the Tissot Superpole to set the grid for the first 30 places for Race 1 and Race 2 at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve with Yuta Okaya (MTM Kawasaki MOTOPORT) claiming his first pole position in WorldSSP300.

Okaya’s early lap of a 1’56.406 was enough to claim pole position with the gauntlet set early on with a huge margin. As the session went by, other riders were able to close the gap but no one was able to overturn Okaya’s pole position. Scott Deroue makes it a MTM Kawasaki MOTOPORT 1-2 on the front row as he tried to snatch pole with a last-gasp effort, falling just short. Mika Perez (Prodina Ircos Team WorldSSP300) also lines up on the front row having put in some fast laps towards the end of the session.

It marks a massive change of fortune for Okaya at Portimao, who in the 2019 Round did not qualify for the race; bouncing back a season later to claim a dominant pole position in Portugal; the Japanese rider looking to convert that pole position into a race victory in Portugal.

Thomas Brianti (Prodina Ircos Team WorldSSP300) will start both races from fourth place as he lapped around half a second slower than Okaya, with 2018 Champion Ana Carrasco (Kawasaki Provec WorldSSP300) lining up fifth. Jeffrey Buis (MTM Kawasaki MOTOPORT) completed the second row, with Carrasco and Buis separated by around half a tenth.

Meikon Kawakami (Team Brasil AD 78) lines up on the third row with Koen Meuffels (MTM Kawasaki MOTOPORT) alongside, with little to separate the pair; showing just how close the action in WorldSSP300 is. Oliver König (Freudenberg KTM Junior Team) completes the third row as he beat Alejandro Carrion (Smrz Racing – Willi Race) to complete the top 10.

Championship leader Tom Booth-Amos (RT Motorsports by SKM – Kawasaki) qualified on the fifth row, looking to fight his way through the field as he did in Jerez. Samuel di Sora (Leader Team Flembbo) qualified in 17^th place after a fall in the latter stages of the session as he was pushing hard to move up the grid, while Felipe Macan (Team Brasil AD 78) also suffered from a crash. Both riders appeared to be okay following the incidents

The top six following Tissot Superpole, full results here:

1.) Yuta Okaya (MTM Kawasaki MOTOPORT)

2.) Scott Deroue (MTM Kawasaki MOTOPORT) +0.137

3.) Mika Perez (Prodina Ircos Team WorldSSP300) +0.314

4.) Thomas Brianti (Prodina Ircos Team WorldSSP300) +0.495

5.) Ana Carrasco (Kawasaki Provec Racing) +0.553

6.) Jeffrey Buis (MTM Kawasaki MOTOPORT) +0.605

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