The 2021 FIM Supersport World Championship fired into life under the radiant Aragon sun at the MotorLand Aragon circuit, with a complete surprise in Finland’s Niki Tuuli (MV Agusta Reparto Corse Clienti) storming to top spot, marginally faster than South African ace Steven Odendaal (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team) and Philipp Oettl (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing). Track conditions were perfect for the World Supersport riders and surprises were abundant throughout the top ten.

Tuuli took charge early on, showing strong from early on as he adapted well to the Italian MV Agusta machinery on his debut weekend with the team. He was just under three-quarters of a tenth faster than Steven Odendaal, as the South African rider gets used to his new team – the Evan Bros. Yamaha outfit, Champions for the last two seasons. He returns from injury in preseason but looks comfortable on the bike. Philipp Oettl made it three different manufacturers inside the top three with Kawasaki and was just 0.434s behind the top slot occupied by Tuuli. Jules Cluzel (GMT94 Yamaha) started the season in solid fashion with fourth, whilst his teammate Federico Caricasulo completed the top five on his return to the class.

Sixth place went to top rookie and Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) with the Swiss rider dialling himself into World Supersport machinery and the MotorLand Aragon circuit. Seventh was Christoffer Bergman (Wojcik Racing Team), as he surprised once again, having also been quick in testing. Another rookie was in eighth, with Marc Alcoba (Yamaha MS Racing) also surprising many with his debut in the class. Hannes Soomer (Kallio Racing) was a steady ninth, as Raffaele De Rosa (ORELAC Racing VerdNatura) started his new chapter on Kawasaki machinery in tenth.

Big names outside of the top ten included Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha ParkinGO Team), who was only 14^th whilst Turkey’s Can Öncü (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) struggled to 20^th. One of the main headlines was that one of the ‘big six’ in terms of title contention, Randy Krummenacher (EAB Racing Team) was rooted to the garage, only completing one out-lap but not getting a time on the board.

Top six after FP1 of WorldSSP from Round 1 at MotorLand Aragon, full results here:

1. Niki Tuuli (MV Agusta Corse Clienti) 1’54.394s
2. Steven Odendaal (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team) +0.073s
3. Philipp Oettl (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) +0.434s
4. Jules Cluzel (GMT94 Yamaha) +0.653s
5. Federico Caricasulo (GMT94 Yamaha) +0.687s
6. Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) +0.936s

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