In a dramatic red flagged session, Raffaele De Rosa (QJMOTOR Factory Racing) stormed to the top spot of the Free Practice session in The FIM Supersport World Championship. The Italian rider rode an impressive lap time of 1’56.918s despite the challenging weather conditions, just finishing ahead of Championship contender Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) and Valentin Debise (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team) who came in 0.414 seconds behind the top rider.

With 20 minutes of track time completed, the session was red flagged following an incident involving #71 Tom Edwards (D34G Racing WorldSSP Team) which took place at Turn 12. The Australian rider was taken to the Medical Centre where he has since been declared fit ahead of the afternoon Superpole session. Pit lane reopened, with 33 minutes of the session remaining and it was Britain’s Thomas Booth-Amos (PTR Triumph) who resumed his top spot as the riders returned to the track.

The Triumph rider was unable to maintain his lead however, as De Rosa impressed the paddock on his QJ Motor bike posting a best lap time with only ten minutes of practice time remaining. Despite efforts from Montella and Debise, he managed to hold onto the top spot for the Free Practice session. However. The Italian did not end it in the way he would have liked, after a low side crash on his last lap as the chequered flag came out.  Spaniard Jorge Navarro (Orelac Racing Verdnatura) just missed out on a top 3 position as he took fourth fastest overall, whilst debutant Bo Bendsneyder (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) and Championship contender Stefano Manzi (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing) rounded off the top six.

#99 rider, and Championship leader, Adrian Huertas (Aruba.it Racing) posted a lap time of 1'58.804, a surprising start to his race weekend, as he finished outside of the top 10 in thirteenth.

 The top six from WorldSSP FP, full results here:

1. Raffaele De Rosa (QJMOTOR Factory Racing) 1’56.918s
2. Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) +0.049s
3. Valentin Debise (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team) +0.414s
4. Jorge Navarro (Orelac Racing Verdnatura) +0.786s
5. Bo Bendsneyder (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) +0.820s
6. Stefano Manzi (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing) +0.950s

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