The FIM Supersport World Championship hit the track for a thrilling Tissot Superpole session, which was topped by Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team), who significantly improved on his time from Friday morning. The #55 will start from pole position after destroying the lap record, setting a magnificent 1’34.126.

FRONT ROW: The battle for pole position

The times began to heat up towards the end of Superpole, and it was a two-way fight for pole position, with the #55 ending Friday 0.155s clear of the field. Montella was ahead of title rival, Adrian Huertas (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team), who spent most of the session at the top of the timesheets, only to get pipped in the last five minutes. Meanwhile, Stefano Manzi (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing), continued a consistent start to the weekend in third position and as the top Yamaha.

IDENTICAL TIMES: Nothing separating Caricasulo and Sofuoglu

Valentin Debise (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team) will head the second row of the grid after a great session in fourth place. Meanwhile, the battle for the final spot inside the top five couldn’t get any closer, with Federico Caricasulo (Motozoo ME AIR Racing) and Bahattin Sofuoglu (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) setting identical times in Superpole, with Caricasulo setting a better second-best time – clinching P5. However, it was a tough session for Sofuoglu, who suffered an early crash at Turn 18, before returning to track later on and finishing in sixth.

BEST OF THE REST: Mahias P10 after crash

Jorge Navarro (Orelac Racing Verdnatura) took seventh at the end of Friday, heading from the third row of the grid alongside Marcel Schroetter (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) in P8. Behind the #23 will be D34G Racing WorldSSP Team’s Tom Edwards, who had a brilliant Superpole session to finish in ninth. The #71 was ahead of Lucas Mahias (GMT94 Yamaha), who took the final spot inside the top 10. However, Mahias would also suffer a crash early in Superpole, crashing at Turn 10. 

There was also a crash later in the session for Soichiro Minamimoto (Yamaha Thailand Racing Team), falling at Turn 21 – bringing an early end to his day. Can Oncu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) later stopped at Turn 21 after a technical issue - finishing Superpole in 12^th place.

After the session had concluded, it was announced that Steven Odendaal (WRP Racing) had been disqualified due to a technical infringement. The South African had taken 18^th in Superpole, so this means everyone below him in the original classification moves up one spot.

The top six from WorldSSP Superpole, full results here:

1. Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) 1’34.126s

2. Adrian Huertas (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team) +0.155s

3. Stefano Manzi (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing) +0.383s

4. Valentin Debise (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team) +0.585s

5. Federico Caricasulo (Motozoo ME AIR Racing) +1.019s

6. Bahattin Sofuoglu (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) +1.019s

Make sure you don’t miss Race 1 for WorldSSP on Saturday at 15:15 Local Time (UTC +2) by using the WorldSBK VideoPass - now 30% off!