Loris Veneman (MTM Kawasaki) has seemingly made pole position a habit of late after claiming P1 in the FIM Supersport 300 World Championship’s Tissot Superpole session. The #7 was over half-a-second clear of teammate Mirko Gennai in second at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve as he repeated his Most success in Superpole. The front row for Race 1 at the Pirelli Portuguese Round will be completed by Galang Hendra Pratama (ProGP NitiRacing).

A DRAMATIC OPENING: Buis fastest but crashes, red flags shown

Jeffrey Buis (Freudenberg KTM-PALIGO Racing) went fastest in the first five minutes as he set a 1’56.712s before he crashed at Turn 5. The red flags were briefly brought out with just under 20 minutes remaining following an incident on the start-finish straight involving Ruben Bijman (Team Flembbo-PL Performances) and Dinis Borges (Speed Master Racing Team) to allow their bikes to be recovered. Borges was taken to the medical centre for a check-up following the crash.

DOUBLING UP: Veneman makes it two in a row

When the session resumed, Veneman stormed to the top of the timesheets by setting a 1’55.745s, lapping 0.171s clear of teammate Gennai as they provisionally lined up in an MTM Kawasaki 1-2, before Veneman improved again to a 1’55.550s and increased his gap over Gennai. To tighten his grip on pole, the #7 went even faster – with a 1’55.399s – inside the final five minutes to claim his second pole, and his second in two rounds. He’ll be joined on the front row by teammate Gennai, with Indonesia’s Pratama completing the front row with third; he was 0.563s back from Veneman.

HAS VANNUCCI’S LUCK TURNED? P5 for the Italian

Pratama’s brother, Aldi Satya Mahendra (Team BrCorse), claimed fourth place as he lapped around a tenth slower than his sibling. Matteo Vannucci (Pata Yamaha AG Motorsport Italia) will be hoping his luck changes after a difficult start to the year and he claimed fifth in Superpole. 0.011s slower than Mahendra, while Marco Gaggi (Team BrCorse) rounded out the top six with a 1’56.139s.

IGLESIAS TAKES THIRD ROW AFTER CRASH: bouncing back at the end of Superpole

Inigo Iglesias (Fusport-RT Motorsports by SKM-Kawasaki) crashed at Turn 5 after the session restarted but his team were able to get him back out on track in the final moments to secure a third row start with P7. Teammate Carter Thompson, who was so impressive in his debut at Most, will line up alongside the #58 from eighth, with David Salvador and Unai Calatayud (ARCO SASH MotoR University Team) rounding out the top ten.

HOUSEKEEPING: Buis on the sixth row…

Buis was able to get back out on track after his crash but he could only manage P18, directly ahead of teammate Phillip Tonn. Giacomo Zannini (Team ProDina Kawasaki) was 29^th after he came down late on in the 25-minute session at Turn 13. Borges was 32^nd after his incident, while Bijman returned to the track to claim 28^th.

Following the session, several riders were handed back of the grid starts for slow sectors during Superpole. To see the Race 1 starting grid after the penalties have been applied, click here.

The top six from WorldSSP300 Superpole, full results here:

1. Loris Veneman (MTM Kawasaki) 1’55.399s

2. Mirko Gennai (MTM Kawasaki) +0.517s

3. Galang Hendra Pratama (ProGP NitiRacing) +0.563s

4. Aldi Satya Mahendra (Team BrCorse) +0.673s

5. Matteo Vannucci (Pata Yamaha AG Motorsport Italia) +0.684s

6. Marco Gaggi (Team BrCorse) +0.740s

Don’t miss any action from Saturday’s WorldSSP300 Race 1 at 15:30 Local Time (UTC+1) using the WorldSBK VideoPass – NOW HALF PRICE!