The first Tissot Superpole session of the final FIM Supersport 300 World Championship season is in the books as the grid kicked off their season-opening Pirelli Portuguese Round. The grid took to the track in the afternoon, with Phillip Tonn (Freudenberg KTM-Paligo Racing) sitting P1 for most of the session until an explosion of fast lap times late in the session threw the timesheet’s composition out the window as a new order formed. Rookie Benat Fernandez (Team#109 Retro Traffic Kove) turned heads with his first ever-pole position. Behind him, Australian Carter Thompson (MTM Kawasaki) jumped up in the time sheet to finish P2, and Tonn weathered the storm to hold onto a front-row finish in P3.

SAN SEBASTIAN’S STARBOY: Fernandez earns first-ever pole position

Fernandez earned Kove’s second-ever pole position, almost exactly a year after their first, with the Spanish rookie snatching P1 with minutes left in the session on his 1’55.238s lap. Thompson registered a 1’55.277s lap late in the session propelling him from what would have been second-row, up into P2, only 0.039s behind Fernandez.  KTM’s Tonn kept the ball rolling, earning a P3 due to his 1’55.321s fastest lap, as three manufacturers claimed a front row start.

BUIS TO LEAD ROW 2: 2-time World Champion finishes P4

Two-time WorldSSP300 Champion Jefferey Buis (Freudenberg KTM-Paligo Racing) ended the session P4 through his 1’55.443s lap. Brazilian Rider Humberto Maier (Yamaha AD78 FIMLA by MS Racing) claimed P5 with a 1’55.570s lap. Antonio Torres (Team ProDina XCI) spent most of the session lower down the time sheet before a momentary P1-earning lap time was registered by the Spaniard. Moments later, the lap was outpaced by other riders’ times, but Torres finished in P6 on his 1’55.672s lap.

GAGGI P7, CATALYUD P8, SABATUCCI P9: Only 0.022s between P7 and P8

Marco Gaggi (Team BrCorse) righted the ship after a P17 finish in FP1, improving to P7 through a 1’55.685s lap. Unai Calatayud (ARCO MotoR University Team) jumped ahead to an early P2 however, he was pushed down to P8 after a flurry of late fast runs. He finished with a 1’55.707s lap set early in the session, finishing P2 through his 1’55.707s lap. Kevin Sabatucci (Accolade Funds Smrz Racing BGR) will pull up the rear of Race 1’s 3^rd row in P9 via his 1’56.022s lap in the Superpole session.

OSUNA, SANCHEZ, SWAIN CRASH OUT: Sanchez ruled out of remainer of Round 2

Pepe Osuna crashed early in the session, lowsiding out of Turn 15, one of the fastest corners on the calendar. He limped away under his own strength, however, awaits an official assessment from the medical center. Gonzalo Sanchez (ARCO MotoR University Team) crashed out of the session at Turn 6 with only 7 minutes left in the session. He was later diagnosed with a distal radius fracture in the same wrist, ruling him out from the rest of the weekend. Elia Bartolini (Team BrCorse) and Unai Calatayud (ARCO MotoR University Team) collided in Turn 8, both riders walked away from the incident however the incident ended their Superpole sessions. Australian Cameron Swain crashed in Turn 15 late in the session when riders were finishing their final laps, and he awaits an official diagnosis from the medical centre.

FIRST FREE PRACTICE OF 2025: Tonn leads KTM 1-2

In the first WorldSSP300 session of 2025, it was a KTM 1-2 at the top of the standings as Phillip Tonn (Freudenberg KTM-Paligo Racing) led teammate Jeffrey Buis. Tonn set a 1’55.141s while two-time Champion Buis was four tenths down on his teammate. Unai Calatayud (ARCO Sash MotoR University Team) completed the top three, while there were crashes for Gonzalo Sanchez (ARCO Sash MotoR University Team) and Carter Thompson (MTM Kawasaki) at Turns 6 and 13, respectively.

The top six from the WorldSSP300 Superpole session, full results here!

1. Benat Fernández (Team#109 Retro Traffic Kove) 1’55.238s
2. Carter Thompson (MTM Kawasaki) +0.039s
3. Phillip Tonn (Freudenberg KTM-Paligo Racing) +0.083s
4. Jeffrey Buis (Freudenberg KTM-Paligo Racing) +0.205s
5. Humberto Maier (Yamaha AD78 FIMLA by MS Racing) +0.332s
6. Antonio Torres (Team ProDina XCI) +0.434s

Tune in Saturday and Sunday for the rest of this weekend’s race action via the WorldSBK VideoPass!