Reigning World Champion Kenan Sofuoglu is all business heading into the Fassi French Round where he could be crowned World Supersport Champion once again. The Kawasaki Puccetti Racing rider set the pace early in Friday’s first practice session being the only rider to break into the 1’41 bracket.

Teammate Randy Krummenacher dashed to second position in the final minutes, showing he is serious about hunting Sofuoglu down for the crown. MV Agusta Reparto Corse rider Jules Cluzel gave French fans a reason to cheer after finishing in third at his home track.

Kallio Racing’s Niki Tuuli put on another impressive performance finally finishing in fourth, but was unable to improve after a minor crash ended his session early. Alessandro Zaccone (San Carlo Team Italia) rounded out the fastest five.

The session was red flagged half way through after Breadan Ortt’s WILSport Racedays Honda leaked oil onto the track at the Adelaide Hairpin, as smoke billowed out of his bike. Once the oil was cleaned up the session resumed, still with Sofuoglu in front.

Christian Gamarino finished in P6 ahead of Honda World Superbike Team’s PJ Jacobsen in P7 while DS Junior Team’s Illia Mikhalchyk completed the session in P8 ahead of his ESS compatriot Axel Bassani (San Carlo Team Italia) in P9, while Gino Rea (GRT Racing Team) locked out the top 10.

FP2 begins for the intermediate class at 14:45 local time (GMT+2) with the top 10 riders gaining direct entry to Tissot-Superpole 2 on Saturday.