Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) showed incredibly rapid pace on Friday at the Misano World Circuit “Marco Simoncelli” as he kicked off his second home round in the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship. The #5 claimed P3 in Free Practice 2 to comfortably finish as the lead rookie in that session, and his time was good enough for fourth in the combined classification to show his hand early at Misano.

In Free Practice 1, Montella was 14^th with a 1’34.410s, almost 1.4s second down on the pace of Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team). Perhaps the more representative comparison would be teammate Danilo Petrucci, who was fifth with a 1’33.731s, around seven tenths quicker than his younger teammate. Montella didn’t do a long run in FP1, with his longest stint only six laps long.

In FP2, the #5 completed two longer stints. His first was 10 laps long and showed a bit of consistency, with his first lap a 1’35.117s and his last a 1’34.216s – out of the 10 laps, seven were in the 1’34s although Montella will aim to improve the range of those 1’34s laps. Those laps ranged from 1’34.761s to 1’34.149s, although that lap came on Lap 8. In the second stint, he completed nine laps, which included his fastest of the day. Three laps were in the 1’33s bracket but there were also two in the 1’40s or slower, showing some inconsistency but also some outright pace from the rookie, who will be aiming for a good result on home soil.

Discussing his Friday, Montella said “After the test a couple of weeks ago, I think we made a step. This morning in FP1, I found different conditions with the heat. I think I’m in a position where I needed a bit more time to adapt my riding style for the conditions. In FP2, we started with the race configuration of tyres, and it wasn’t bad in the end. We did 1’34.1 as my best time, it was a good pace in the low 1’34. We tried the Q tyre at the end, the new development, and it was good throughout. I hope the other riders used the SCQ tyre! It was a good day for us, but we need to be honest and there are a few things we’ll continue to work on.”

Montella expanded more about the decision to use the SCQ tyre in FP2, not just for the Tissot Superpole session on Saturday that sets the grid for Race 1 and the Tissot Superpole Race on Sunday morning, but also whether the SCQ tyre would be able to last the 10-lap race when the entire grid will be pushing flat out in order to get a top-nine finish and, therefore, a third-row start or better for Sunday afternoon’s Race 2.

Montella said: “It was good as we wanted to understand whether we could make the Superpole Race with the SCQ tyre. It was important to try it in these conditions because it’s something we’ll find on Sunday. Tomorrow, the Superpole will be like a jungle as always! Here, you can lose a few tenths and from fourth you finish 14^th. I need to be calm and focused and do my best. I think it could be an option for the Superpole Race, but I need to understand how to manage it. It’s completely different to ride one tyre for a lap and one for 10 laps.”

Can Montella delivery a season’s best performance on Saturday? Find out using the WorldSBK VideoPass – now 30% off!