Jules Cluzel (NRT) pipped ahead of Sandro Cortese (Kallio Racing) with six minutes left on the clock to lead the FIM Supersport World Championship riders going into qualifying at the Acerbis Czech Round. Reversing their roles from FP1, Cluzel took advantage of Cortese’s crash halfway through the afternoon session to set the fastest time of the day untroubled.

Cortese topped the timesheets near the end of the morning free practice, but a crash at Turn 5 at the midpoint of the second session caused a red flag and ended the German’s Friday. With the battle at the front-end of the grid so fierce, Cortese will hope to be fully back in form tomorrow to battle off the threats coming from behind in the standings.

Third at Brno on Friday was Randy Krummenacher (BARDAHL Evan Bros. WorldSSP Team), sneaking ahead in the closing stages. Ayrton Badovini (MV Agusta Reparto Corse by Vamag), the best non-Yamaha rider on Friday, has previously won twice at Brno in the STK1000 class, and the Italian put his talent on display here with the fourth fastest time in FP2.

Federico Caricasulo (GRT Yamaha Official WorldSSP Team) beat teammate and championship challenger Lucas Mahias (GRT Yamaha Official WorldSSP Team) to score the fifth fastest time, with the reigning champion in sixth. Behind them, Thomas Gradinger (NRT) took the seventh fastest time, with Anthony West (EAB antwest Racing) in eighth on the ZX-6R.

Raffaele De Rosa (MV Agusta Reparto Corse by Vamag), in search of his fourth consecutive WorldSSP podium, managed the ninth best time on Friday, with Sheridan Morais (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) recording the tenth best time and taking the last automatic place in tomorrow’s Superpole 2.

The Supersport bikes are back on track tomorrow morning for FP3, with the Superpole 1 and 2 qualifying sessions starting at 14:00 local time (12:00 GMT). Find out how the riders will line-up at Brno thanks to the WorldSBK VideoPass.