Garcia returns to the top after day one of Imola!
2017 champion is back to his best ahead of championship contenders at Pirelli Italian Round!
WorldSSP300 was back on track at Imola for their 2019 campaign, returning after a four-week hiatus. From back-to-back rounds at a busy Aragon and a weather-affected Assen, the WorldSSP300 category now takes to the historic Imola circuit in Italy. After the first day of action, it was 2017 WorldSSP champion Marc Garcia (DS Junior Team) on top, but there’s plenty of time left for the others to catch up.
Having dipped below the existing lap record in FP2, Group A were once again dominant in the leading positions on combined times. Marc Garcia’s time of 2’07.028 placed him ahead of Mika Perez (Scuderia Maranga Racing) and Hugo De Cancellis (Team Trasimeno Yamaha). Garcia won at the Imola track back in 2017 and will be hoping that he can use this weekend as a platform to elevate himself up from a lowly 14th in the championship.
Fourth on the time sheets was Galang Hendra Pratama (Semakin Di Depan Biblion Motoxracing), who led for the majority of the session. The Indonesian rider was 0.442s from the top time by Garcia. In fifth place was the first of the Group B entrants, with Bruno Ieraci (Kawasaki GP Project) continuing his impressive form on from Assen. Kevin Sabatucci (Team Trasimeno Yamaha) made it a 1-2 in Group B for Italy and finished sixth overall, making for an exciting prospect for the rest of the weekend.
WorldSSP300 action returns on Saturday for FP3, Superpole and the much-anticipated Last Chance Race. Watch it all with the WorldSBK VideoPass!
Top six after FP2 (combined), for combined Group A results, click here and for Group B, here!
- Marc Garcia (DS Junior Team) 2’07.028
- Mika Perez (Scuderia Maranga Racing) 2’07.297
- Hugo De Cancellis (Team Trasimeno Yamaha) 2’07.385
- Galang Hendra Pratama (Semakin Di Depan Biblion Motoxracing) 2’07.470
- Bruno Ieraci (Kawasaki GP Project) 2’07.502
- Kevin Sabatucci (Team Trasimeno Yamaha) 2’07.662