The FIM Supersport World Championship rolled into Argentina and the Circuito San Juan Villicum for the Motul Argentinean Round with Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) ending Free Practice 1 on top of the timesheets after a delayed start, as the 45-minute session kicked off a potential title-deciding weekend in the Championship.

French rider Jules Cluzel (GMT94 Yamaha) had been quickest in the early stages of the running but a crash at Turn 6 meant his session was over after just 10 minutes, losing out on valuable track time as well as allowing his rivals to overhaul his early time of 1’44.257s. Championship leader Aegerter ended the session on top after position a 1’43’125s, although he did have a faster time deleted for exceeding track limits in the closing stages of the session, meaning he finished half-a-tenth clear of Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha ParkinGo Team) in second and Can Öncü (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) in third place.

Italian rider Raffaele De Rosa (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) was fourth after a late lap in FP1 with a 1’43.741s, leading a group of five riders separated by just three tenths of a second. Back on track for the first time since injuries sustained at Magny-Cours, Valentin Debise (GMT94 Yamaha) claimed fifth place ahead of Estonian Hannes Soomer (Kallio Racing) after a late lap to move him seventh tenths away from Aegerter.

Hungarian Peter Sebestyen (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team) set the pace for the Evan Bros. outfit with seventh place, 0.012s clear of teammate and Championship contender Steven Odendaal. Finland’s Niki Tuuli (MV Agusta Corse Clienti) was in ninth despite a late technical issue with his bike, with Cluzel rounding out the top ten despite his early-session crash after completing just three laps.

The top six following WorldSSP FP1, full results here:

1. Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) 1’43.125s

2. Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha ParkinGo Team) +0.048s

3. Can Öncü (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) +0.451s

4. Raffaele De Rosa (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) +0.616s

5. Valentin Debise (GMT94 Yamaha) +0.711s

6. Hannes Soomer (Kallio Racing) +0.721s

Watch all the WorldSSP action from Argentina using the WorldSBK VideoPass!