The Tissot Superpole session for the FIM Supersport World Championship provided thrilling action throughout the 20-minute session but it was Estoril Race 2 winner Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) who claimed his maiden WorldSSP pole position at the Misano World Circuit “Marco Simoncelli” ahead of the Pirelli Made in Italy Emilia-Romagna Round, becoming the 50^th different polesitter in WorldSSP history.

THE TOP THREE

Aegerter put in a last-ditch lap of 1’37.726s to claim his first WorldSSP pole position, coming two weeks after his first victory in the class at Estoril last time out. It had looked like Luca Bernardi (CM Racing) would claim his, and San Marino’s, pole position but he was usurped by the Swiss rider, with Aegerter becoming Switzerland’s second polesitter in WorldSSP. Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha ParkinGo Team) equalled his best ever WorldSSP start with third place, coming on the back of his first podium at Estoril.

TOP 15 SEPARATED BY A SECOND

The top 15 in the standings following Tissot Superpole were separated by just one second with Jules Cluzel (GMT94 Yamaha) missing out on a front row start by just 0.001s to Gonzalez, while Hannes Soomer (Kallio Racing) was another 0.001s behind Cluzel; just 0.002s separating third to fifth on the grid. Championship leader Steven Odendaal (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team) will start from the second row as he looks to return to winning ways.

Germany’s Philipp Oettl (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) will start both races from the third row with seventh on the grid, ahead of 2019 Champion Randy Krummenacher (EAB Racing Team) and Turkish star Can Öncü (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing); the young rider qualifying inside the top ten despite a late crash at Turn 14. Raffaele De Rosa (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) completed the top ten.

Federico Caricasulo (GMT94 Yamaha) will start from 11^th place alongside the Fuligni brothers in 12^th and 13^th; Filippo Fuligni (D34G Racing) fending off brother Federico Fuligni (VFT Racing) by just two tenths of a second to secure a top-15 start. Wildcard Robert Mercandelli (Team Rosso e Nero) will start from 14^th after showing strong pace on Friday, while Niki Tuuli will start 15^th after two crashes in the 20-minute session; the first coming at Turn 3 and the second at Turn 14.

NOTEWORTHY TALKING POINTS…

Maria Herrera (Biblion Iberica Yamaha Motoxracing) was the highest placed WorldSSP Challenge rider with 20^th place with rival Kevin Manfredi (Altogo Racing Team) in 22^nd place. Luca Ottaviani (RM Racing) had a crash at a similar time at Turn 4 with the Italian able to return his bike to the pits following the crash before qualifying in 24^th place, qualifying half-a-tenth ahead of Indonesia’s Galang Hendra Pratama (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha).

The top six following Tissot Superpole in WorldSSP, full results here:

1.         Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) 1'37.726s

2.         Luca Bernardi (CM Racing) +0.013s

3.         Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha ParkinGo Team) +0.135s

4.         Jules Cluzel (GMT94 Yamaha) +0.136s

5.         Hannes Soomer (Kallio Racing) +0.137s

6.         Steven Odendaal (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team) +0.182s

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