The FIM Supersport World Championship descended on the Pertamina Mandalika International Street Circuit for the first time on Friday with the 45-minute Free Practice 1 session for the Pirelli Indonesian Round. The session was topped by Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha ParkinGo Team) by more than half-a-second ahead of his nearest rivals, with the top five in the standings the only riders who could lap below the 1’39s bracket.

Gonzalez had a technical issue in the early stages of the session but was able to get back on track to post a lap time of 1’38.795s, the only rider to lap in the 1’38s bracket as he topped the session by 0.429s. 2021 Champion Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) claimed second place as he managed to overhaul fellow Swiss rider Randy Krummenacher (CM Racing) in the latter stages of the session. 2019 Champion Krummenacher had been setting the pace in the early stages of the session before being bumped down to third place.

Italian rider Raffaele De Rosa (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) claimed fourth place after a strong start for the Italian and the lead Kawasaki rider in the field, ahead of Turkey’s Can Öncü (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) in fifth place. Jules Cluzel (GMT94 Yamaha) was sixth, the first rider in the 1’40s bracket.

Cluzel’s GMT94 Yamaha teammate, Valentin Debise, was seventh after he had a highside at Turn 5 with around 30 minutes left in the session, but the Frenchman was able to rejoin the session following the crash. Peter Sebestyen (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team) was the first of the Evan Bros. riders with eighth place, one tenth ahead of teammate Steven Odendaal in ninth. Finnish rider Niki Tuuli (MV Agusta Corse Clienti) rounded out the top then, with Tuuli losing time in the opening stages as he was forced to stay in the box.

Federico Caricasulo, making his debut with VFT Racing and the third team he has competed for in 2021, was 12^th after a late technical issue and crash, while local hero Galang Hendra Pratama (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) was 18^th as he raced on his home venue in Indonesia.

The top six following WorldSSP FP1, full results here:

1. Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha ParkinGO Team) 1’38.795

2. Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing – Yamaha) +0.429s

3. Randy Krummenacher (CM Racing) +0.545s

4. Raffaele De Rosa (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) +0.626s

5. Can Öncü (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) +0.773s

6. Jules Cluzel (GMT94 Yamaha) +1.244s

Watch WorldSSP back on track for PF2 at 14:00 Local Time (GMT+8) using the WorldSBK VideoPass!­