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Gonzalez heads WorldSSP FP1 ahead of Championship leader Aegerter at Navarra

Friday, 20 August 2021 10:27 GMT

    • The Spanish rider continued his strong form in the first WorldSSP session at the Circuito de Navarra with a three-tenths margin over the Championship leader

    After taking two podiums last time out at the Autodrom Most in the FIM Supersport World Championship, Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha ParkinGo Team) continued his strong form the best time in the opening session of the Pirelli Navarra Round at the Circuito de Navarra. The Spanish rider had an almost three-tenths advantage over his nearest rival.

    Gonzalez showed strong pace throughout the 45-minute session and posted a 1’41.181s to top the standings at a track he knows from the Spanish championships. Championship leader Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) was second in the standings with a 1’41.436s, 0.255s back from Gonzalez. Federico Caricasulo (Biblion Iberica Yamaha Motoxracing) was the only rider to have an incident in the opening practice session after he came off his bike at Turn 3 in the early stages but was able to remount his Yamaha YZF R6 to finish in third place.

    Danish rider Simon Jespersen, replacing the injured Hannes Soomer at Kallio Racing, drew attention with his performance in the opening session with fourth, half a second away from Gonzalez’s time; a remarkable effort for his first appearance in WorldSSP. Randy Krummenacher (EAB Racing Team) was fifth and the last rider to lap the Circuito de Navarra in the 1’41s. Jules Cluzel (GMT94 Yamaha) claimed sixth spot in Free Practice 1.

    Niki Tuuli (MV Agusta Corse Clienti) finished in seventh spot in Free Practice 1 as he looks to show more strong pace that he has shown on occasion throughout 2021, with Steven Odendaal (Evan Bros. Yamaha WorldSSP Team) in eighth place; the South African rider will be hoping he can close the gap to Aegerter throughout the weekend. Philipp Oettl (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) is another who will want to close the gap to the front runners as he finished in ninth, just ahead of Vertti Takala (Kallio Racing).

    The top six following Free Practice 1 in WorldSSP, full results here:

    1. Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha ParkinGO Team) 1’41.181

    2. Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) +0.255s

    3. Federico Caricasulo (Biblion Iberica Yamaha Motoxracing) +0.375s

    4. Simon Jespersen (Kallio Racing) +0.488s

    5. Randy Krummenacher (EAB Racing Team) +0.650s

    6. Jules Cluzel (GMT94 Yamaha) +0.858s

    Follow more action from Navarra using the WorldSBK VideoPass!