Friday’s action in the FIM Supersport World Championship concluded with Philipp Oettl (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) leading the timesheets at the Circuito de Jerez – Angel Nieto as the German rider topped Free Practice 1 and finished second in Free Practice 2 for the Motul Spanish Round, keeping a two-tenths margin to Championship leader Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha).

OETTL KEEPS A CLEAR GAP

The form man on Friday in Jerez was Oettl with the German rider topping both Free Practice 1 and Free Practice 2, with his FP1 time of 1’42.249s the fastest recorded time of the day in WorldSSP which put him around four tenths clear of Championship leader Aegerter at the top of the timesheets. Aegerter, returning to WorldSSP after a clash with MotoE™ last week, was second as he quickly re-adapted to his Yamaha R6 machine and improving his time by around three tenths between FP1 and FP2, with Aegerter topping FP2 by just 0.054s. Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha ParkinGo Team) claimed sixth place after Friday’s running, around two tenths behind Aegerter with the Spaniard’s FP1 time his quickest.

CLOSE AS EVER IN WorldSSP

Friday’s action showed the action will be frantic throughout the remainder of the weekend with Championship contender Steven Odendaal (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team) in fourth place, half-a-second down on Oettl, while Niki Tuuli (MV Agusta Corse Clienti) was fifth despite a Turn 1 crash in Free Practice 2. Randy Krummenacher (CM Racing) continued his strong form with sixth place, less than six tenths away from top spot.

It was a successful return to action for five-time Champion Kenan Sofuoglu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) as he claimed seventh place, finding almost two seconds between his FP1 and FP2 teams and finishing less than a second away from Oettl’s pace. The Turkish legend was ahead of Raffaele De Rosa (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) who was eighth despite an early FP2 crash at Turn 2. Can Öncü (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing), teammate to his mentor for Friday’s action, was in ninth and around a tenth behind Sofuoglu, while Stefano Manzi (GMT94 Yamaha) recorded an impressive tenth on his debut.

CHASING A TOP 10 SPOT…

Federico Caricasulo (Biblion Iberica Yamaha Motoxracing) was 11^th after both Friday practice sessions and had an FP1 crash at Turn 6, finishing ahead of former teammate Jules Cluzel (GMT94 Yamaha) with the Frenchman in 12^th. Hungarian rider Peter Sebestyen (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team) claimed 13^th place ahead of Marcel Brenner (VFT Racing) and Glenn van Straalen (EAB Racing Team) who rounded out the top 15.

Unai Orradre (Yamaha MS Racing) was 16^th as he continues to adjust to life in WorldSSP, finishing 1.5s down on Oettl but two tenths clear of Federico Fuligni (VFT Racing) in 17^th place. Vertti Takala (Kallio Racing) claimed 18^th place ahead of Kevin Manfredi (Altogo Racing Team) with the Italian finishing as the highest place WorldSSP Challenge rider. Marc Alcoba (Yamaha MS Racing) rounded out the top 20 despite an FP2 crash at the high-speed Turn 11.

TO NOTE

Leonardo Taccini (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) was 30^th after an interrupted day of running after a technical problem in FP1 forced him to pull to the side of the track in the very early stages, with the Italian able to take to the track later on in the session and throughout FP2.

The top six following Friday action in WorldSSP at Jerez, full results here:

1. Philipp Oettl (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) 1’42.249s

2. Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) +0.206s

3. Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha ParkinGO Team) +0.432s

4. Steven Odendaal (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team) +0.493s

5. Niki Tuuli (MV Agusta Corse Clienti) +0.525s

6. Randy Krummenacher (CM Racing) +0.583s

Watch WorldSSP Tissot Superpole on Saturday from 10:25 Local Time (GMT+2) using the WorldSBK VideoPass!