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Record-breaking: Gonzalez becomes youngest ever WorldSSP polesitter after Most Superpole

Saturday, 7 August 2021 09:22 GMT

    • The Spanish rider has been strong all weekend and converted that pace into his first-ever pole position in WorldSSP; 14 riders separated by just one second

    The first ever Tissot Superpole session for the FIM Supersport World Championship at the Autodrom Most was full of action and drama as Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha ParkinGo Team) claimed his maiden WorldSSP pole position after a late effort to beat Championship leader Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) by less than a tenth.

    THE TOP THREE…

    Gonzalez posted a lap time of 1’35.213s to secure pole position to become the youngest ever WorldSSP polesitter in the Championship’s history at 19 years and three days old, beating the old record from Chris Vermeulen of 19 years, 10 months and 23 days which stood for almost 20 years. Gonzalez’s pole position also means he records Spain’s first pole position in WorldSSP in the Championship.

    Aegerter will start from second place after going just 0.040s slower than Gonzalez after the Spanish rider posted his best lap time right at the end of the session, while German rider Philipp Oettl (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) will start from third, two tenths away from Gonzalez’s time.

    COMPLETING THE TOP TEN

    Frenchman Jules Cluzel (GMT94 Yamaha) had a difficult Friday but bounced back on Saturday to claim fourth place on the grid while Sammarinese rider Luca Bernardi (CM Racing) will start from fifth place after a strong Saturday, recovering from a challenging Friday, with Valentin Debise (GMT94 Yamaha) an impressive sixth despite a crash early on in the session; the Frenchman able to re-join the 20-miunute session with a handful of minutes remaining.

    South African rider Steven Odendaal (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team) will start seventh after posting a lap time four tenths slower than Gonzalez, and he will be looking to battle with Aegerter to close the gap in the Championship. Finnish rider Niki Tuuli (MV Agusta Corse Clienti) will start from eighth with Can Öncü (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) and Patrick Hobelsberger (GMT94 Yamaha) rounding out the top ten; Hobelsberger has experience of Most through his German national championship campaign.

    ON THE FRINGES

    Max Enderlein (Kallio Racing), replacing the injured Hannes Soomer, will start 11th after impressing throughout the Tissot Superpole session with Federico Caricasulo (Biblion Iberica Yamaha Motoxracing), who crashed in the early stages of the Superpole session, will start 12th as the highest placed WorldSSP Challenge rider, with Marc Alcoba (Yamaha MS Racing), Raffaele De Rosa (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) and Peter Sebestyen (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team) rounding out the top 15.

    Kevin Manfredi (Altogo Racing Team) will start from 16th place with Marcel Brenner, replacing Davide Pizzoli at VFT Racing, qualifying in 17th. 2019 Champion Randy Krummenacher (EAB Racing Team) could only manage 18th on the grid after he crashed towards the latter stages of the 20-minute session at Turn 1. Federico Fuligni (VFT Racing) and Martin Vugrinec (Ferquest – Unior Racing Team) completing the top 20.

    The top six following WorldSSP Superpole, full results here:

    1. Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha ParkinGO Team) 1'35.213s

    2. Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) +0.040s

    3. Philipp Oettl (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) +0.196s

    4. Jules Cluzel (GMT94 Yamaha) +0.275s

    5. Luca Bernardi (CM Racing) +0.365s

    6. Valentin Debise (GMT94 Yamaha) +0.408s

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