Friday at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya belonged to Bahattin Sofuoglu (Biblion Yamaha Motoxracing) in the FIM Supersport 300 World Championship as the Turkish star topped both Free Practice 1 and Free Practice 2 for the Hyundai N Catalunya Round with the morning session proving to be the fastest session for most of the grid.

SOFUOGLU’S ON TOP AFTER FRIDAY RUNNING

Sofuoglu made sure his speed was known to his rivals by topping both sessions with his time of 1’55.815s in the opening 30-minute session enough to top the times for Friday’s action, ahead of Dutch rider Victor Steeman (Freudenberg KTM WorldSSP Team) with just a tenth separating the pair at the front of the field.

Tom Booth-Amos (Fusport – RT Motorsports by SKM – Kawasaki) claimed third place despite a crash in Free Practice 2, where he was 26^th, after he came together with Sylvain Markarian (Leader Team Flembbo) at Turn 4 trying to pass the French rider. Booth-Amos was third in the combined standings thanks to his FP1 time of 1’56.205s

CLOSE THROUGHOUT THE FIELD

16 riders were separated by just one second in the combined classification with Samuel Di Sora (Leader Team Flembbo) in fourth place, less than half-a-second behind Sofuoglu, while wildcard rider Alvaro Diaz Cebrian (Arco-Motor University Team) claimed fifth place in a strong showing on his first appearance in 2021. Reigning Champion Jeffrey Buis (MTM Kawasaki) claimed sixth place, 0.058s away from Diaz Cebrian.

Italian rider Gabriele Mastroluca (ProGP Racing) claimed seventh place in a strong showing for Mastroluca, with Inigo Iglesias (SMW Racing) inside the top ten with eighth on home soil. Mirko Gennai (Team BRcorse) was ninth while Dutch rider Koen Meuffels (MTM Kawasaki) rounded out the top ten.

Yeray Ruiz (Yamaha MS Racing) was just 0.024s away from securing a top ten finish as he finished in 11^th place, ahead of Dorren Louriero (Fusport – RT Motorsports by SKM – Kawasaki) in 12^th. Championship leader Adrian Huertas (MTM Kawasaki) endured a difficult day following a Free Practice 1 crash with Ana Carrasco (Kawasaki Provec WorldSSP300) and some niggling problems in Free Practice 2, with the Spaniard eventually finishing 13^th in the classification ahead of Alejandro Carrion (Kawasaki GP Project) and Daniel Mogeda (Team#109 Kawasaki) who rounded out the top 15. Carrasco was only able to set a lap time in Free Practice 1 and was classified in 29^th place.

TO NOTE

Hugo De Cancellis (Prodina Team WorldSSP300) was declared unfit with a fracture to his right posterior malleolus following a crash in Free Practice 1 at Turn 5, therefore ruling him out for the rest of the weekend. Sara Sanchez Tamayo (Machado CAME SBK) also had a crash at Turn 4 in Free Practice 2 and was unable to re-join the session.

The top six following Friday action in WorldSSP300, full results here:

1.  Bahattin Sofuoglu (Biblion Yamaha Motoxracing) 1’55.815s

2. Victor Steeman (Freudenberg KTM WorldSSP Team) +0.108s

3. Tom Booth-Amos (Fusport – RT Motorsports by SKM – Kawasaki) +0.390s

4. Samuel Di Sora (Leader Team Flembbo) +0.451s

5. Alvaro Diaz Cebrian (Arco-Motor University Team) +0.575s

6. Jeffrey Buis (MTM Kawasaki) +0.612s

Watch Tissot Superpole and Race 1 on Saturday from Barcelona using the WorldSBK VideoPass!