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Aegerter pips Baldassarri to Barcelona FP1 honours in WorldSSP

Friday, 23 September 2022 10:20 GMT

    • All five manufacturers inside the top six as World Supersport lights up in Spain

    The 2022 FIM Supersport World Championship fired back into life after a weekend off as round eight of their season started at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. With the title race intensifying in the second half of the season, there’s plenty to play for in WorldSSP, and that was clear from the start. Striking gold on his first visit to the track in the class, reigning World Champion Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) took top spot, whilst title arch-rival Lorenzo Baldassarri (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team) was right behind.

    Aegerter got out on track and was immediately fast; plenty of testing at the circuit in the past and a wealth of experience from the MotoGP™ paddock, he and the Ten Kate Racing Yamaha outfit are in contention right from the start this weekend. They aim to extend their points lead over Baldassarri, with the Italian just 19 points adrift with five rounds to go. He was second but three tenths off Aegerter, whilst Niki Tuuli (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) took third in what a good opening to his weekend, putting the MV Agusta F3 800 RR in contention. He headed off the Kawasaki of Can Oncu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) in fourth place, whilst the Triumph of Stefano Manzi (Dynavolt Triumph) completed the top five.

    Making it all five manufacturers represented in the top six, Raffaele De Rosa (Orelac Racing VerdNatura WorldSSP) was sixth for Ducati, ahead of Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team) in seventh, who had a peculiar crash at Turn 5. Adrian Huertas (MTM Kawasaki) continued his strong showing and was top Spaniard in eighth place, with Jules Cluzel (GMT94 Yamaha) in ninth. His teammate, Andy Verdoia, rounded out the top ten but the Frenchman did appear to have a technical issue on the approach to Turn 9. After strong showings at Magny-Cours, it was a difficult session for Ducati pairing Federico Caricasulo (Althea Racing) and Oli Bayliss (BARNI Spark Racing Team), as they took 20th and 23rd respectively, whilst Glenn van Straalen (EAB Racing Team) was down in 22nd.

    Top six after WorldSSP FP1 in Barcelona, full results here:

    1. Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) 1’45.205s

    2. Lorenzo Baldassarri (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team) +0.307s

    3. Niki Tuuli (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) +0.658s

    4. Can Oncu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) +0.742s

    5. Stefano Manzi (Dynavolt Triumph) +0.751s

    6. Raffaele De Rosa (Orelac Racing VerdNatura WorldSSP) +0.948s

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