FIM Supersport World Championship action got underway at Donington Park for the Prosecco DOC UK Round and it was an eventful session with Italian rider Raffaele De Rosa (Orelac Racing VerdNatura WorldSSP) topping the times by the smallest of margins, with De Rosa topping a session for the first time this season in a tightly-contested session. Just 0.189s separated the top six at the end of the 45-minute session, which was interrupted with a red flag.

De Rosa left it until the final few minutes of the session to go fastest after he posted a 1’31.499s on his Ducati Panigale V2 to top the session by only 0.021s ahead of French rider Jules Cluzel (GMT94 Yamaha). Cluzel had shown strong pace throughout the session and had been top of the times in the middle part of FP1 but found himself in second place. Lorenzo Baldassarri (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team) claimed third spot, just 0.150s behind compatriot De Rosa. Cluzel’s session was interrupted by a trip through the gravel a Turn 8 before the red flag, but he was able to re-join the session.

Estonia’s Hannes Soomer (Dynavolt Triumph) had led the times throughout the session with British manufacturer Triumph, but was demoted to fourth place as the session drew to a close with Soomer finishing around 0.020s ahead of Federico Caricasulo (Althea Racing) in fifth and reigning Champion Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing) in sixth. Caricasulo, like Cluzel, had a trip through the gravel at Turn 8 during the session. Four of the top six have raced in WorldSSP at Donington before, with only Baldassarri and Aegerter making their first appearance at the circuit in World Supersport.

British rider Kyle Smith (VFT Racing) claimed seventh spot, under half-a-second away from De Rosa’s pacesetting time with Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team) in eighth. Andy Verdoia (GMT94 Yamaha) was ninth despite a moment at the Turn 12 left-hander, with Turkish rider Can Oncu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) rounding out the top ten.

Tom Booth-Amos (Prodina Racing) WorldSSP had a disrupted start to his return to action with a technical issue right at the start of the session but was able to get back on track in the second half of FP1 and finished in 14^th place. He was just 0.005s clear of wildcard Harry Truelove (ColinAppleyard/Macadam-Yamaha) in 15^th on his WorldSSP debut; Truelove had been inside the top ten for the majority of the session.

The session was red flagged with just over 19 minutes left on the clock when Patrick Hobelsberger (Kallio Racing) highsided out of the Turn 9-10 chicane, with the German rider taken to the medical centre for a check-up following the crash. Following a check-up at the medical centre, Hobelsberger was declared unfit with a right elbow contusion.

The top six following WorldSSP FP1, full results here:

1. Raffaele De Rosa (Orelac Racing VerdNatura WorldSSP) 1’31.499s

2. Jules Cluzel (GMT94 Yamaha) +0.021s

3. Lorenzo Baldassarri (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team) +0.150s

4. Hannes Soomer (Dynavolt Triumph) +0.158s

5. Federico Caricasulo (Althea Racing) +0.182s

6. Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) +0.189s

Watch WorldSSP FP2 LIVE and UNINTERRUPTED from 15:00 Local Time (GMT+1) using the WorldSBK VideoPass!