Friday’s action for the FIM Supersport 300 World Championship concluded with 2017 Champion Marc Garcia (Yamaha MS Racing) starting the Pirelli Aragon Round by topping the timesheets in the combined classification. Garcia’s best time was set in Free Practice 1 as he topped the day’s times by just 0.035s ahead of Alvaro Diaz (Arco Motor University Team) with Diaz’s best time coming in FP2.

INSAPERABLE: just 0.035s between the top two

Garcia posted his best time in the morning Free Practice 1 session and no rider was able to overhaul him in either of the 30-minute sessions. His time of a 2’06.554s was only just quicker than second-place Diaz who posted a best time of 2’06.599s in FP2, with just over a third of the field improving their lap times in the second session of the day. Diaz’s time was the fastest in the afternoon session.

CLOSE AT THE FRONT: 13 riders within a second…

Bruno Ieraci (Prodina Racing WorldSSP300) claimed third spot in the combined classification on his Kawasaki Ninja 400, with the Italian finding time in FP2 to jump up the order into second place, ahead of Ton Kawakami (AD78 Team Brasil by MS Racing) who was just two tenths off Garcia’s time; although the Brazilian could only manage 13^th in FP2. All three manufacturers were represented in the top five with German rider Lennox Lehmann (Freudenberg KTM – Paligo Racing) putting his KTM RC 390 R in fifth place with his best time, a 2’06.824s, coming in FP1.

Dutch rider Victor Steeman (MTM Kawasaki) was sixth, as the fastest rider for the reigning Champions MTM Kawasaki as he makes the switch to the team for 2022, after posting his best time of a 2’07.050s in FP2. He was ahead of Marco Gaggi (Vinales Racing Team) with the Italian in seventh place ahead of 2021 Yamaha R3 Cup winner Iker Garcia Abella (Yamaha MS Racing) in eighth; just 0.065s behind Gaggi.

Alex Millan (SMW Racing) claimed ninth spot to start the 2022 season strongly, 0.911s away from Garcia’s time after posting a 2’07.475s in FP2. Italian Kevin Sabatucci (Kawasaki GP Project) rounded out the top ten with a 2’07.498s as he looks to consistently fight at the front in 2022, with Sabatucci ahead of French rider Hugo De Cancellis (Prodina Racing WorldSSP300) in 12^th and rookie Matteo Vannucci (AG Motorsport Italia Yamaha) in 13^th; the top 13 were separated by just one second in a Championship that promises to be unpredictable 2022.

A COMPETITIVE FIELD: looking to move up the order

The field in WorldSSP300 was tightly contested with Dirk Geiger (Fusport – RT Motorsports by SKM – Kawasaki) in 14^th place the first rider more than one second away from Garcia’s pace. Geiger was just ahead of wildcard rider Victor Rodriguez (2R Racing) and debutant Humberto Maier (AD78 Team Brasil by MS Racing) in 16^th place; Maier was just 0.033s away from Rodriguez’s time.

Italian Gabriele Mastroluca (ProGP Racing) was in 17th place ahead of rookie Fenton Seabright (Vinales Racing Team), with Seabright moving up from the Yamaha R3 Cup for 2022, and Inigo Iglesias (SMW Racing) in 19^th; Iglesias’ day was interrupted by a Turn 5 crash in FP2. Yuta Okaya (MTM Kawasaki) was 20^th and the slowest of the MTM Kawasaki riders, while Samuel Di Sora (Leader Team Flembbo), who showed strong pace during the Supported Test at the same venue was 21^st.

The top six combined times from Friday in WorldSSP300, full results here:

1 Marc Garcia (Yamaha MS Racing) 2’06.564

2. Alvaro Diaz (Arco Motor University Team) +0.035s

3. Bruno Ieraci (Prodina Racing WorldSSP300) +0.171s

4. Ton Kawakami (AD78 Team Brasil by MS Racing) 0.235s

5. Lennox Lehmann (Freudenberg KTM – Paligo Racing) 0.260s

6. Victor Steeman (MTM Kawasaki) +0.486s

WorldSSP300 are next on track tomorrow at 09:45 (Local Time (GMT+2)) for Tissot Superpole: follow all the action using the WorldSBK VideoPass!