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Home hero Vannucci storms to WorldSSP300 Misano pole with lap record

Saturday, 11 June 2022 08:25 GMT

    • The Italian rider had shown strong pace throughout Friday’s practice sessions and converted that into a maiden pole position in WorldSSP300

    Tissot Superpole for the FIM Supersport 300 World Championship was a record-breaking affair as Matteo Vannucci (AG Motorsport Italia Yamaha) claimed his maiden pole position in the Championship by smashing the lap record at the Misano World Circuit “Marco Simoncelli”. After showing strong pace in both Friday practice sessions, Vannucci converted his strong pace into his first WorldSSP300 pole position.

    LAP RECORD SMASHED: multiple laps under the previous record

    Vannucci posted a best time of 1’48.501s to post a new lap record at Misano in WorldSSP300 to smash the lap record previously set by Bahattin Sofuoglu in 2021 and take his first pole position in the class. Vannucci became the first Italian rider to take pole in Italy and the 21st polesitter in the Championship. Vannucci spent a lot of the 20-minute session lapping on his own but picked up a slipstream in the closing stages to take pole.

    He was almost two tenths clear of Victor Steeman (MTM Kawasaki) in second place, who put in a late lap to claim a front row start for both Race 1 and Race 2 at Misano, claiming his sixth front row start and moving him level with Champions Manuel Gonzalez and Jeffrey Buis. Inigo Iglesias (SMW Racing) will round out the front row after he posted a 1’49.079s to secure a front row start.

    THE FIGHT FOR A SECOND ROW SPOT: a close battle

    Alessandro Zanca (Kawasaki GP Project) claimed his best WorldSSP300 Superpole result to date with fourth place, beating his previous best by four places, to start from the second row. He will start alongside Alfonso Coppola (VM Racing Team) as the wildcard rider returned to WorldSSP300 and secured a second row start. It was an all-Italian second row with Bruno Ieraci (Prodina Racing WorldSSP300) able to recover from early session issues to claim sixth spot. Less than a tenth separated the three Italian riders on row two.

    ROUNDING OUT THE TOP TEN: in a strong position…

    Samuel Di Sora (Leader Team Flembbo) claimed seventh spot in Superpole after posting a 1’49.531s to secure a third row start, finishing ahead of Yuta Okaya (MTM Kawasaki) in eighth place. Gabriele Mastroluca (ProGP Racing) took his top-ten Superpole result of the 2022 season with ninth place, finishing ahead of German rider Dirk Geiger (Fusport-RT Motorsports by SKM-Kawasaki) who completed the top ten.

    HAVING TO BATTLE BACK: Championship contenders looking to fight through the field

    It was a difficult Superpole session for two of the Championship contenders with Alvaro Diaz (Arco Motor University Team) claiming 13th place and Marc Garcia (Yamaha MS Racing), currently leading the Championship, having to start both races from 22nd place. Sylvain Markarian (Leader Team Flembbo) is another who will look to fight back from 23rd place, while Troy Alberto (Fusport-RT Motorsports by SKM-Kawasaki), who showed strong pace on Friday, lining up from 29th place.

    The top six following WorldSSP300 Superpole, full results here:

    1. Matteo Vannucci (AG Motorsport Italia Yamaha) 1’48.501

    2. Victor Steeman (MTM Kawasaki) +0.193s

    3. Inigo Iglesias (SMW Racing) +0.578s

    4. Alessandro Zanca (Kawasaki GP Project) 0.962s

    5. Alfonso Coppola (VM Racing Team) +0.967s

    6. Bruno Ieraci (Prodina Racing WorldSSP300) +1.015s

    Watch WorldSSP300 Race 1 in style from 12:40 Local Time (GMT+2) using the WorldSBK VideoPass!