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Italian rider Ieraci claims top spot in WorldSSP300 FP1 at Assen

Friday, 22 April 2022 08:34 GMT

    • The Italian rider left it late to top the timesheets at the TT Circuit Assen as he laid down the gauntlet with an almost two-tenths margin to his nearest rivals

    The Motul Dutch Round kicked off with Free Practice 1 for the FIM Supersport World Championship with Italian rider Bruno Ieraci (Prodina Racing WorldSSP300) claiming first place in the opening 30-minute session. Ieraci left late in the session to go fastest as he finished almost two tenths clear of his nearest rivals in FP1.

    Ieraci posted a best time of a 1’49.299s to finish first in the session as he looks to claim a strong result in the Netherlands, finishing 0.176s clear of Lennox Lehmann (Freudenberg KTM – Paligo Racing) in second. Assen is a track KTM claimed pole position at in 2021 and will be hoping to repeat that with German rider Lehmann, who showed strong pace throughout the session and topped the times at various points throughout the season. Dutch rider Ruben Bijman (MTM Kawasaki) was also fastest at points throughout the session but finished in third place after posting a 1’49.581s.

    French rider Hugo De Cancellis (Prodina Racing WorldSSP300) was fourth after a strong opening session for the Prodina Racing squad with first and fourth; De Cancellis posting a best time of 1’49.619s. He was a tenth clear of Yuta Okaya (MTM Kawasaki) in fifth place while 2017 Champion Marc Garcia (Yamaha MS Racing) rounded out the top six as he goes in search of Yamaha’s first victory at Assen in WorldSSP300.

    Championship leader Alvaro Diaz (Arco Motor University Team) was just 0.059s back from Garcia in seventh place while he was also just ahead of Ton Kawakami (AD78 Team Brasil by MS Racing) in eighth. Dutch rider Victor Steeman (MTM Kawasaki), who was on pole at the TT Circuit Assen in 2021, claimed ninth place with a best time of 1’49.949s while Dirk Geiger (Fusport – RT Motorsports by SKM – Kawasaki) completed the top ten.

    The top six following WorldSSP300 FP1, full results here:

    1. Bruno Ieraci (Prodina Racing WorldSSP300) 1’49.299s

    2. Lennox Lehmann (Freudenberg KTM – Paligo Racing) +0.176s

    3. Ruben Bijman (MTM Kawasaki) +0.282s

    4. Hugo De Cancellis (Prodina Racing WorldSSP300) +0.320s

    5. Yuta Okaya (MTM Kawasaki) +0.441s

    6. Marc Garcia (Yamaha MS Racing) +0.488s

    WorldSSP300 machines are back out on track at 14:15 Local Time (GMT+2), watch it live with the WorldSBK VideoPass!