The FIM Supersport 300 World Championship kicked off the 2022 Estoril Round with a 30-minute Free Practice 1 session at the Circuito Estoril. It was 2017 Champion Marc Garcia (Yamaha MS Racing) who topped the timesheets ahead of his nearest rivals by almost three tenths of a second as he struck first in Portugal.

Garcia’s best lap time came in the closing stages of the session as he posted a 1’51.428s to go fastest ahead of German rider Dirk Geiger (Fusport – RT Motorsports by SKM – Kawasaki) by 0.267s, who also posted a late lap to climb up the order. In third was Garcia’s Yamaha MS Racing teammate Iker Garcia Abella, three tenths down on his teammate, with Geiger preventing the duo from finishing first and second.

Geiger’s late lap also prevented a Spanish 1-2-3 with Inigo Iglesias (SMW Racing) in fourth place, just 0.070s behind Garcia Abella in the standings. Mirko Gennai (Team BrCorse) is looking to continue his strong start to the season at Estoril and started the weekend in fifth place, ahead of fellow Italian rider Matteo Vannucci (AG Motorsport Italia Yamaha) who rounded out the top six.

French rider Samuel Di Sora (Leader Team Flembbo) was seventh, less than a tenth behind Vannucci, with Australian Harry Khouri (Team#109 Kawasaki) in eighth place. Spanish rider Alex Millan (SMW Racing) scored a top-ten finish in FP1 as he finished in ninth ahead of Bruno Ieraci (Prodina Racing WorldSSP300) who rounded out the top ten.

Tomas Alonso (Quaresma Racing Team) had a dramatic start to his wildcard appearance after attempting to pull off a spectacular save at Turn 9. Although it looked like he might have saved his Kawasaki Ninja 400, he was unable to and crashed out of the session on home soil.

The top six from WorldSSP300 FP1, full results here:

1. Marc Garcia (Yamaha MS Racing) 1’51.428

2. Dirk Geiger Fusport-RT Motorsport by SKM-Kawasaki) +0.267s

3. Iker Garcia Abella (Yamaha MS Racing)+0.334s

4. Inigo Iglesias (SMW Racing) +0.404s

5. Mirko Gennai (Team BrCorse) +0.555s

6. Matteo Vannucci (AG Motorsport Italia Yamaha) +0.564s

Watch all the action from WorldSSP300 at Estoril using the WorldSBK VideoPass!