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Shock in WorldSSP300 FP1 as wildcard Garcia Gonzalez tops the times in Barcelona

Friday, 23 September 2022 08:32 GMT

    • The wildcard rider put in a late lap to go to the top of the timesheets in his first WorldSSP300 around

    There was a surprise in store in Free Practice 1 for the FIM Supersport World Championship as wildcard rider Julio Garcia Gonzalez (ESP Solutions Motap Racing Team) topped the times in the opening session of the Catalunya Round. On home soil at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Garcia Gonzalez topped the times by less than a tenth ahead of his rivals during his first WorldSSP300 session.

    The Malaga-born rider put in a lap of 1’55.375s to top the times by around 0.070 seconds ahead of Dutch rider Victor Steeman (MTM Kawasaki), with the Dutchman taking second place as he looks to remain in the title fight throughout the round. In third was Jose Luis Perez Gonzalez (Accolade Smrz Racing) with the Spanish rider at the top until he lost out to Garcia Gonzalez and Steeman; Perez Gonzalez had a technical issue with around 12 minutes left which cost him track time.

    Bruno Ieraci (Prodina Racing WorldSSP300) was fourth after the 30-minute FP1 session, around two tenths off Garcia Gonzalez’s pace, while title contender Marc Garcia (Yamaha MS Racing) was fifth as he, like Steeman, aims to prevent Alvaro Diaz (Arco Motor University Team) winning the title in Barcelona; Diaz was 15th in FP1. In sixth place was Hugo De Cancellis (Prodina Racing WorldSSP300) with the French rider around four tenths away from the fastest time.

    Lennox Lehmann (Freudenberg KTM – Paligo Racing), the sole KTM rider in the field, was seventh ahead of Daniel Mogeda (Team#109 Kawasaki) in eighth. Inigo Iglesias (SMW Racing) was ninth with five Spanish riders inside the top ten at Catalunya-Barcelona. Humberto Maier (AD78 Team Brasil by MS Racing) was tenth ahead of Mirko Gennai (Team BrCorse) in 11th; the pair set the same fastest lap time, with Brazilian rider Maier classified ahead due to his second fastest time being quicker.

    The top six following WorldSSP300 FP1, full results here:

    1. Julio Garcia Gonzalez (ESP Solutions Motap Racing Team) 1’55.375s

    2. Victor Steeman (MTM Kawasaki) +0.071s

    3. Jose Luis Perez Gonzales (Accolade Smrz Racing) +0.105s

    4. Bruno Ieraci (Prodina Racing WorldSSP300) +0.193s

    5. Marc Garcia (Yamaha MS Racing) +0.317s

    6. Hugo De Cancellis (Prodina Racing WorldSSP300) +0.334s

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