Brazil’s Kevin Fontainha pipped his Yamaha R3 bLU cRU European Championship rivals to pole position on Friday at Misano World Circuit “Marco Simoncell”i, where the action and the weather were both boiling hot ahead of Saturday’s races.

A total of 21 riders took to the track on Friday morning for FP1 as Greek wildcard entry Apostolos Kamzelis joined the fray of 20 regular R3 riders. Conditions were perfect and the riders felt confident as the majority of them are already familiar with the circuit in Emilia-Romagna, having had a test here back in April.

In Free Practice it was Barcelona Race 2 winner Gustavo Manso (Brazil) who appeared to have the best pace, consistently topping the timesheets. However, Indonesia’s Aldi Satya Mahendra once again proved his strength by setting a great last flying lap of 1’53.909s, just +0.074s ahead of Manso. Emiliano Ercolani, Shoma Yamane, and Marc Vich completed the Top 5 in Free Practice.

The Superpole session action was as scorching as the weather with Mahendra and standings-leader Ercolani fighting it out lap by lap to set the fastest time, and Vich sticking close by. Just as Mahendra did to Manso in FP, Fontainha was ready to charge before the chequered flag. The Brazilian claimed his debut R3 bLU cRU pole position (1’53.739s) by +0.033s over Mahendra and Ercolani, much to the delight of his Yamaha AD78 Team Latin America team.

Full Superpole results can be found here

Kevin Fontainha said: “This is my first pole position, not only of this season but ever in the R3 bLU cRU Championship! The last lap was crazy, I had to push hard to get the advantage over the others, but I felt really good. Let’s get ready for tomorrow’s races, the aim is clear: victory. Misano is my favourite circuit right now, and I’m really happy to ride here.”