The FIM Supersport 300 World Championship had a dramatic Tissot Superpole session at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya for the Prosecco DOC Catalunya Round. The session was red-flagged but Brazilian rider Humberto Maier (Yamaha MS Racing/AD78 Latin America Team) was able to take pole position with a new Superpole lap record in Barcelona. It was his first pole position in WorldSSP300 although a sanction means he will start Race 1 from the back of the grid.

LAP RECORDS, FIRST FRONT ROWS: drama in Superpole

The session was red flagged due to irresponsible riding a few minutes into the session with riders called for a meeting in the pitlane and the clock continued during this time, with the session going green again with seven minutes left in Superpole. Maier set a 1’55.169s when the session resumed to smash the Superpole record which was set by Alvaro Diaz last year to take pole position. However, Maier will start Race 1 from the back of the grid due to slow riding on the racing line in Free Practice 1, meaning Fenton Seabright (Kawasaki GP Project), who was second fastest and half-a-second down on Maier, will lead Race 1 away as he claimed his first front row start. Jose Luis Perez Gonzalez (Accolade Smrz Racing) claimed third in Superpole despite a late-session crash with Matteo Vannucci (AG Motorsport Italia Yamaha) at Turn 5.

BEST RESULTS: new faces at the front as familiar ones battle it out

Alessandro Zanca (Team#109 Kawasaki) continued his strong Catalunya Round by taking fourth on the grid although he will be promoted to the front row in Race 1 thanks to Maier’s penalty, while the returning Galang Hendra Pratama (Sublime Racing by MS Racing) took fifth place. The Indonesian rider is returning to WorldSSP300 for the first time since 2019. Joining Zanca and Hendra Pratama on the second row will be 2020 Champion Jeffrey Buis (MTM Kawasaki) who took sixth place in Superpole. Hendra Pratama and Buis both set a 1’56.000 with Hendra Pratama starting ahead due to a faster second-fastest time.

DRAMATIC SESSION: rookies impress

Vannucci will line up in seventh despite the Turn 5 crash with Perez Gonzalez, although will start from sixth in Race 1. He will be alongside Daniel Mogeda (Kawasaki GP Project) who took eighth place. Mexican rider Juan Pablo Uriostegui (Team#109 Kawasaki) continued his strong weekend as he took ninth place ahead of Raffaele Tragni (AG Motorsport Italia Yamaha) who took his first top ten Superpole result with tenth place.

HOUSEKEEPING: to note from WorldSSP300

Championship leader Petr Svoboda (Fusport – RT Motorsports by SKM – Kawasaki) will start Race 1 from 16^th and Race 2 from 17^th after taking 17^th place in the Superpole session after setting a 1’56.898s.

The top six following WorldSSP300 Superpole, full results here:

1 Humberto Maier (Yamaha MS Racing) 1’55.169s

2. Fenton Seabright (Kawasaki GP Project) +0.515s

3. Jose Luis Perez Gonzalez (Accolade Smrz Racing BGR) +0.756s

4. Alessandro Zanca (Team#109 Kawasaki) +0.789s

5. Galang Hendra Pratama (Sublime Racing by MS Racing) +0.831s

6. Jeffrey Buis (MTM Kawasaki) +0.831s

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