FIM World Supersport 300 action is back in Assen, opening the weekend’s racing action as the WorldSSP300 grid took to the track for their opening Tissot Superpole session. Two minutes after session’s start, Giacomo Zannini (Kawasaki GP Project) crashed at Turn 5, littering gravel on the track and prompting a short red flag hiatus. Once the track was cleared, Julio Garcia (Prodina Kawasaki Italka Racing)  emerged later from the pits, but once he did he made his presence felt, setting a hot lap which broke the pole lap record. Following him on the time sheet was fellow Spaniard David Salvador (Team ProDina XCI) and home round hero Jeffrey Buis (Freudenberg KTM-Paligo Racing) to round out Race 1’s front row.

JULIO GARCIA POLESITTER: Second career WorldSSP300 Pole

Garcia jumped out into an early P1 prior to the red flag, and after staying in the pits after the green flag longer than any other rider, he returned to the track to reclaim P1 from Salvador, his 1’48.112s lap earning him P1. David Salvador set a new Superpole record after the red flag, taking a temporary P1 with his 1’48.476s lap, only to be later upstaged and going on to finish P2. Buis rang in his home round on a good note with a first-row position finish at 1’48.651 for P3.

TOUGH BREAK FOR THOMPSON: Late run by Buis shuffles Australian rider to second row

Australia’s Carter Thompson (MTM Kawasaki) was consistently up at the front after the red flag intermission, his 1’48.725s earning him P4. Benat Fernandez (Team #109 Retro Traffic Kove) started the session buried down in the timesheet, however after the red flag, the Spanish rider found daylight through the pack to claim a second-row position in P5 thanks to his 1’48.801s lap. Humberto Maier (Yamaha AD78 FIMLA by MS Racing) followed up his Portimao Race 2 P5 with another strong result in the Assen Superpole, P6 earning him a second-row start thanks to his 1’48.942s lap.

FONTAINHA STRONG IN SUPERPOLE: P9 best result of his season so far

Mirko Gennai (MTM Kawasaki) was the fourth-fastest Kawasaki rider of the session, earning P7 on his1’49.071s lap. Fellow Italian Marco Gaggi (Team BrCorse) earned P8 with a 1’49.188 lap and Kevin Fontainha (Yamaha AD78 FIMLA by MS Racing) rounded out the front three rows through his 1’49.249s lap, earning him P9. He was  however assessed a slow riding penalty, so he will start Race 1 from the back of the grid. Felix Mulya (ProGP NitiRacing) earned another top 10 result with his 1’49.277 lap placing him P10.

FREE PRACTICE NOTABLES: Same trio from Superpole front row, different order

Earlier this morning, the WorldSSP300 grid warmed up in their Free Practice 1, the first category to take to the track following the weekend-opening Northern Talent Cup. Jeffrey Buis (Freudenberg KTM-Paligo Racing) topped the session, breaking the standing all-time lap record in his ninth lap, a blazing 1’47.875s new record set by the Dutchman at his home round. Just 0.038s behind him, Julio Garcia (Prodina Kawasaki Italka Racing) was second on the timesheet, tailed by fellow Spaniard David Salvador (Team ProDina XCI) to round out the top three on the timesheet.

The top six from the WorldSBK Superpole Race, full results here!

1. Julio Garcia (Prodina Kawasaki Racing Sport) 1’48.112s
2. David Salvador (Team ProDina XCI) +0.364s
3. Jeffrey Buis (Freudenberg KTM-Paligo Racing) +0.539s
4. Carter Thompson (MTM Kawasaki) +0.613s
5. Benat Fernandez (Team#109 Retro Traffic Kove) +0.689s
6. Humberto Maier (Yamaha AD78 FIMLA by MS Racing) +0.830s

Stay tuned tomorrow for further WorldSSP300 action tomorrow at 12:45 local time (UTC+2) with Race 1’s live broadcast via the WorldSBK VideoPass!