The FIM Sportbike World Championship’s penultimate round is off and running at Cremona Circuit, and Carter Thompson (Team BrCorse) started the EICMA Italian Round weekend hot. His 1’35.746s effort showed Yamaha not only their first WorldSPB front row, but even their first-ever pole in the nascent category. Behind him, Fenton Seabright (PHR Performance Triumph) keeps the ball rolling from P2 in Italy, and current second-place rider in the title picture Xavi Artigas (MTM Kawasaki) will see lights out from P3 after David Salvador's (Team ProDina Kawasaki XCI) penalty.
THOMPSON ATOP THE ORDER
Carter Thompson (Team BrCorse) took no prisoners on Friday, with his 1’35.746s time outstripping Championship leader David Salvador by just under a quarter of a second. Salvador can close out the Riders’ Championship here at Cremona; however, he will start from P8 instead of P2 due to a Slow Riding penalty applied to him by WorldSBK FIM Stewards. The pacey Australian ended the #38’s four-round pole position streak, which had run since Most. Fenton Seabright was four tenths off of Thompson in P1, and after Salvador’s penalty he moved up to P2, another strong result from the Brit; keep an eye on the #73 to throw a wrench in the top riders’ title picture this weekend. Benefiting from his title rival’s penalty, Xavi Artigas (MTM Kawasaki) has only made two front-row starts this season; however, the Spaniard will look to capitalize and take as many points as possible from the #38. His 1’36.199s time was 0.045s slower than Seabright, but he will start from P3.
GAGGI TAKES A SEASON-HIGH P4
Marco Gaggi (Team BrCorse) made it two Yamahas in the top four to start his home round. The #43 set his best Superpole result of the season, P4. Harrison Dessoy (PHR Performance Triumph) closed out the second row in P6 with a 1’36.571s time, upgraded to P5 after the penalty ahead of him. The result is his best of the season so far as he fights to hold off Alvaro Fuertes (Deza-Box 77 Racing Team) just a point behind him in P12 in the Championship standings. Fittingly, the Spaniard was close behind him on the timesheets, just over a hundredth behind him in P7. Fuertes however, was also issued a Slow Riding penalty by FIM WorldSBK Stewards as well, sending him down to a P13 start position for Race 1
VENEMAN UPGRADED TO P6
Loris Veneman (MTM Kawasaki) set a 1’36.627s time, and will start from P6 after Fuertes’s penalty, just under nine tenths off from pole position. Belgian rider Ferre Fleerackers (Track & Trades Wixx Racing) returned to the front three rows for the first time in four rounds, taking P7 on a 1’36.731s. With Salvador demoted to P8 Pepe Osuna (Deza-Box 77 Racing Team) has found another gear in the second half of the WorldSPB season and grabbed his third top-ten in a row with a P9. Salvador’s teammate Antonio Torres (Team ProDina Kawasaki XCI) will start from P10, riding with hopes to regain P3 in the Riders’ Championship this season.
The top six from the WorldSPB Tissot Superpole session: full results here!
- Carter Thompson (Team BrCorse) 1’35.746s
- David Salvador (Team ProDina Kawasaki XCI) +0.225s
*Will start Race 1 from P8 - Fenton Seabright (PHR Performance Triumph) +0.408s
- Xavi Artigas (MTM Kawasaki) +0.453s
- Marco Gaggi (Team BrCorse) +0.732s
- Harrison Dessoy (PHR Performance Triumph) +0.825s
Tune in for the rest of this weekend’s WorldSPB race action on Saturday at 13:00 Local Time (UTC +2) with the WorldSBK VideoPass! Now 70% off!