Track action for the 2023 Prosecco DOC Catalunya Round at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya got underway with the 30-minute Free Practice 1 session for the FIM Supersport 300 World Championship with a mixed-up order in the opening session. French rider Samuel Di Sora (ProDina Kawasaki Racing) topped the times in FP1 by almost two tenths ahead of his nearest rivals as he showed his hand first in Barcelona.
Di Sora set a best lap time of 1’56.521s to top the times in the 30-minute session ahead of Assen podium finishers Matteo Vannucci (AG Motorsport Italia Yamaha) and Humberto Maier (Yamaha MS Racing/AD78 Latin America Team). Di Sora was 0.192s ahead of Vannucci in second place after he set a 1’56.713s, while the Italian was around half-a-tenth clear of Maier in third with the trio separated by just over two tenths.
Fourth place belonged to home hero Jose Luis Perez Gonzalez (Accolade Smrz Racing BGR) as he lapped 0.271s off the pace, with Perez Gonzalez ahead of Mexican rider Juan Pablo Uriostegui (Team#109 Kawasaki) in fifth place after he set a 1’56.862s. Teammate Alessandro Zanca took sixth place, only 0.018s slower than Uriostegui, with Zanca only 0.359s away from top spot in Free Practice 1.
Rookie Loris Veneman (MTM Kawasaki) was seventh and around four tenths off the pace with the Dutch rider often riding in tandem with teammate Jeffrey Buis; the 2020 Champion finished in 23th place. Rookie Julio Garcia (Team Flembbo-PI Performances), who scored a podium here last year as a wildcard, was eighth with Spanish rider Daniel Mogeda (Kawasaki GP Project) in ninth place. Mirko Gennai (Team BrCorse) rounded out the top ten ahead of Championship leader Petr Svoboda (Fusport – RT Motorsport by SKM – Kawasaki) in 11th with the Czech rider only taking to the circuit in the second half of the season.
Wildcard Unai Calatayud (Arco Motor University Team) was 19th on his return to WorldSSP300, with his teammates Gabriele Mastroluca and Ruben Bijman directly ahead of him. The returning Galang Hendra Pratama (Sublime Racing by MS Racing) took 23rd place. Ivan Bolano Hernandez’s (Deza-Box 77 Racing Team) debut session came to an end with around three minutes left when he had an issue heading into Turn 9, causing him to end FP1 early.
The top six following WorldSSP300 FP1, full results here:
1 Samuel Di Sora (ProDina Kawasaki Racing) 1’56.521s
2. Matteo Vannucci (AG Motorsport Italia Yamaha) +0.192s
3. Humberto Maier (Yamaha MS Racing/AD78 Latin America Team) +0.253s
4. Jose Perez Luis Gonzalez (Accolade Smrz Racing) +0.271s
5. Juan Pablo Uriostegui (Team#109 Kawasaki) +0.341s
6. Alessandro Zanca (Team#109 Kawasaki) +0.359s
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Source: WorldSBK.com