The competition was red hot in Tissot Superpole session in the FIM Supersport World Championship at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours on Friday afternoon, with a new Superpole lap record from Adrian Huertas (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team) giving him pole. Following an early red flag Huertas was already on lap record pace (1’39.793s) with just over 30 minutes of the restarted session remaining, before the Ducati rider then improved to 1’39.705s for P1 in the final five minutes.
LATE IMPROVERS: Mahias and Navarro on front row
With Huertas’ move to Moto2™ for 2025 now confirmed the standings leader made it a fifth pole position this season, with the second best lap time set by Lucas Mahias (GMT94 Yamaha) late in the session. A light crash for Mahias at Turn 5 earlier in Superpole did not hinder his efforts severely and the French rider made it P2 with a strong 1’39.854s time. Completing the front row is Jorge Navarro (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) who also produced his best effort in the final seconds of the session, trailing pole man Huertas by 0.171s
ALL-ITALIAN SECOND ROW: big names behind front three
Italian trio Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team), Stefano Manzi (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing) and Federico Caricasulo (Motozoo ME AIR Racing) are all on row two, having lapped respectively 0.181s, 0.185s and 0.505s down on Huertas. Title contenders Montella and Manzi are therefore well positioned to keep the pressure on Huertas in Race 1, with Caricasulo also primed to continue his good recent top six form.
DEBISE HEADS THIRD ROW: Can he repeat 2023 podiums?
After his excellent two podium results last year at Magny-Cours Valentin Debise (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team) heads row three, in front of Tom Booth-Amos (PTR Triumph) and Marcel Schroetter (MV Agusta Reparto Corse), despite a technical issue for the German in FP. Niki Tuuli (EAB Racing Team) rounded out the top ten to head the fourth row. Khairul Idham Bin Pawi (PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda) was taken to the Medical Centre for a check-up with the session red-flagged after just over two minutes, due to an incident at Turn 1 involving the Malaysian rider. Bin Pawi will be checked again tomorrow morning before the Warm Up session after sustaining a left thigh contusion.
The top six from WorldSSP Superpole, full results here:
1. Adrian Huertas (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team) 1’39.705s
2. Lucas Mahias (GMT94 Yamaha) +0.149s
3. Jorge Navarro (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) +0.171s
4. Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) +0.181s
5. Stefano Manzi (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing) +0.185s
6. Federico Caricasulo (Motozoo ME AIR Racing) +0.505s
Make sure you tune in for WorldSSP Race 1 on Saturday at 15:15 Local Time (UTC +1) using the WorldSBK VideoPass – now 50% off!
Source: WorldSBK.com