The Tissot Superpole session for the FIM Supersport 300 World Championship class at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours saw title contender Aldi Satya Mahendra (Team BrCorse) take the pole with a stunning late dash. A best time of 1’52.513s for Mahendra was enough to secure a fourth pole in the history of the class for an Indonesian rider, with double World Champion Jeffrey Buis (KTM Freudenberg-Paligo Racing) in second place, just over one tenth of a second off P1.
ON THE FRONT ROW: Gennai joins the party
Mahendra’s excellent lap will boost his title bid, whilst Buis looked strong again at a circuit where the Dutchman has previously achieved three victories. The leading pair are joined on the front row at the Motul French Round by the in-form Italian Mirko Gennai (MTM Kawasaki), on the back of his two wins at Portimao. Gennai trailed Mahendra by 0.136s making it three different manufacturers at the front of the grid.
ALL SPANISH SECOND ROW: Iglesias leads the Garcias
The second row of the WorldSSP300 grid at Magny-Cours is an all-Spanish affair, with the rider in second place in the Championship Inigo Iglesias (Fusport-RT Motorsports by SKM-Kawasaki) in fourth place, followed by KOVE Racing Team pair Marc Garcia and Julio Garcia.
NO HAT-TRICK: Veneman on third row
There was no hat-trick of poles for Loris Veneman (MTM Kawasaki) after his successes at Most and Portimao, with the standings leader qualifying in eighth place, behind Unai Calatayud (ARCO SASH MotoR University Team) and in front of Daniel Mogeda (Team#109 Retro Traffic Kawasaki), with Pepe Osuna (DEZA-BOX 77 Racing Team) in tenth. The Superpole session was disrupted for Matteo Vannucci (Pata Yamaha AG Motorsport Italia) and Emiliano Ercolani (Yamaha Motoxracing WorldSSP300 Team) when they crashed, with Vannucci taken to medical centre for a check-up.
The top six from WorldSSP300 Superpole, full results here:
1. Aldi Mahendra (Team BrCorse) 1’52.513s
2. Jeffrey Buis (Freudenberg KTM-PALIGO Racing) +0.107s
3. Mirko Gennai (MTM Kawasaki) +0.136s
4. Inigo Iglesias (Fusport-RT Motorsports by SKM-Kawasaki) +0.249s
5. Marc Garcia (KOVE Racing Team) +0.261s
6. Julio Garcia (KOVE Racing Team) +0.343s
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Source: WorldSBK.com