With rain interfering with the WorldSSP300 grid, it was another spectacular Tissot Superpole session at Misano.
In a rain-affected WorldSSP300 Tissot Superpole session, the grid for the main race on Sunday will see a staggered approach, with those riders in Group A starting from odd grid positions in first, third, fifth etc, and even position starting slots for Group B riders, in a second, fourth, sixth etc format. With this situation, Manuel Gonzalez (Kawasaki ParkinGO Team) took pole position ahead of Andy Verdoïa (BCD Yamaha MS Racing) and Ana Carrasco (Kawasaki Provec WorldSSP300) in third.
Gonzalez took to the circuit when it was dry, putting in a strong banker-lap to top Group A, before the rain began to fall with just under five minutes to go. In the Group B session, France’s Andy Verdoïa finished on top which put him in second on the grid on the combined timesheets. The Yamaha rider will look to take his first win and remain in the title fight on Sunday. Reigning WorldSSP300 Champion Ana Carrasco took third, as she looks to continue her bounce back in form.
Having been in the top five at Jerez, it was Victor Steeman (Freudenberg KTM Junior Team) who headed the second row from Group B, ahead of Indonesian rider Galang Hendra Pratama (Semakin Di Depan Biblion Motoxracing) from Group A and Italian wildcard Emanuele Vocino (GRADARACorse) in sixth, having placed third in the wet Group B. He will look to repeat Manuel Bastianelli’s (Prodina IRCOS Kawasaki) achievement from 2018, by taking a win as a wildcard at Misano.
Down the order, it will be the Last Chance Race for the likes of Omar Bonoli (Team Trasimeno Yamaha) and Tom Edwards (Kawasaki ParkinGO Team), whilst Marc Garcia (DS Junior Team) slipped to 15th and only a few places ahead of Scott Deroue in 18th for the main race on Sunday.
Despite a delay in proceedings due to the weather, it was a frantic WorldSSP300 Last Chance Race, run at the Misano circuit over 13 laps. As usual, the top six finishers go through to join the regular riders on the grid for Sunday’s main race and leading them over the line was Kevin Sabatucci (Team Trasimeno Yamaha).
Starting from 21st, Sabatucci had to work hard to get to the front of the field and at one point, he didn’t look like he would feature. However, it was a crash for race leader Bahattin Sofuoglu (Turkish Puccetti Racing by TSM) that closed the leading group up and put more value on the leading positions.
At the line, Sabatucci saw off Maximilian (Freudenberg KTM WorldSSP Team) and Enzo De La Vega (Team MHP Racing – Patrick Pons). In fourth place was Nick Kalinin (Nutec – RT Motorsports by SKM – Kawasaki), with Jose Luis Perez Gonzalez (DS Junior Team) and Tom Edwards (Kawasaki ParkinGO Team) completing the list of riders who will join the rest of the field on Sunday! Dino Iozzo (Nutec – RT Motorsports by SKM – Kawasaki) just missed out and finished seventh.
Pole Position – Manuel Gonzalez (Kawasaki ParkinGO Team)
“I am very happy with this result. We knew that with the changing conditions today was going to be difficult, so I tried to put in my best lap in the first minutes of the session to get a good position on the grid for tomorrow. I felt really comfortable on the bike, and I have to say thanks for that to my team. I think that we will be able to fight again for the win”.
#RiminiWorldSBK WorldSSP300 at Misano World Circuit:
Tissot Superpole
1. Manuel Gonzalez (Kawasaki ParkinGO Team) 1’49.646
2. Andy Verdoïa (BCD Yamaha MS Racing) 1’59.231
3. Ana Carrasco (Kawasaki Provec WorldSSP300) 1’50.245
