PJ Jacobsen’s first competitive ride on the official MV Agusta Reparto Corse F3 delivered him the fastest lap of the day thanks to his morning time of 1’33.087. His time was under the race lap record, if not the track best.
Next up was Honda returnee Jules Cluzel (CIA Landlord Insurance Honda) who was 0.380 seconds behind thanks to his FP2 best time this afternoon. The official new R6 entry in the championship, of Federico Caricasulo and Lucas Mahias on the GRT Yamahas, had strong results on the timesheets in third and fourth but a blistered rear tyre caused Mahias to crash late – and heavily – in the session. He hurt a finger but was otherwise unscathed.
Roberto Rolfo (Team Factory Vamag MV Agusta) collected fifth place after continuing his positive form from testing on Monday and Tuesday. Hikari Okubo (CIA Landlord Insurance) enjoyed sixth place on day one, ahead of now regular WorldSSP rider Alex Baldolini (Race Department ATK25 MV Agusta). Eighth, and first Kawasaki rider home, was Gino Rea (Team Kawasaki Go Eleven).
British riders Luke Stapleford (Profile Racing Triumph) and Kyle Smith (Gemar Team Lorini) rounded out the top ten places in the hunt for a direct start in Saturday’s Superpole 2. Twenty-five riders comprised the PI entry on Friday.
