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There are two events this weekend, with the aim of maintaining a nine-race WorldSSP300 calendar. A first WorldSSP300 race will be held on Saturday June 8 at 17 p.m. (local time) while the second will take place the next day at 15:15 p.m. These will award all the points in the Championship ranking.

Ana Carrasco, reigning World Champion, was surprised by the empty stands in Aragon at the beginning of April. “ I'm not sure why so few people came. Maybe because there is a second Superbike meeting in Spain with Jerez “, declared the Spaniard. “ In Jerez, there are always more spectators than in Aragón. In MotoGP, there are a few months between Jerez and Aragón. For us, the two races are very close to each other. If people have to choose between the two, they probably prefer to choose Jerez because the sea is nearby. I hope that in Jerez we will have more spectators. There were a lot of them at the 300cc World Championship season finale two years ago” remembered Carrasco. “In the south of Spain, people love motorcycle racing. I see no reason why we shouldn't have many more spectators – they will come ". In 2017, 25 spectators came to Jerez, even fewer than in Aragón (027).

Five of the WorldSSP300 riders participating in the Yamaha R3 bLU cRU Challenge program met in Cattolica, Italy for intensive training as part of the prestigious Yamaha VR46 Master Camp founded by Valentino Rossi. Andy Verdoïa was one of the five invited pilots. Born in Nice (as “ El Diablo "), Verdoïa is competing in his first full season in WorldSSP300 under the colors of the MS Racing team. “ Spending a full week of training with pilots as strong as those of the VR46 Academy was a great experience for me and an opportunity to learn a lot in a short time, thought Andy. I'm sure this training will help me for the Championship. The Master Camp, organized by Yamaha and VR46, is of great help to us young riders to enable us to realize our dreams. »

Three Spaniards were present as wildcards: Guillem Erill, Alejandro Carrión on Kawasaki Ninja 400 within Team Deza Box 77 and Unai Orrade on the MS Racing Yamaha R3.

Advantage to Australia

The Australian Tom Edwards, from Wellington, was the fastest this Friday morning on his ParkinGO Team Kawasaki while the track was still “green” that is to say not yet ideal for fast riding. However, he did very well, ahead of the Russian Kalinin and the Indonesian Hendra Pratama. The French Hartmann were fifth, by Cancellis seventh and of Vega tenth.

Results of the first free practice session Group A:

Verdoïa and Pedeneau at the top

Andy Verdoïa et Mateo Pedeneau stood out by achieving the best times in FP1, while Joseph Foray ranked twelfth.

Results of the first free practice session Group B:

Manuel Gonzalez of the Kawasaki ParkinGO Team achieved the best time of the day in his group in 1'52.794, ahead of Mark Garcia (DS Junior Team) and Galang Hendra Pratama (Semakin Di Depan Biblion Motoxracing). They preceded Tom Edwards, Mika Perez and the French Hugo de Cancellis.

Enzo de la Vega ranked eleventh, Kyrian Hartmann twentieth, Steffie Naud twenty-fifth and Samuel di Sora twenty-eighth.

Results of the two free practice sessions Group A:

In Group B, the best time went to Victor Steeman in 1'53.665, ahead Andy Verdoïa in 1'54.337 and Unai Orrade. They were ahead of Scott Deroue, Mateo Pedeneau and Bruno Ieraci.

Joseph Foray ranked 20th, Romain Dore 21st and Adrien Quinet 26th.

Results of the second free practice session Group B:

Reference times:

Test record: 1'54.947 by Marc Garcia (Yamaha Halcourier Racing) in 2017

Lap record: 1'54.939 by Alfonso Coppola (Yamaha SK Racing) in 2017

Provisional ranking of the World Championship:

Video: Welcome to Beatriz Neila (bLUcRU):

Photos © worldsbk.com / Dorna, manufacturers and teams

All articles on Pilots: Andy Verdoïa