It is at the end of a qualification where it was necessary to play cat and mouse with the rain that Lucas Mahias and Jules Cluzel will set off at 11:30 a.m. on the handlebars of their Yamaha R6s from the first row of the starting grid of Imola, respectively 1st and 2nd ahead of Kenan Sufuoglu and his Kawasaki.
The 28-year-old Frenchman Lucas Mahias arrived at Imola leading the championship with 71 points but having seen his lead reduced to just one point after two difficult races in Aragon and Assen.
Lucas Mahias, GRT Yamaha Official WorldSSP Team, 1st in 1'53.042: “I'm very happy! Today was very good for me. I liked the situation in qualifying, it was so exciting to start with the rain falling. I have a lot of experience in endurance races, where you have to go fast from the start of the lap, and in that kind of situation I'm quite fast. Certainly it was very difficult because when I left I knew I would only have one lap to try to get pole position. On the second lap, with the rain, it was impossible to go any faster. I tried to go out first, passed Federico and was the first person on the track. I was having trouble getting into the corners not knowing if it was wet or dry, but I attacked and attacked as much as I could. In sector 3 for example, I could smell the water on the track and it was very difficult. I looked at my time and thought everything was okay, and I saw that I had created a gap on Federico, so maybe everything would be okay and from then on I hoped that it rains a lot. Pole position is great for the team, after two tricky races we had a lot of meetings and we worked very hard, which is good for the atmosphere and the feeling of belonging to the team. My race pace is really good, in the last two races I had to really push to keep up with the other riders, but now I have a very good feeling with the bike and my confidence is back! I feel really good about the race, I hope it will be a good race tomorrow, without a lot of red flags like last year, for the drivers and the fans too.”
As for Jules cluzel, apart from the fact that he achieved pole position 2 years ago, we will also remember the nice words he had towards Kenan Sofuoglu…
Jules cluzel: “Kenan, Even though you annoyed me several times during the 7 years we ran together 
? tu have me also pushed me to surpass all my limits, to appreciate my racing results more, but above all, you allowed me to improve in several ways. It was an honor to meet you and race with you, and what a great reward to receive a helmet from a 5-time world champion! Congratulations ! I wish you the best in your new life, enjoy time with your family and friends. See you this weekend 
✊
? ".
