The French driver got off to an ideal start to his home round, only beaten by his former teammate Federico Caricasulo. The Finnish Niki Tuuli took third place. The other tricolors Andy Verdoïa and Valentin Debise finished in fourth and eighth place respectively.
Just a few moments after the first free practice session for the Superbike, it was the turn of the Supersport category to take to the track on the Magny-Cours track. The championship has just entered its second half as the seventh round of the year takes place in France this weekend, out of a total of 12 events to be contested this season.
In the general classification, it is Dominique Aegerter who is more than ever at the top of the field, now with a comfortable lead of 47 points over his rival Steven Odendaal. And the dynamic is quite frankly in favor of the Swiss driver, who remains on a double during the last round run in Navarre two weeks ago. The Helvetian may even have gained a decisive psychological advantage over his South African opponent given that these last two successes were obtained each time after bitter duels against his competitor.
But we must not forget that Odendaal is the only other driver to have won this season in addition to Aegerter, and that it was in France that he achieved his best result last year, with a fourth place, a sign that the Nivernais route is rather favorable to him.
In this context, it was therefore interesting to see who of the two would be faster during the very first free practice session. Aegerter thus immediately took the lead, before Frenchman Andy Verdoïa dislodged him from first place.
💪Back in #WorldSSP and straight to the top in FP1! @AndyVERDOIA @GMT94 #FRAWorldSBK ???????? pic.twitter.com/DdCbdH5fA0
- WorldSBK (@WorldSBK) September 3, 2021
The French to their advantage in front of their public
The tricolors also shone during these FP1, Valentin Debise and Jules Cluzel playing at the forefront throughout the session. For his part, Verdoïa remained in the lead until around ten minutes from the checkered flag, before being dethroned by Federico Caricasulo.
Caricasulo and Cluzel fought hard in the final moments of the session, the two men exchanging the lead on several occasions as their time progressed, but it was ultimately the Italian who had the last word. . Niki Tuuli takes third place, ahead of Verdoïa, while Philipp Öttl completes the top 5.
Home is where you set the fastest time🏠@JulesCluzel16 sets 1'41.384 in FP1🙌@GMT94 #FRAWorldSBK ???????? pic.twitter.com/I6b9mZg0Gj
- WorldSBK (@WorldSBK) September 3, 2021
Aegerter and Odendaal are slightly behind, in sixth and seventh position respectively, ahead of Debise. Despite a fall in the final moments of the session, Can Öncü finished in ninth place, ahead of Randy Krummenacher.
Beyond the top 10, we find Luca Bernardi, the native of San Marino who is ahead of a trio of Italians, namely Kevin Manfredi, Michel Fabrizio and Raffaele de Rosa. Manuel Gonzalez, who played at the forefront during most of the last rounds, remained discreet during these first 45 minutes of driving and did not do better than 15th.
