WSBK Jerez Supersport FP1: Locatelli shines, Cluzel and Mahias warm up

After the first event of the Supersport World Championship contested at the start of the season at Phillip Island, the Italian Andrea Locatelli was in the lead with the Bardahl Evan Bros. Yamaha R6. WorldSSPTeam. This Italian team, World Champion last year with Randy Krummenacher, had only one driver left this year, while the Swiss left the MV Agusta Reparto Corse team by slamming the door and did not race at Jerez.

On the French side, we could count the quintet composed of Jules cluzel (GMT94 Yamaha), Corentin Pérolari (GMT94 Yamaha), Lucas Mahias (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing), Andy Verdoïa (Yamaha bLU cRU WorldSSP by MS) and Xavier Navand (Yamaha Altogoo Racing Team). Jules Cluzel trained on the Carole circuit and notably broke the track record. A performance which should give Cluzel confidence before the Spanish meeting where he appeared on the podium last year.

Lucas Mahias, Supersport World Champion in 2017, occupies fifth place. Fifth is also the Landais' best result at Jerez in WorldSSP, even if he got on the podium in STK1000. Mahias, like Locatelli before him, competed in an Italian Supersport Championship event at Misano during which he won both rounds while his teammate Philipp Öttl finished sixth and fifth.

Corentin Perolari, Cluzel's teammate at GMT94, came very close to a podium in Australia and arrived in Spain in fourth position in the provisional ranking. The Habs, who are in their third year in WorldSSP, have a pole position, but are still looking for their first podium. He achieved his best result at Phillip Island, finishing fourth.

At the start of FP1, Corentin Perolari took command in 1'44.638. Then Lucas Mahias succeeded him at the top of the timing screens in 1'43.975. He preceded Andrea Locatelli by 0.244 when he improved his best time to 1'43.797. We were then 2 seconds away from the practice record set in 1'41.775 by Randy Krummenacher last year on his R6.

Locatelli progressed in 1'43.228, ahead of Mahias, Isaac Viñales (Maverick's cousin) and Philipp Öttl, Mahias' teammate. Championship leader Locatelli further advanced in 1'42.988, becoming the first driver to go under 1'43. But the Italian fell half an hour from the end, without seriousness.

Halfway through the session, the air temperature was 29° and the track temperature was 39°. The ZX-6Rs held up well to the R6s, with Öttl second and Mahias fourth, with Locatelli leading and Viñales third. It was more difficult for MV Agusta with de Rosa tenth and for Honda with Okubo twelfth.

Mahias moved up to third position, 0.589 behind Locatelli. Cluzel went from twelfth place to ninth at 1.539, which remained unsatisfactory for the Frenchman, whose compatriot Verdoïa was fourteenth. Loris Baz's teammate in this category, the South African Steven Odendaal, brilliantly climbed into second position, 0.411 behind Locatelli.

When the checkered flag was presented at the end of this first free practice session, first position went to Locatelli ahead of Odendaal, Öttl, a well-reined Cluzel, Mahias and Viñales.

Results of the first free practice session:

Credit rankings: Worldsbk.com / Dorna

Reference times:

Test record: 1'41.775 by Randy Krummenacher (Yamaha) in 2019

Lap record: 1'42.532 by Federico Caricasulo (Yamaha) in 2019

Provisional ranking of the World Championship:

1. ANDREA LOCATELLI – 25 – YAMAHA

2. RAFFAELE DE ROSA – 20 – MV AGUSTA

3. JULES CLUZEL-16-YAMAHA

4. CORENTIN PEROLARI – 13 – YAMAHA

5.LUCAS MAHIAS – 11 – KAWASAKI

6. HANNES SOOMER – 10 – YAMAHA

7. STEVEN ODENDAAL-9-YAMAHA

8. MANUEL GONZÁLEZ – 8 – KAWASAKI

9. FEDERICO FULIGNI – 7 – MV AGUSTA

10. ISAAC VIÑALES – 6 – YAMAHA

11. CAN ALEXANDER ÖNCÜ – 5 – KAWASAKI

12. DANNY WEBB – 4 – YAMAHA

13. PATRICK HOBELSBERGER – 3 – HONDA

14. PETER SEBESTYEN – 2 – YAMAHA

15. ANDY VERDOÏA – 1 – YAMAHA

Memories: Cluzel and Caricasulo's last lap in 2017 in Jerez:

Photos © Worldsbk.com / Dorna, Circuit de Jerez – Ángel Nieto