Donington Park hosts this weekend the 5th round of Championnat du monde World SBK, with its Supersport category led by Adrian Huertas (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team), 11 points ahead of Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team), 22 ahead of Stefano Manzi (Pata Prometeon Ten Kate Racing) and 32 ahead of Marcel Schrötter (MV Agusta Reparto Corse). Enough to follow this British confrontation with interest, at a mid-season stage.
The debates began vigorously this morning, Yari Montella proving to be the fastest during the first practice session, setting the new circuit record in 1'28.907 and relegating his closest opponent, Jorge Navarro (Orelac Racing VerdNatura), more than 7 tenths behind! We remember that last year, the Barni driver had already shone at Donington Park, finishing 3rd in the first race and 2nd in the second, each time behind the inaccessible Nicolo Bulega.
Tom Booth Amos (PTR Triumph) and Lucas Mahias (GMT94 Yamaha) were very present at the front throughout the session, before having to bow behind Jorge Navarro in the last minutes, a moment which also benefited Valentine Debise (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team) to appear in the Top 5 at the last minute.
But where was Adrian Huertas, usually in the first two positions? Far, unusually far, 9th, 1,6 seconds behind his favorite opponent... We will learn later the difficulties encountered by the Spaniard who remains on a resounding double in Misano.
However, if the opponents of the championship leader,
Adrian Huertas, were able to rejoice in his poor performance, their joy was short-lived, the number 99 showing himself at his usual level during the 40-minute Superpole.
Despite a few drops of rain several times during the session, the reference imposed at the start by Yari Montella in 1'30.025 went down in stages under the successive blows of the Spaniard, the latter definitively taking the advantage three minutes from the checkered flag with a thunderous 1'28.322!
Yari Montella was not unworthy, taking the best time with each improvement of the official Ducati, except obviously the last one!
Behind this Titans duel, we find the three Yamahas of
Stefano Manzi, Valentin Debise and Lucas Mahias, grouped in less than 3 tenths, which promises us some great battles in the race...
The local pilot Tom Booth Amos seems overmotivated by his home race and will start 7th, behind the Ducati of Jorge Navarro.
The session ended with the red flag, following the fall of Tom Edwards (D34G Racing WorldSSP Team) following the frightening loss of control of Ondrey Vostatek (PTR Triumph) at Craner Curves, while Kaito Toba (Petronas MIE Racing Honda) and Piotr Biesiekirski (Ecosantagata Althea Racing Team) had also made a mistake a few moments before.
Adrian Huertas : “This morning we had many problems, but the team worked hard to resolve them. I think it's a good time and it's a good pole position for us because it was a difficult morning. The team worked a lot this morning and I want to dedicate this pole position to them. I don't worry too much about pole position itself; what matters to me is the feeling we had, that's the most important thing. Pole position is just for Saturday. The most important thing is that we have a good pace for the race, that we feel really happy and that we have everything prepared for tomorrow. »
Classification credit: WorldSBK.com
