A perfectly timed lap by Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) saw the Italian claim his third pole position of the season.
The Italian came across the line to set a time of 1’41.318 but within seconds the track surface at Estoril was soaked by a heavy rain shower. It was Montella’s first pole position since the Czech Round at Most.
Adrian Huertas was pipped to the fastest time but the Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team star continues a run of form that has seen him qualify on the front row at every round this season.
Stefano Manzi will round off the front row of the grid with the Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing shading his Yamaha rival Valentin Debise by less than one tenth of a second.
Jorge Navarro (Orelac Racing Verdnatura) will have to chase down the pack in tomorrow’s opening race of the weekend having set the 29th fastest time in the session. Navarro is sixth in the championship standings.
With two rounds remaining in the Supersport Challenge Simone Corsi (Renzi Corse) gave himself an important edge over Tom Edwards (D34G Racing WorldSSP Team). Corsi trails Edwards by four points in the standings but will start from the third row of the grid while Edwards, who suffered two crashes today, will line-up 24th on the grid.
P1 | Yari Montella | Barni Spark Racing Team
“I went back to the pits and changed the tyre. Within two laps we had the Superpole! It was an old-school Superpole so I’m quite happy. This is my third pole position of the year but we’ll see what happens tomorrow because this morning, with the rain, we couldn’t work on the setup. In the races though, whether it’s wet or dry, we’ll see how it goes. I’m not sure what to expect from the race, as we’ve only done two laps in dry conditions. I hope to finish ahead of Huertas to keep fighting for the championship, but in the end, we’ll enjoy it.”
WorldSSP Tissot Superpole Results
1. Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) 1’41.318s
2. Adrián Huertas (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team) +0.380s
3. Stefano Manzi (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing) +0.607s
4. Valentin Debise (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team) +0.669s
5. Glenn van Straalen (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing) +1.136s
6. Lucas Mahias (GMT94 Yamaha) +1.380s
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©Words/Images are from official press release posted courtesy of WorldSBK.com
