Rookie Dominique Aegerter set lap record pace on day one and topped both sessions on Monday as he immediately got up to speed in WorldSSP

Day one of testing in the FIM Supersport World Championship has come to an end with Swiss rider Dominique Aegerter (Eazi-Grip supported Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) showing why he had been signed by Ten Kate Racing for the upcoming season as he made it a clean sweep of fastest times on Monday as the first day of testing came to a close, as well as posting a time that was faster than Andrea Locatelli’s pole lap from 2020, albeit on a slightly revised layout.

Aegerter had topped the morning session by half-a-second from Federico Caricasulo (GMT94 Yamaha) but the times were a lot closer come the afternoon, with Caricasulo and Aegerter trading fastest laps as the afternoon session came to an end. Eventually, the Moto2™ race winner edged out Caricasulo by nearly three tenths of a second. Caricasulo, returning from a season of competing in WorldSBK, was immediately ahead of teammate Jules Cluzel, with the Italian half-a-second clear after day one.

South African rider Steven Odendaal (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team) finished the day in fourth place but suffered a crash in the afternoon session at Turn 2 with Odendaal going to Granollers Hospital for further assessments following the crash. Christoffer Bergman (Wojick Racing Team) continued his impressive form from the morning session with fifth place, just holding off the challenge of Raffaele De Rosa (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) by a tenth of a second. De Rosa’s Orelac Racing teammate, Leonardo Taccini, finished the day in 24th place as he gets ready for a WorldSSP Challenge campaign.

Yamaha MS Racing’s Marc Alcoba finished in seventh place for the day as the rookie showed strong pace from the start of the day while teammate Pawel Szkopek was 22nd for the day as the duo work together for the first time. Manuel Gonzalez’s (Yamaha ParkinGo Team) adaptation from Kawasaki to Yamaha machinery continued at a strong rate as he posted the eighth best time of the day.

WorldSSP Challenge competitor Maria Herrera (Biblion Iberica Yamaha Motoxracing) also had a strong day as she finished in ninth place, beating Estonian rider Hannes Soomer (Kallio Racing) by just a few hundredths of a second. Soomer’s Kallio Racing teammate, Vertti Takala, was just one of three riders from WorldSSP who did not improve their time in the afternoon session, with Takala’s best time coming in the morning session despite an incident in the latter stages of the session.

2019 Champion Randy Krummenacher (EAB Racing Team) was 11th for the day on his return to the Championship after he missed most of the 2020 campaign. CM Racing’s Luca Bernardi finished the day in 12th place as he prepares for his rookie WorldSSP season. Fellow Italian Luigi Montella, who was fifth in the morning session, finished in 13th place on a strong day for the Italian, just ahead of Finnish rider Niki Tuuli (MV Agusta Corse Clienti).

Britain’s Danny Webb (WRP Wepol Racing) was in 15th place despite not taking part in the afternoon session following a crash between Turns 5 and 6. Federico Fuligni (VFT Racing) was 17th as he made his debut for his new team with Ten Kate Racing’s Galang Hendra Pratama in 18th. Fuligni’s teammate at VFT Racing, Davide Pizolli, was 19th with the returning Michel Fabrizio (Motozoo Racing by Puccetti) and teammate Shogo Kawasaki in 20th and 23rd place respectively; the latter competing in the WorldSSP Challenge in 2021. His rival for that competition, Stephane Frossard (Moto Team Jura Vitesse), was 21st.

WorldSSP Top 6 after Day 1.

1.) Dominique Aegerter (Eazi-Grip supported Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) 1’44.603s

2.) Federico Caricasulo (GMT94 Yamaha) +0.280s

3.) Jules Cluzel (GMT94 Yamaha) +0.716s

4.) Steven Odendaal (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team) +1.141s

5.) Christoffer Bergman (Wojick Racing Team) +1.688s

6.) Raffaele de Rosa (Eazi-Grip supported Orelac Racing VerdNatura) +1.707s