Stefano Manzi obtained the pole position for the Assen round of the World Supersport Championship this Friday. The Superpole was an unusual session, in which half of the grid was officially unqualified. We have already explained everything.
The Superpole started slightly later, after the delay caused by the red flag in the second free practice of the Superbike World Championship. Valentin Debise (Evan Bros. Yamaha) was the first to complete a flying lap, followed by Adrián Huertas (Aruba.it Ducati), before regaining the lead with his second attempt.
The Frenchman was strong in the early stages of the session and, moments after being overtaken by Lorenzo Baldassarri (Orleac Racing Verdnatura/Ducati), he once again took the lead.
However, from that point on, Debise never led again. He was passed by Tom Booth-Amos (PTR Triumph), who in turn yielded to Bahatin Sofuoglu (MV Agusta). Manzi took the lead for the first time and, despite being immediately beaten by Glenn van Straalen, responded to his Pata Yamaha Ten Kate teammate with the pole position time.
The benchmark was set at 1m45.203s, allowing the Italian to surpass the Dutchman by 0.990s. Huertas finished third, improving later on. Marcel Schrötter (MV Agusta) set the fourth fastest time, sharing the second row of the grid with Niki Tuuli (EAB Racing Team/Ducati) and Baldassarri.
Out of the 34 riders, only 17 were qualified – meaning they set a time within 105 percent of the fastest lap (1m50.464s). Among those affected are contenders for top positions like Lucas Mahias (GMT94 Yamaha) or Federico Caricasulo (Motozoo ME AIR Racing/MV Agusta).
But what caused half of the field to not qualify? The rain that intensified halfway through the session caught several drivers by surprise, preventing them from improving their times thereafter. However, it is not expected that any of them will be prevented from racing in Assen, as it is a situation unrelated to the performance potential demonstrated.
Results:
FINAL RESULTS from #WorldSSP Superpole 🔥
— WorldSBK (@WorldSBK) April 19, 2024
1️⃣ Stefano Manzi
2️⃣ Glenn Van Straalen
3️⃣ @adrianhuertas99 #DutchWorldSBK 🇳🇱 pic.twitter.com/fjL5o6p1GO
