First Supersport 300 pole goes to Deroue

Dutch rider Scott Deroue has claimed pole position for the very first World Supersport 300 race in a frantic qualifying session at MotorLand Aragon.

Deroue, a former runner-up in the Red Bull Rookies Cup, comes into this year as one of the favourites given his experience on the world stage, and he certainly delivered on that early promise in Superpole.

Twitter: #WorldSSP300 Superpole 2:
1 @ScottDeroue95
2 @Mika8Perez
3 #Kalinin
4 @danivalle33
5 @RobertSchotman9
Congrats… https://t.co/3anuiheYSP (@WorldSBK)

The MTM HS Kawasaki rider shot to the top of the pile in the closing stages with a 2m12.712s having had to come through the first part of Superpole.

A mistake at the start of his final flying lap left him with a nervous wait. Reigning European Junior Cup champion Mika Perez came close, but missed out on pole by two tenths of a second.

Ukrainian rider Mykyta Kallinen, previously a runner-up in his national jet ski series, completed the top three on his Yamaha to make it three different manufacturers on the front row.

The battle for the spots on the second row was a close affair, but it was Spaniard Daniel Valle on his Halcourier Racing Yamaha who took fourth, edging Robert Schotman and Borja Sanchez.

Marc Garcia heads the third row with Italians Guiseppe De Gruttola and Paolo Grassia close behind. Gabriel Noderer, Armando Pontone and Harun Cabuk completed the top 12, the latter of the three crashing late in the session.

Twitter: #Kalinin and @ScottDeroue95 go to Superpole 2! Final Standings besides that are: #Taylor, @AnaCarrasco_22 and… https://t.co/5barSe5P6K (@WorldSBK)

Britain’s Chris Taylor was unlucky to miss out a spot in the second part of qualifying in 13^th, the MTM HS Kawasaki rider just under a tenth away from Deroue’s time.

Taylor heads former grand prix and CEV rider Ana Carrasco, who ran at the top of the timesheets for a short while in SP1, and Team Trasimeno Yamaha’s Angelo Licciardi. Team Toth rider Alex Murley will start tomorrow’s race 17^th.

With 27 riders all vying for track position in SP1, drama was inevitable. South African rider Troy Bezedenhout was the first to fall, with former European Women’s Cup champion Avalon Biddle following him into the Turn 16 gravel trap just moments later.

Twitter: The South African @Troy52Bez was the first one on crashing at #WorldSSP300 SP1 today! https://t.co/lbeGh7Q75D (@WorldSBK)

Dutch rider Ruben Doorakers fell right at the end of the session whilst on a good lap and was left stranded down in 24^th. Thankfully all fallers walked away unscathed.