Dominique Aegerter concluded the opening day of action third fastest in Portugal aboard his Ten Kate Racing Yamaha R6, as he hunts for his fourth consecutive victory.
The Swiss rider flew to a 1:44.901 to complete a Yamaha top-three in the early stages of free practice one, which saw Jules Cluzel, Lorenzo Baldassarri and Dominique Aegerter head towards the mid-point of the session covered by just 0.021 seconds. Eventually, as the chequered flag fell, the reigning champion slipped to fifth overall, just trailing title rival Baldassarri, improving his lap time to a 1:44.709.
Temperatures continued to rise at the sun-kissed Portimão circuit for the second free practice session, which saw the 32-year-old champion immediately improve his time. Faster track conditions meant Aegerter was back to his pace-setting form, holding top spot up until the final ten minutes. Re-emerging from a mid-session pit stop in second, Aegerter pushed on and narrowly improved upon his early session-topping time, ending the day on the pace in third with a 1:44.364.
After pushing to fourth in the opening session of the day, Evan Bros.WorldSSP rider Lorenzo Baldassarri completed the opening day’s action in fifth place. Baldassarri, who trails Aegerter by 36 points in the title race, found himself a mere 0.250 seconds shy of the top position with a 1:44.510.
Podium finishers in 2022, Jules Cluzel and Glenn van Straalen rounded out Friday’s two sessions inside the top ten with Andy Verdoia, Marcel Brenner, Leonardo Taccini, Patrick Hobelsberger and Ondrej Vosatek all featuring inside the top 20. MS Racing Yamaha’s Unai Orradre was forced to sit out the Portuguese round of the 2022 season following a successful operation on his collarbone after sustaining an injury in a training accident earlier this week.
FIM Supersport World Championship action continues Saturday with Superpole at 10:25 before the lights go out for the opening race of the weekend at 15:15.
