Dominique Aegerter has ended the opening day of WorldSSP action on top of the combined timesheets after an impressive free practice one performance. The 31-year-old’s 1:37.753 was good enough for top spot as the weekend commenced, leading Yamaha counterpart Lorenzo Baldassarri by over half a second.
As conditions improved for the second practice session, the 2021 World Champion was unable to better his earlier lap time, ending the final session of the day in second. Despite the best efforts of his rivals, Aegerter’s practice one lap time was not bettered, leaving the Swiss atop of the combined standings, 0.205 seconds clear of the chasing pack.
Meanwhile, former Moto2 podium finisher, Lorenzo Baldassarri was able to improve his time in the second running, which saw the Evan Bros Yamaha rider conclude the day’s action in fourth overall.
Home-hero Glenn van Straalen enjoyed a strong opening day to his home event. The Dutch rider knocked eight tenths off his time set on Friday morning, ending the day 0.093 seconds adrift of Baldassarri in fifth. GMT 94 Yamaha’s Jules Cluzel kicked off his Dutch weekend in sixth place overall.
Andy Verdoia and Péter Sebestyén narrowly missed out on a top ten, ultimately placing 11th and 12th on the combined timesheets respectively, while MS Racing’s Unai Orradre continued to improve his feeling aboard the R6, finishing the day in 18th.
Kyle Smith led VFT Racing team-mate, Marcel Brenner, in 20th and 21st places respectively, while local rider Jaimie van Sikkelerus concluded the day in 24th place.
Saturday sees the riders back on track for Superpole at 10:25 local time before the lights go out for the opening race of the weekend at 15:15.
