The eleventh WorldSSP round kicked off today with practice and Superpole being staged at the Estoril Circuit in Portugal. In cool, sunny conditions, riders Jeremy Alcona and Dominique Aegerter took to the track this morning for free practice, a session they used to adapt their Ninja ZX-6R 636 machines to the Portuguese track. With a time of 1’39”580, the Spaniard finished fifth, while the Swiss rider placed nineteenth with a 1’40”189.
Establishing the grid positions for Saturday’s race, the Superpole qualifying took place later in the afternoon. Aegerter put in a strong performance, improving on his morning’s best to place eighth with a 1’39”292. Alcoba was also able to slightly lower his earlier time, qualifying tenth with a 1’39”370.
These results meant that Aegerter will start from the third row of the grid and Alcoba from the fourth for the first of the weekend’s races, which will run over a distance of 18 laps.
Jeremy Alcoba
“The weather and track conditions were good today, despite some wind. I’m not yet happy with the feeling I have with my bike. I expected more, considering what we did at the previous round. I set the tenth fastest time early on in the session while riding alone, so I didn’t exploit the slipstream at all. With a little more luck, we could have started further forward, but in the end, I’m pleased with my race pace. I’m sure we can run a good race tomorrow; I will do my best to make a good start and we’ll see.”
Dominique Aegerter
“We’re at a good point, but there’s still a lot of work to do. Today I ran my best Superpole of the season and this means I’ll start from eighth tomorrow. The team has helped me improve the bike and the feeling I have with it. Luckily, my fastest laps weren’t hindered by the various yellow flags. I’m pleased we can start from row three tomorrow, and I hope I can do well in front my fans and the sponsors who are here with us at Estoril. I’ll do all I can to score the best possible result with my Kawasaki”.
