5th position for Debise, and 9th place for Verdoia in Free Practices.

At the end of this Friday morning, the first free practice session started for the Supersport class. Valentin Debise and Andy Verdoia were rediscovering the circuit aboard their GMT94 Yamaha R6. Indeed, the first sector of the circuit has been resurfaced, and offers an optimal grip. Andy Verdoia finished this session in a good 3rd place, with two good laps in 1’35.6. Valentin Debise finished the session in 4th place, just a few thousandths behind his team-mate.

After making some comfort modifications for Valentin, and some very slight suspension adjustments, the two GMT94 riders started the second session at 4pm. Valentin Debise went on to finish 5th in the session, with a very good race pace, and an ideal time that could put him within two tenths of the pole. Andy Verdoia did not manage to improve his morning time and finished 13th. He still finished 9th overall, thanks to his good FP1.

Valentin Debise: “We worked well with the team, this morning the selector was a bit high for me, and the handlebars a bit tight. You always realise these little details once you are really riding hard on the bike. From FP2 the team adjusted this, and made some good settings. The bike is fantastic and the engine is fast. I didn’t get my fast lap in, I missed a few times but I feel confident, which is positive for the rest of the weekend.“

Andy Verdoia: “We had a great start this morning, getting into a good pace, and a good third place at the end of FP1. Unfortunately in FP2 we didn’t manage to put everything together. Tomorrow the rain is forecast all day, which will reshuffle the cards. We will have to do a good qualifying to get out of the pack in the race.“