Mattia Casadei topped FIM Supersport World Championship Superpole qualifying Friday afternoon at MotorLand Aragon, in Spain. Riding his Motozoo ME air Racing MV Agusta F3 800 RR on Pirelli control tires, Casadei lapped the 3.15-mile (5.08 km) course in 1:52.257 to top the field of 33 riders and earn pole position.

Former MotoAmerica Supersport regular Valentin Debise was the best of the rest with a 1:52.542 on his Renzi Corse Ducati Panigale V2, and Jeremy Alcoba earned the third and final spot on the front row with a lap time of 1:52.652 on his Kawasaki ZX-6R 636. 

Championship point leader, Stefano Manzi will start the race from third row, in 7th on his Pata Ten Kate Racing Yamaha YZF R9. 

More from a press release issued by Dorna: 

Casadei shines in Spain, breaking Bulega’s lap record and claiming his maiden WorldSSP pole. Sitting pole for the Italian manufacturer’s third time, Casadei sets himself up nicely to win MV Agusta’s first-ever race at the Spanish circuit. 

The FIM Supersport World Championship field attacked their Tissot Superpole session on Friday as they led the paddock into the weekend’s action. Erupting on the track for the first event of the Tissot Aragon Round, the Tissot Superpole session. Mattia Casadei (Motozoo ME Air Racing) topped the timesheets at MotorLand Aragon to open the weekend, followed on the front row by Valentin Debise (Renzi Corse) and Jeremy Alcoba (Kawasaki WorldSSP Team).

Ascendant in Aragon: Casadei and Debise enjoy breakout performances

Mattia Casadei built upon his Free Practice P3, improving to P1 for his first pole of his WorldSSP career via his 1’52.257s. The lap broke the record set back in 2023 by Nicolo Bulega. Valentin Debise seemed to shine under the Spanish sun as the Frenchman earned his first front row since Most. Jeremy Alcoba turned heads at home, earning his first front row in any World Championship since his Moto3 days back in 2021.

Off the mark: Oncu wasn’t the Superpole specialist we’ve seen earlier this season, the Turk qualifies P5

Bo Bendsneyder (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) continued to enjoy his strong string of Superpole performances in Aragon’s first day, landing his third second row start or better in a row. Can Oncu (Yamaha BLU CRU Evan Bros Team) displayed pace slightly slower than his usual Superpole speed as the Turkish title contender takes a second row spot in P5, just 0.011s slower than Bendsneyder. He finished as the top Yamaha on the day, likely influenced by the recent RPM regulations applied to Yamaha machinery. Rounding out the second row, Filippo Farioli (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) made it two MV Agusta F3 800 RR’s in the top six as his 1’52.805s time outpaced Stefano Manzi (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing) by more than half a second.

Manzi misses the third row: The Championship leader slips down to P7 late in the session

Stefano Manzi (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing) languished deep down the order for most of the session until the final four minutes, when he shot up to P2; however, he was shuffled to P7 after a series of late laps by the other riders. Jaume Masia (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) and his team worked well to bounce back from a tech issue suffered near the middle of the session, fixing the issue and returning to the track to outpace fellow Ducati Philipp Oettl (Feel Racing WorldSSP Team)in P9 behind him by just over two hundredths of a second. Tom Booth-Amos (PTR Triumph Factory Racing) and his Triumph Street Triple RS 765 held their Magny-Cours form in Aragon, finishing P10 for the second time consecutively to round out the top 10 once again. Lucas Mahias had crashed early in the session in Turn 15, later returning to the track. However, ten minutes later in the session, he crashed again, this time on a lowside in the downhill section of Turn 9, as he lost the front end. The Frenchman recovered, however, to set a time which will see him start on the fifth row in P11.

The top six from the WorldSBK Superpole Race, full results here!

1. Mattia Casadei (Motozoo ME air Racing) 1’52.257s

2. Valentin Debise (Renzi Corse) +0.285s

3. Jeremy Alcoba (Kawasaki WorldSSP Team) +0.395s

4. Bo Bendsneyder (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) +0.489s

5. Can Oncu (Yamaha BLU CRU Evan Bros Team) +0.498s

6. Filippo Farioli (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) +0.548s

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