The FIM Sportbike World Championship delivered a tense opening day at the Circuito de Jerez - Angel Nieto, Andalucia, with David Salvador (Team ProDina Kawasaki XCI) storming to pole position for the Pirelli Spanish Round. Setting the season's fastest time to claim his fifth pole in the category's maiden campaign, Salvador locked down the top spot with a lap of 1’45.802s, seizing control with eight minutes remaining in the session.
Joining him on the front row is Carter Thompson (Team BrCorse), who slotted into P2 with a gap of +0.701s to earn his second consecutive first-row start of the season. Thompson is currently fighting to defend his third-place Championship position from Antonio Torres (Team ProDina Kawasaki XCI). Rounding out the front row in P3 is Xavi Artigas (MTM Kawasaki), finishing +1.087s off the pace. Artigas has a mountain to climb on home soil as he sits 12 points behind Salvador in the standings, needing to outscore his title rival by 14 points in Race 1 if Salvador is to be crowned champion.
The Tissot Superpole session was interrupted early when disaster struck with 20 minutes remaining. Fenton Seabright (PHR Performance Triumph) suffered a technical issue between Turns 1 and 2, causing his machine to slow abruptly. Dutch rider Jurrien van Crugten (MMR) was following closely behind and hit the back of the #73, sending the #20 down hard onto the tarmac. Red flags were immediately waved. Van Crugten was transferred to the medical centre and diagnosed with deep abrasions on the fourth and fifth fingers of his left hand, with his condition set for a review following Saturday's Warm Up. Seabright later endured another setback, crashing at Turn 9 with two minutes left on the clock to fall to P12 on Friday.
Further down the order, home hero Juan Risueno (Pons Motosport Italika Racing) delivered his best qualification of the season with a P4 finish, matching his previous best effort from Magny-Cours last season in WorldSSP300 with a gap of +1.148s. Thompson's teammate Marco Gaggi (Team BrCorse) backed up the Yamaha R7 pace by taking P5, tying his season-best qualification from Cremona at +1.357s. Antonio Torres (Team ProDina Kawasaki XCI) used his home track knowledge to secure P6 with a time of 1’47.189s, just three hundredths of a second behind Gaggi.
Matteo Vannucci (Revo-M2) will head up the third row from P7, recording his best Friday performance in the last two rounds with a 1’47.345s lap. Alvaro Fuertes (Deza-Box 77 Racing Team) missed out on that spot by less than a thousandth of a second, slotting into P8 by the slimmest of margins. Ferre Fleerackers (Track & Trades Wixx Racing) starts from ninth, holding a four-point advantage over Seabright in their battle for fifth place in the Championship. Meanwhile, American rider Julian Correa (Pons Motosport Italika Racing) marked a massive step forward by claiming a season-best P10 in Superpole, dramatically improving upon his previous best of P18.
