The paddock’s newest category has officially taken to the track! The FIM Sportbike World Championship rolled onto the tarmac on the afternoon of Friday, March 27th and kicked off the new Championship with a bang! The field flew around the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve as they set their grid for Saturday’s Race 1 of the Pirelli Portuguese Round. Matteo Vannucci (Revo-M2) earned Aprilia’s first pole in the paddock since Eugene Laverty back in 2018.
STARTING STRONG: Vannucci takes WorldSPB’s first-ever pole position by a hundredth of a second
Matteo Vannucci led early on as he sent his sleek Aprilia RS 660 Factory around the track fastest in the first half of the session and built on his already-strong time to take the Championship’s first pole with a 1’48.553s time. He starts the WorldSPB Championship the same way he ended WorldSSP300, on pole. Ferre Fleerackers (Track & Trades Wixx Racing) led the morning’s Free Practice session, and while he didn’t quite have the same glimmering pace as earlier in the day, his 1’48.563s lap was fast enough to send him to P2. He and his Suzuki GSX-8R are looking like they may be heavyweights on the order this season, as he was the fastest of three Suzuki bikes up in the top five. David Salvador (Team ProDina Kawasaki XCI) and his Kawasaki ZX-6R 636 bike are looking strong as well; the Spaniard took P3 on a 1’48.759s lap to send the 2025 WorldSSP300 runner-up to third place on the grid for Saturday.
ALL-DUTCH SECOND ROW: Beekmans leads Buis and Veneman
Kas Beekmans (VLR Racing Team Suzuki) will lead the fourth row with his 1’48.785s time. Behind him, two-time WorldSSP300 World Champion Jeffrey Buis (Track & Trades Wixx Racing) took his Suzuki GSX-8R to the second row for P5 on a 1’48.842s time. a strong start in the nascent Championship for him and his compatriot Loris Veneman (MTM Kawasaki), whose 1’48.867s sent him to P6.
IERACI LEADS ROW THREE: Wild card Poncet just behind him
Bruno Ieraci (CM Triumph Factory Racing) recovered from a tech issue he suffered in Free Practice, going on to take top Triumph honours in P7 with a 1’49.068s time. Wild card rider Diego Poncet (Rac41-Honda) continues to impress as he will start on the third row as the field’s only Honda CBR600R present this round; he will ride on Saturday from P8 thanks to his 1’49.150s time. British rider Fenton Seabright (PHR Performance Triumph) takes P9 on account of his 1’49.166s time, just ahead of Carter Thompson (Team BrCorse), who rounded out the top ten on a time of 1’49.444s
The top six from the WorldSPB Tissot Superpole session, full results here!
1. Matteo Vannucci (Revo-M2) 1’48.553s
2. Ferre Fleerackers (Track&Trades Wixx Racing) +0.010s
3. David Salvador (Team ProDina Kawasaki XCI) +0.206s
4. Kas Beekmans (VLR Racing Team Suzuki) +0.232s
5. Jeffrey Buis (Track&Trades Wixx Racing) +0.289s
6. Loris Veneman (MTM Kawasaki) +0.314s
Catch the first race of the WorldSPB Championship tomorrow Live or OnDemand with the WorldSBK VideoPass!