Motorland Aragon in Spain staged the first race of the sixth Supersport 300 World Championship round today.

On Friday, Yamaha Motoxracing WorldSSP300 riders Gianmaria Ibidi and Marc Vich were on track for both free practice and Superpole. Vich placed an excellent eleventh in qualifying with a time of 2’06”797, while Ibidi was slowed by traffic and unable to complete a fast lap, finished thirtieth (2’08”111).

For the first of the weekend’s races, which ran over 15 laps, Vich lined up on row four and Ibidi from row ten. Luck was unfortunately not on the Yamaha Motoxracing WorldSSP300 Team’s side though. The Spanish rider started well and was part of the leading group when he was forced to run off track to avoid a rider who had crashed in front of him.

Having slipped to almost the back of the field as a result, Vich did his best to recover but couldn’t do more than twenty-third. Ibidi was equally unfortunate, crashing in the final stages of the race - at Turn 16 – and unable to rejoin.

Tomorrow both riders will be back out for the second and final race of this sixth round.

Sandro Carusi – Team Principal
“A truly unlucky race for both our riders, with a crash for Ibidi and Vich losing all that time in avoiding another rider who’d crashed. I’m sure they’ll do better tomorrow.”

Marc Vich
“I’m really disappointed with today’s race. After doing well in Superpole, I knew I could fight with the front group but then had to run off track on lap one to avoid another rider. I was at the back when I rejoined and making up lost group is very different in SSP300. I tried my best but couldn’t do more than twenty-third; I’ll try to make up for it tomorrow.”

Gianmaria Ibidi
“Unfortunately, a crash meant that I couldn’t finish the race, but I wasn’t hurt at all. I had found good pace and would have reached the points zone, but the crash prevented me from doing that. One more reason to do well in tomorrow’s race anyway.”