DMC Panavto-Yamaha’s Kev Coghlan made an impact the instant he came out of the pits, in the opening World Supersport free practice session at Aragon. Perthshire’s finest dominated from the very start, and kept improving on his lap times to make sure that no other rider was able to topple him on the timing screens. At the end of the 45 minute outing he was the only racer to lap inside 2’02 with his best lap of 2’02.829.
The Scottish lad was the quickest out of the starting blocks with a 2’03.826 in the first quarter of the session in dry conditions - on lap six. He then went back in the pits and when he came out again, bettered his time by nearly a second on his YZF R6.
But Kawasaki Intermoto rider PJ Jacobsen wanted to be involved in the action too – and with under 30 minutes left of track time made his way up to third fastest with a 2’04.339, on his ninth lap but was unable to go quicker than former World Superbike rider – Yakhnich’s Jules Cluzel.
But soon the diminutive American’s Intermoto team-mate Florian Marino wanted to join the party, and went one tenth of a second quicker than Jacobsen to go third on the timing screens, just as the clock hit the 30 minute mark.
But the former Tyco Suzuki BSB competitor was not going to let his French colleague get the better of him and went second fastest with a 2’03.727 – and that is where he ended the morning, with Cluzel one-seventh hundred of a second behind in third.
This was followed by duelling Pata Honda team-mates of Michael Van Der Mark and Lorenzo Zanetti. But it was the Dutch rider who had the slight edge going three tenths of a second quicker to take the fourth spot, with Zanetti rounding off the top five with a 2’03.963.
It was not a good start for former multiple Supersport champ Mahi Racing’s Kenan Sofuoglu as he experienced a technical problem on turn 10 on only his third lap, meaning he quickly fell down the timesheets, finishing the first session in thirteenth.
CIA Insurance rider Jack Kennedy was hovering around the top ten mark for most of the session, but in the dying minutes made his way to seventh with a 2'04.332. Com Plus SMS Racing’s Fraser Rogers finished just outside the top twenty, in 21st place with his best lap of the morning of a 2’07.947.
