For the second year in succession GMT94 stand-in rider for Jules Cluzel, Britain’s Kyle Smith takes pole position in Magny-Cours mastering the drying track conditions and being the first rider to break the pole streak of 2020 World Supersport Champion Andrea Locatelli.

Puccetti Racing Kawasaki’s Lucas Mahias will start alongside Smith in second position at his home track. After looking strong all weekend he’ll be hoping to convert this front-row start to repeat his victory of last year to be the second person to beat Loactelli this season and to secure his second position in the championship. Also 2019 World Supersport 300 champion Manuel Gonzalez rounds out the front row with the Spainiard taking his best qualifying of the season, he’ll looking to make this a best race finish later today with the strong pace he’s shown throughout the weekend.

2020 World Supersport Andrea Locatelli has not been as strong as he has been compared to this season as the wet conditions have stopped him from breaking the consecutive pole record of Karl Muggeridge in 2004 with six pole positions, he found some pace in Free Practice Three, will this allow him to win an 11th victory of the season?

MV Agusta’s Raffaele De Rosa has had a quiet weekend so far but was able to but his MV Agusta 675 onto the middle of the second row using his experience to get him up further on the grid compared to his Free Practice results. Indonesian rider Galang Hendra Pratama takes a stuning sixth place on the grid and could be on for a career best finish on his Blu Cru MS Racing Yamaha.

Britain’s Danny Webb showed some strong pace early on in the session before crashing at the Nurburgring Chicane 10 minutes into the session and getting black flagged for not returning to the pits after the crash, however he was able to get back on the track managed a 10th place on the grid.

On his return from an infection injury Hikari Okubo managed a 12th place on the Dynavolt Honda, the Japanese rider will be looking to find some more pace on the CBR 600RR as he got a fifth place in last years race. After showing some great pace over the Free Practice sessions, riders: Kevin Manfredi, Steven Odendaal and Hannes Soomer had a disappointing qualifying session as they qualified in 13th, 15th and 16th, should the race be wet they could be the dark horses to look out for in today’s race.

Will Kyle Smith be able to convert his second ever pole position to get his first win since Qatar 2016 or will champion Andrea Locatelli continue his domination in the 600 class? Find out at 15:15 (GMT+2)

Featured Image: worldsbk.com