Mahias on front row in qualifying for WSSP race.

The GRT Yamaha Official WorldSSP Team secured their third consecutive double front-row start on Saturday in Aragon at Round 3 of the 2018 Supersport World Championship. Reigning WorldSSP Champion, Lucas Mahias, just missed out on securing his fourth pole position in a row by 0.022s and will start Sunday's race from second on the grid.

Mahias ended Friday's practice in second overall, despite missing most of FP1 due to the wet conditions. The Man from Mont-de-Marsan was celebrating his 29th birthday on Saturday and was in sensational form, having made up for the lost time, he rediscovered his feeling with his beloved Yamaha R6. He secured second on the grid on his penultimate lap in SP2 with a 1:53.589 and was going even quicker on his next flying lap - he was up by 0.3s in the first sector - but he ran out of grip on the qualifier tyre and had to settle for starting Sunday's race from the middle of the front row. Mahias is confident that although he missed out on setting the fastest time on Saturday, his race pace will allow him to fight for victory on Sunday.

Lucas Mahias

GRT Yamaha Official WorldSSP Team - 2nd - 1:53.589

"It was a good qualification for me today. Honestly, I was not confident before SP2 because I did not have a great feeling with my R6. This was because I lost FP1 to the rain and it is difficult to build a good weekend when you lose a practice session that is so important for setting up your bike. The team worked a lot to improve the bike and my feeling was good in SP2! One of the problems today was that the track was very cold and with a qualifier tyre you just have one lap to set a good time.it is difficult because it is impossible to make the tyre last two laps, so you only have one chance to get it right. My target was the front row, I am second, so this is good for the race tomorrow. It will be a very hard race as there are a number of riders with very good pace but I am confident because the race is completely different and is not just about one lap. I think tyre wear will play a huge part on Sunday and you will see every bike start to slide around. When the bike slides around, normally I am fast, so I am looking forward to the race!"

Report and image provided by Yamaha Racing