FIM Supersport World Championship leader Cal Crutchlow set the pace in Friday's opening free practice session for this weekend's races at Imola.

The Yamaha rider posted a time of one minute 52.751 seconds to finish almost half a second up on Ten Kate Honda's Kenan Sofuoglu.

Kawasaki rider Joan Lascorz was third, a massive two seconds slower than Crutchlow, while the Briton's nearest challenger in the title battle, Parkalgar Honda's Eugene Laverty, was over two and a half seconds off the benchmark time in fourth.

Michele Pirro flew the flag for the home riders at the Italian circuit as he took fifth on the Lorenzini by Leoni Yamaha.

Friday's session was delayed by three hours after FIM Superbike World Championship competitors complained the circuit was too slippery.

While tentative at the start, the Supersport competitors soon allayed fears over the state of the track as the times began to tumble, and not one rider suffered a fall during the hour-long session.