Federico Caricasulo took his first Supersport win since 2019 and his first one with Ducati in Race 2.
He is now fourth in the Championship standings, three points away from third place. Stefano Manzi recovered from tenth on the grid to fight at the front but was denied the win by Caricasulo in the last lap. He is second in the standings with 59 points. Nicolo Bulega was third and remains the Championship leader as he leaves Mandalika with an 18-point advantage in the standings.
There was an incredible fight in the FIM Supersport World Championship during the Motul Indonesian Round at the Pertamina Mandalika International Street Circuit as Federico Caricasulo (Althea Racing Team) claimed his first win of the 2023 campaign. Caricasulo lead an Italian 1-2-3 in the 18-lap race to claim his first win since Portimao in 2019 as he ended a four-year wait for victories in WorldSSP.
At the start of the race, Can Oncu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) and Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team) were fighting for first position with the Turkish star making a move on Bulega at T1 on Lap 3. Oncu looked to break clear, but he was never more than a second away from the chasing pack and, on Lap 13, Stefano Manzi (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) passed Oncu into Turn 10 move into the lead of the race.
Manzi led until the final lap of the race but Caricasulo, who also battled past Oncu and Bulega at around the halfway stage of the race, made a move on his compatriot at Turn 10 to move into the lead of the race. Caricasulo was able to hold on to claim his first win in 68 WorldSSP races, as he took his seventh WorldSSP victory and 29th podium. Ducati claimed their third win in the 2023 season, equalling their previous best season in terms of wins which was in 2000. Manzi was able to come home in second place for his seventh WorldSSP podium, while Bulega was able to fight back on Oncu to return to the rostrum.
Oncu took fourth place after leading throughout the first half of the race, finishing more than 1.5 second down on the podium positions at the end of the race while he was also three seconds clear of rookie Marcel Schroetter (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) in fifth place. Schroetter had an early-race battle with Niki Tuuli (Dynavolt Triumph) with the Finn taking sixth spot at the end of the race meaning five manufacturers were inside the top six in Race 2.
WorldSSP will return with the Pirelli Dutch Round taking place from the 21st to the 23rd of April at the TT Circuit Assen.
WorldSSP Race 2 Results
1. Federico Caricasulo (Althea Racing Team)
2. Stefano Manzi (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) +0.325s
3. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team) +1.546s
4. Can Oncu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) +3.148s
5. Marcel Schroetter (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) +6.199s
6. Niki Tuuli (Dynavolt Triumph) +8.453s
WorldSSP Championship standings
1. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team) 77 points
2. Stefano Manzi (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) 59 points
3. Can Oncu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) 54 points
P1 | Federico Caricasulo | Althea Racing
“I’m super happy because the team did a very good job with the bike. From yesterday, it wasn’t easy to improve the bike. Sometimes we could be faster, other times slower. Today the bike was better. My front tyre was better for all the race and I could focus on riding. It was really difficult because the temperature was really high, and we had to push for 18 laps. In the end, I had something more than Manzi and when I tried to overtake him in the last lap and then I pushed in the last two sectors and we were able to win the race!”
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