The 2020 WorldSSP300 Champion took his first race win since being returning to the category, his last win coming in 2021.
He crossed the finish line just 0.052s ahead of Di Sora and 0.098s ahead of Gennai. Samuel Di Sora was second, remaining second in the Championship standings with 50 points. Third place was for Mirko Gennai who took his first podium of 2023.
There was action throughout the 12-lap Race 1 in the FIM Supersport 300 World Championship during the Prosecco DOC Catalunya Round at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, with 2020 Champion Jeffrey Buis (MTM Kawasaki) claiming his first win since returning to the Championship this season. He finished just 0.052s ahead of the chasing group to take an emotional victory for both him and the MTM Kawasaki squad in Barcelona.
Buis initially got a good start when the lights went out and initially pulled out a gap of over a second on the first lap but the chasing pack soon closed that gap up over the next few laps and Buis first dropped out of the lead on Lap 4 as the lead group became a huge 21 riders. Buis remained in this group despite dropping down as low as eighth at one point and he re-gained the lead of the race on the final lap to win his first race since returning to WorldSSP300. He fended off Samuel Di Sora (ProDina Kawasaki Racing) on the final lap of the race by just 0.052s as the Frenchman looked for victory, while Mirko Gennai (Team BrCorse) rounded out the podium with third place after pulling off an epic comeback from 19th throughout the 12-lap race.
There were several comebacks throughout the race including Championship leader Petr Svoboda (Fusport – RT Motorsports by SKM – Kawasaki) as he finished in fourth place despite running outside of the points for the majority of the race. Humberto Maier (Yamaha MS Racing/AD78 Latin America Team) was fastest in the Tissot Superpole session but had to start from the back of the grid due to being sanctioned for irresponsible riding in FP1. Dirk Geiger (Freudenberg KTM – Paligo Racing) was sixth after leading the race for parts throughout.
WorldSSP300 action resumes on Sunday from 09:50 (Local Time) with the Warm-Up, followed by Race 2 at 15:15.
WorldSSP300 Race 1 Results
1. Jeffrey Buis (MTM Kawasaki)
2. Samuel Di Sora (ProDina Kawasaki Racing) +0.052s
3. Mirko Gennai (Team BrCorse) +0.098s
4. Petr Svoboda (Fusport-RT Motorsport by SKM-Kawasaki) +0.341s
5. Humberto Maier (Yamaha MS Racing/AD78 Latin America Team) +0.346s
6. Dirk Geiger (Freudenberg KTM-Paligo Racing) +0.481s
WorldSSP300 Championship standings
1. Petr Svoboda (Fusport-RT Motorsport by SKM-Kawasaki) 63 points
2. Samuel Di Sora (ProDina Kawasaki Racing) 50 points
3. Humberto Maier (Yamaha MS Racing/AD78 Latin America Team) 41 points
WorldSSP300 Tissot Superpole Results
1 Humberto Maier | Yamaha | 1’55.169s
2. Fenton Seabright | Kawasaki | +0.515s
3. Jose Luis Perez Gonzalez | Kawasaki | +0.756s
P1 | Jeffrey Buis | MTM Kawasaki
“My race was quite good because I won! From the beginning my plan was to push but it was difficult to make a gap, so I had to change my strategy. The new strategy was just to stay in the group and try to take the lead in the last part of the race. The plan worked at well and I managed to take the win. In Superpole I had my own pace, so this was good for the race, and this worked out well. It’s going to be difficult to repeat the win, but of course that’s my goal.”
For more info checkout our dedicated World Supersport 300 News page superbike-news.co.uk/world-supersport-300/
Or visit the official World Superbike website worldsbk.com
