Manzi forces Huertas to wait for title
A third win of the season saw Stefano Manzi (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing) keep his feint title hopes alive in the Superport class.
The Italian rider heaped the pressure on Yari Montella throughout the race and on Lap 10 the Barni Spark Racing Team rider crashed out of the lead and out of championship contention.
Adrian Huertas (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team) racing for the first time with the chance to wrap up the Supersport title finished the race in second position. Having started from the front row the Spanish rider ran wide into Turn 1 and dropped to fifth position at the end of the opening tour. He would recover to claim second position behind Manzi and a critical 20 points.
Montella’s mistake, at Turn 7, elevated a fight between Valentin Debise (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team) and Lucas Mahias (GMT94 Yamaha) to one for the final step on the podium. On the final lap both riders set their fastest laps of the race but it was Debise who held sway to claim the sixth podium of his season by just two tenths of a second.
Bo Bendsneyder (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) capped off a very impressive debut weekend with a fifth place finish. The Dutch rider started from sixth position and spent the 18 lap race in the second group battling with Debise and Mahias.
Championship Highlights
Huertas holds a 45 point lead in the standings from Manzi. Five points at the final round of the season will guarantee the World Championship to the Spaniard
P1 | Stefano Manzi | Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing
“Yesterday was a disappointing race but we made a big step forward this morning in the warm-up session. I felt very good on the bike and I knew something could happen during the race. When you have that feeling, it gives you confidence. After Turn 1, I was already in second place and Yari was setting a very fast pace. In the end, he made a mistake and went out. I saw that I had a gap of 1.5s to Adrian. In the end this is a great result. I’m quite happy to keep the championship alive for the last round.”
WorldSSP Race 2 Results
1. Stefano Manzi (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing)
2. Adrian Huertas (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team) +2.506s
3. Valentin Debise (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team) +4.103
4. Lucas Mahias (GMT94 Yamaha) +4.351s
5. Bo Bendsneyder (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) +7.670s
6. Federico Caricasulo (Motozoo ME AIR Racing) +9.355s
Fastest lap: Stefano Manzi, Yamaha – 1’40.063s
Championship Standings
1. Adrian Huertas (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team) 410 points
2. Stefano Manzi (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing) 365 points
3. Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) 354 points
For more info checkout our dedicated World Supersport News page superbike-news.co.uk/world-supersport/
Or visit the official World Superbike website worldsbk.com
©Words/Images are from official press release posted courtesy of WorldSBK.com
