Althea BMW rider Raffaele de Rosa and Aruba.it Junior Team rider Leandro Mercado had a spectacular showdown at Misano World Circuit Simoncelli, with the two points leaders going head to head right up until the final lap. Colliding with each other in the last half of that last lap, the two STK1000 frontrunners skidded off into the gravel. Pata Yamaha’s Lucas Mahias, after a solid ride to pass Kevin Calia and Marco Faccani further back, came through to take the victory at Pata’s home Round.

After a start that saw De Rosa down outside the top five and Mercado leading, the two protagonists of the first half of the STK1000 Cup found each other on track as the Italian fought back up to take the lead. Tangling on a few occasions, Mercado closed back up on the BMW for the final few laps, leading to the last lap incident.

Kevin Calia took a solid P2 for Nuova M2 Racing on the Aprilia, ahead of compatriot Marco Faccani for Triple-M racing to complete a two-thirds home podium in Italy. Toprak Razgatlioglu crossed the line in P4 in a good rookie showing for the Turk, ahead of Roberto Tamburini on the second Nuova M2 Racing Aprilia. Luca Vitali was P6, ahead of Matteo Ferrari, Jeremy Guarnoni and Andrea Mantovani.

Michael Ruben Rinaldi, after technical problems in qualifying, took his Aruba.it Junior Team Panigale R up from the back of the grid to complete the top ten in a stunning rookie comeback.

STK1000 will be back on track at Lausitzring after the summer break, ready for another stunning showdown.