In Sunday’s exciting WorldSSP race at the Pirelli Riviera Di Rimini Round there were big smiles for GRT Official Yamaha WorldSSP Team's Federico Caricasulo in front of the Italian fans as he returned to the podium for the first time since his win at Buriram.

In the second round of the 2017 season in Thailand Caricasulo showed his talent with a classy victory and he was on the podium once more at Misano as he crossed the line in third place.

Caricasulo started from the front row - also in third - and was immediately involved in the battle at the front. The 21-year-old Italian from Ravenna, less than 80km from the track, rode well as he showed that he has recovered from the shoulder injury he sustained at Assen at the end of April.

He fought with eventual winner Kenan Sofuoglu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) and Jules Cluzel (CIA Landlord Insurance Honda) for the victory throughout the race, managing to hold off Cluzel until lap 8 when the French rider made contact with Caricasulo as he passed. Caricasulo recovered and ultimately brought his R6 home to cross the line in third, 5.6s behind Sofuoglu.

"It is a very nice feeling to return to the podium!" he exclaimed after the race. "I wanted to try to win this race because last year, I was so close to winning, before Kenan overtook me on the last lap. The podium is good I am happy after some difficult races and my injury. It is very important to be back on the podium and Yamaha and my team did a great job. I am happy because we are making really good progress and I think we will be very competitive in the next races."