The season-opening WorldSSP race at the Yamaha Finance Australian Round on Sunday ended in disappointment for GRT Yamaha Official WorldSSP Team rider Federico Caricasulo after a late crash cost him a potential victory.

Caricasulo, who had qualified third, led the first lap on the YZF-R6 and stayed in contention for the win right through until the final lap.

In trying to pass Jules Cluzel he fell and collided with his rival's machine on the exit of MG corner, his front-end grip issues finally catching him out. Caricasulo was unharmed but Cluzel sustained a fractured sacrum bone, though the Frenchman is expected to ride at the next round in Thailand.

“I’m angry because I think I could have got a good result,” said Caricasulo. “I was third when I crashed and racing is like this, it can happen. I’m very sorry for Jules because I think he got an injury but I couldn’t do anything. Anyway, we will do better in Thailand, I hope we will do a better race and a better result.”

Explaining how his race had gone, he added, “The feeling with the bike was not good because I had some problems with the front tyre. Well the bike was good but I had big problems with my front tyre and I was very close to crashing a lot of times. I saved it many times but then I crashed.”