The fourth World Champion from the FIM Supersport 300 World Championship in four years since the class started in 2017. The first Dutch World Champion in WorldSSP300 and the first non-Spanish Champion. These are just some of the records Jeffrey Buis (MTM Kawasaki MOTOPORT) has made or broken on his way to becoming the 2020 WorldSSP300 Champion.

Buis, in his second season in WorldSSP300, showed remarkable consistency throughout 2020 as he secured 8 podiums in the first 13 races; a remarkable run which means the 18-year-old Dutchman already holds the record for most podiums in a WorldSSP300 season, a record he broke as he took his eighth podium of the season in Race 2 at Magny-Cours. Remarkably, his teammate, Scott Deroue, also managed to equal the previous record of podiums in a season, which had been set by Italian Alfonso Coppola (Kawasaki GP Project) in 2017 with seven visits to the rostrum.

After a delayed start to the season due to the global pandemic, the WorldSSP300 season got underway at the Circuito de Jerez – Angel Nieto at the end of July with a new format: two races across each round for the riders to contend with and a 14-race season packed into seven rounds across 12 weeks. Buis started the season in Spain with the worst round of his season, picking up only three points in the first two races of the season.

A week later and the Championship was back in action at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve and Buis started his incredible podium record with second in Race 1, finishing just behind Ana Carrasco (Kawasaki Provec WorldSSP300) as they were separated by just 0.057s at the line. He followed this up with fourth in Race 2 at Portimao; showing he would be able to back up podiums with consistent results when he was unable to stand on the rostrum.

It was the back-to-back rounds at MotorLand Aragon where Buis really hit his stride and showed he would be a Championship contender as he took three wins out of four races across the Aragon and Teruel Rounds, with his lowest finish in those four races second. He was so dominant at MotorLand Aragon that two of his three wins went into the history books as some of the biggest winning margins in history; in second place for Race 1 at the Aragon Round and fourth in Race 2 at the Teruel Round.

Buis moved into the Championship lead after the second race at MotorLand Aragon and from there he did not look back as WorldSSP300 tackled the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya for the first time with Buis finishing fifth in Race 1 and third in Race 2; Buis securing his sixth podium of the season in Barcelona and extending his Championship lead. Race 2 at Catalunya was a historic one as MTM Kawasaki MOTOPORT secured a 1-2-3-4 finish; showing how dominant the team and riders had been.

WorldSSP300 moved on to the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours for the penultimate round of the season and with it came different weather: out went hot and sunny conditions and in came the cold and wet weather conditions that proved to be a challenge to master. Buis did just that, though, as he secured yet another two podiums including victory in Race 1 after Tom Booth-Amos (RT Motorsports by SKM-Kawasaki) crashed out from the lead.

All this meant Buis headed into the Estoril Round as the Championship lead with more than a race win in hand over teammate Deroue, giving Buis two shots at clinching his first World Championship over two races and he duly converted; resisting pressure from his teammate in showed consistency, rarely finishing off the podium in 2020, to show he has what it takes to fight at the front and for a Championship.

Join the conversation on social media and congratulate Buis on his title with the #BuisToBoss hashtag!

Don’t forget you can revisit a thrilling 2020 WorldSSP300 season and watch the 2021 season with the WorldSBK VideoPass!