The final race of the 2021 FIM Supersport 300 World Championship provided some of the same drama and excitement at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve as the rest of the season has as newly-crowned Champion Adrian Huertas (MTM Kawasaki) claimed victory in Race 2 for the Motul Portuguese Round in a typically-frantic encounter to round out the 2021 campaign.

THE CHAMPION BREAKS AWAY

The first half of the 13-lap race involved riders looking to try to break away but it was the 2021 Champion, Huertas, who was able to do so with just a handful of laps to go, extending his lead at the start of the penultimate lap to more than two seconds as he ended the season in scintillating style for his sixth victory of a record-breaking season; decorated in a special gold livery on his Kawasaki machine and his helmet. Huertas’ victory was the 25^th for Spain in the Championship, as well as the eighth of his career which equals teammate Jeffrey Buis’ (MTM Kawasaki) from 2020.

BOOTH-AMOS SECURES SECOND IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP

British rider Tom Booth-Amos (Fusport – RT Motorsports by SKM – Kawasaki) had challenged for the title in 2021 but an injury sustained in Catalunya derailed his title aspirations, but he was able to secure second in the Championship after finishing second in Race 2 after Jeffrey Buis (MTM Kawasaki) retired from the race following a late-race crash which forced the 2020 Champion out of the race, with Buis taking third in the Championship. Bahattin Sofuoglu (Biblion Yamaha Motoxracing) had crossed the line in third place but was given a three-second time penalty in lieu of a Long Lap Penalty after it was deemed he had being riding irresponsibly, meaning he was classified in 17^th place, while Iñigo Iglesias (SMW Racing) claimed third place.

THE TOP TEN IN RACE 2

Yuta Okaya (MTM Kawasaki) backed up his third place in Race 1 with fourth place in Race 2. Rookie Dirk Geiger (Fusport – RT Motorsports by SKM – Kawasaki) claimed a second successive top-six finish during his debut weekend, although the German rider had crossed the line in fifth place but was demoted one place for exceeding track limits on the final lap. He would have finished in fourth but for the penalty, which initially demoted him to sixth before gaining a place with Sofuoglu’s penalty.

Dutch rider Koen Meuffels (MTM Kawasaki) was in sixth place ahead of Oliver König (Movisio by MIE), with the Czech rider claiming another top-ten finish but just 0.081s away from Meuffels. Mirko Gennai (Team BRcorse) was in eighth, two tenths clear of Jose Luis Perez Gonzalez (Accolade Smrz Racing) in ninth and Bruno Ieraci (Prodina Team WorldSSP300) who rounded out the top ten.

POINTS FROM RACE 2

Gabriele Mastroluca (ProGP Racing) was 11^th ahead of Kevin Sabatucci (Kawasaki GP Project); Sabatucci had crossed the line in 12^th but was demoted one place for exceeding track limits on the final lap. Like Geiger, Sabatucci benefitted from Sofuoglu’s penalty to be classified in the position he had originally finished in before his own penalty.

Meikon Kawakami (AD78 Team Brasil by MS Racing) was 13^th, although the gap to Sabatucci was recorded as 0.000s following the Italian’s penalty for a track limits infringement. Kawakami held on to 13^th place ahead of Victor Steeman (Freudenberg KTM WorldSSP Team) who claimed 14^th spot and Yeray Ruiz (Yamaha MS Racing) who claimed the final point. The Dutchman had been running towards the front of the field in the early stages of the race but dropped back as the race progressed.

Ruiz was just 0.038s clear of Alex Millan Gomez (2R Racing) as Millan Gomez missed out on a point by the smallest of margins. Harry Khouri’s (Fusport – RT Motorsports by SKM – Kawasaki) season came to an end with 18^th place in Race 2, ahead of the penalised Sofuoglu, finishing 0.060s clear of Ton Kawakami (AD78 Team Brasil by MS Racing). Alessandro Zanca (Kawasaki GP Project) rounded out the top 20.

TO NOTE

Samuel Di Sora (Leader Team Flembbo) was the first retirement of the race with a technical issue shortly after he had a crash at Turn 5, with the Race 1 winner retiring from the race on Lap 9 of 13. Alfonso Coppola (Team Trasimeno) was the second retirement of the race as he crashed out on Lap 10 at Turn 13.

The top six following WorldSSP300 Race 2, full results here:

1 Adrian Huertas (MTM Kawasaki)

2. Tom Booth-Amos (Fusport – RT Motorsports by SKM – Kawasaki) +2.077s

3. Iñigo Iglesias (SMW Racing) +2.196s

4. Yuta Okaya (MTM Kawasaki) +3.049s

5. Dirk Geiger (Fusport – RT Motorsports by SKM – Kawasaki) +3.100s

6. Koen Meuffels (MTM Kawasaki) +3.586s

Fastest Lap Ruben Bijman (Yamaha) 1’56.302s

Championship standings

1 Adrian Huertas (MTM Kawasaki) 255 points

2. Tom Booth-Amos (Fusport – RT Motorsports by SKM – Kawasaki) 189

3. Jeffrey Buis (MTM Kawasaki) 174

4. Samuel Di Sora (Leader Team Flembbo) 148

5. Yuta Okaya (MTM Kawasaki) 140

6. Bahattin Sofuoglu (Biblion Yamaha Motoxracing) 131

WorldSSP300’s season is over but you can watch some classic races from the class using the WorldSBK VideoPass!