FIRST-TIME WINNERS: Lehmann forced into slick tyre gamble, Mahendra shows wet-weather prowess at Most
Lennox Lehmann and Aldi Satya Mahendra stunned at Most to claim their first wins in WorldSSP300 after mastering difficult weather conditions
There were two new FIM Supersport 300 World Championship winners at the Autodrom Most as Lennox Lehmann (Freudenberg KTM – Paligo Racing) and Aldi Satya Mahendra (Team BrCorse) claimed victory in difficult conditions. Both took their maiden victories in the Championship in rain-affected races, with Lehmann winning a flag-to-flag thriller by not pitting while Indonesia’s Mahendra mastered the rain conditions in Race 2 at the Acerbis Czech Round.
In Race 1, a lot of riders opted to pit as the rain started to fall but a handful stayed out including the #28 KTM rider. Lehmann kept his slick tyres on throughout the 14-lap race and was able to build a gap of around 3.5 seconds to claim his first win in his 27th race. It was the fourth time he stood on the WorldSSP300 rostrum with the other three being third-place finishes. His win ensured KTM secured back-to-back wins for the first time after teammate Dirk Geiger’s Race 2 victory at Imola.
Reacting to his first win, Lehmann said: “It was incredibly hard because I just saw many riders crashing. There were a lot of slow riders and then people who changed to the wet tyres were very fast. I was like ‘why are you guys changing!?’. The tyres still had a lot of grip so I tried to stay out and hoped it didn’t rain anymore to finish on the podium. In the beginning, staying with slick tyres was not an obvious decision. I wanted to switch but then I missed the entry to the pits two times because I want too fast in the corner before. I said ‘now it’s too late anyway, I’ll stay out’ to see what I could take home.”
Race 2 featured similar weather conditions although there was no option to pit due to the amount of rain. A delayed start and a shortened eight-lap battle ensued with Mahendra coming out on top. In the early stages, Mahendra’s brother, Galang Hendra Pratama (Sublime Racing by MS Racing), cleared off into the distance but a technical issue ended his race early. That allowed his younger sibling to fight in the lead group and his win came with a last lap move as the Indonesian claimed victory by just 0.169s.
Discussing his victory, Mahendra commented: “I’m so happy. This is my first time winning in WorldSSP300. These conditions were totally wet, and I just thought about my pace. For the last laps, I wanted to save my pace and save my riding position. I knew that I could do more so I tried to push, and I knew I could overtake in the last two corners.”
While Lehmann and Mahendra stole the headlines at Most, it truly was a weekend of firsts. Six different riders stood on the podium across the two races, five of whom were there for the first time. In Race 1, Marco Gaggi (Team BrCorse) and Daniel Moegda (Kawasaki GP Project) were on the rostrum with Lehmann while rookie Jose Manuel Osuna Saez (Deza-Box 77 Racing Team) and Jose Luis Perez Gonzalez (Accolade Smrz Racing BGR) took their first podiums.
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