Aldi Satya Mahendra (Team BrCorse) secured a dream maiden FIM Supersport 300 World Championship victory in the wet conditions at the Autodrom Most in a shortened Race 2. The Indonesian rider pounced at the start as he took advantage of the difficult conditions before resisting pressure from his rivals in a shortened battle during the Acerbis Czech Round, eventually making a last-lap pass to claim his first victory in his fourth race in the Championship.

DELAYS AND A SHORTENED RACE NO PROBLEM: a last-lap fight for victory

With rain falling as the Warm Up lap started, the decision was made to delay the start and bring all the riders back to the pits. The pitlane opened for the Sighting Lap around 50 minutes after the scheduled start with the race reduced to an eight-lap distance. When the lights went out, Indonesian duo Galang Hendra Pratama (Sublime Racing by MS Racing) and wildcard Mahendra immediately moved to the front of the field.

While Mahendra was fighting a group of riders for second, Hendra Pratama moved clear by around three seconds before he had a technical issue on the start-finish straight, dropping the Indonesian down the order before he brought his bike into the pits. This allowed Mahendra into the lead while he tried to fend off Marc Garcia (China Racing Team) and Jose Manuel Osuna Saez (Deza-Box 77 Racing Team).

At the end of the penultimate lap, Garcia was running in second but touched the white line on the entry to Turn 20 with the 2017 Champion crashing out from what could’ve been Kove’s first podium. It allowed Osuna Saez and Mahendra to pull away on the last lap as they duelled it out for victory with the Indonesian making his move for the win at Turn 20 on the final lap. Mahendra set the fastest lap of the race on the final lap with a 1’58.987s. It was his first win in the Championship in his fourth race, while Osuna Saez took his maiden podium as WorldSSP300’s “Weekend of Firsts” concluded. Five of the six riders on the podium in the Czech Round were on the rostrum for the first time, while there were two maiden victories and the first flag-to-flag WorldSSP300 race.

MAIDEN PODIUMS AND STRONG RESULTS: a dream Czech weekend

The battle for third concluded on the final lap as Jose Luis Perez Gonzalez (Accolade Smrz Racing BGR) ended his run of just missing out on the podium as he claimed third, his first podium, while the results meant he surged into the Championship lead. He was in a battle with Kevin Santos Fontainha (Sublime Racing by MS Racing) taking fourth place; the Brazilian rider was just 0.067s away from a maiden podium. French rider Samuel Di Sora (ProDina Kawasaki Racing) was fifth while Fenton Seabright (Kawasaki GP Project) surged up the order in the middle part of the race to take sixth. He had been in a podium position on the final lap but dropped down on the final lap.

OVERCOMING A PENALTY: Khan goes from the back to P10

2020 Champion Jeffrey Buis (MTM Kawasaki) used his experience to take seventh as he finished just a tenth clear of Petr Svoboda (Fusport – RT Motorsport by SKM – Kawasaki) as the home hero finished in the top ten but closed the gap on the top of the Championship with four points separating Perez Gonzalez and Svoboda in third. Humberto Maier (Yamaha MS Racing/AD78 Latin America Team) was ninth with Walid Khan (Freudenberg KTM – Paligo Racing), a wildcard, finished as the lead KTM rider despite a grid penalty. The Dutchman was forced to start at the back of the grid by the FIM Stewards.

DOUBLE POINTS SCORING WEEKEND: a debut to remember for Repak

Khan’s compatriot, Ruben Bijman (Arco Motor University Team), missed out on a top ten by just a couple of seconds as he bounced back from a crash-heavy Race 1 on Saturday. Alessandro Zanca (Team#109 Kawasaki) took 12^th with Maxim Repak (Accolade Smrz Racing BGR), Kevin Sabatucci (Team Flembbo – PI Performances) and Raffaele Tragni (AG Motorsport Italia Yamaha) completing the points-paying positions.

A DIFFICULT DAY FOR THE TITLE CONTENDERS: outside of the points

Dirk Geiger (Freudenberg KTM – Paligo Racing) had been the Championship leader heading into Most but he failed to score in either race and he fell to second in the standings, one point behind new leader Perez Gonzalez. It was a similar story to Matteo Vannucci (AG Motorsport Italia Yamaha). The Italian was second before the Czech Round but also scored no points with the #91 now fourth in the standings.

HOUSEKEEPING: to note from Race 2

Troy Alberto (Fusport – RT Motorsport by SKM – Kawasaki) did not take to the grid when the pit lane opened while the team worked on his bike, with the Filipino rider not competing in the race. Juan Pablo Uriostegui (Team#109 Kawasaki) retired with an early technical issue. Loris Veneman (MTM Kawasaki) and Mirko Gennai (Team BrCorse) both crashed out at Turn 20 on different laps: Veneman on Lap 4 and Gennai on Lap 6.

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

1 Aldi Satya Mahendra (Team BrCorse)

2. Jose Manuel Osuna Saez (Deza-Box 77 Racing Team) +0.169s

3. Jose Luis Perez Gonzalez (Accolade Smrz Racing BGR) +2.796s

4. Kevin Fontainha Santos (Sublime Racing by MS Racing) +2.863s

5. Samuel Di Sora (ProDina Kawasaki Racing) +2.996s

6. Fenton Seabright (Kawasaki GP Project) +3.038s

Fastest Lap: Aldi Satya Mahendra (Yamaha) – 1’58.987s

Championship standings

1 Jose Luis Perez Gonzalez (Accolade Smrz Racing BGR) 117 points

2. Dirk Geiger (Freudenberg KTM – Paligo Racing) 116

3. Petr Svobda (Fusport – RT Motorsport by SKM – Kawasaki) 113

4. Matteo Vannucci (AG Motorsport Italia Yamaha) 99

5. Jeffrey Buis (MTM Kawasaki) 99

6. Humberto Maier (Yamaha MS Racing/AD78 Latin America Team) 99

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