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After a four-week hiatus, the FIM Supersport 300 World Championship returns to action at the Misano World Circuit “Marco Simoncelli” for the Pirelli Emilia-Romagna Round, the fifth of the season, third for WorldSSP300. In Barcelona, we saw the emotional return to victory of 2020 Champion Jeffrey Buis (MTM Kawasaki), which he dedicated to the late Victor Steeman, and the second career victory of Mirko Gennai (Team BrCorse). Misano is a circuit that always offers a lot of action, and this year will be no different.

BUIS WINS AGAIN: the start of his second title challenge?

After two seasons in WorldSSP, 2020 WorldSSP300 World Champion Jeffrey Buis (MTM Kawasaki) returned to the junior class in search of his second title. The first victory for him was not long in coming. The Dutchman added his 15th victory in Race 1 of Catalunya, and, in addition, it was a special triumph, since he achieved it in the same team and in the same place as the last victory of his friend Victor Steeman, and he went on to him. To this victory, he added a third position in Race 2, which shot him up in the standings to fourth position, just 20 points behind the leader Petr Svoboda (Fusport-RT Motorsport by SKM-Kawasaki). Will he continue with these results at Misano?

GENNAI WINS IN BARCELONA, SVOBODA LEADS: will we see a new winner in 2023?

Mirko Gennai (Team BrCorse) won Race 2 at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya by 0.027s to take his second victory in the category and his first of 2023. In addition, in Race 1 he also took the podium, finishing third. He arrives at Misano in second position overall, 12 points behind Svoboda, which, after the double at Assen, was unable to reach the podium in Barcelona, finishing fourth and tenth, respectively. Even so, the Czech maintained the Championship lead and arrives at Misano with the aim of maintaining his privileged position for one more weekend; he’s demonstrated that wins peppered with consistency could be the ingredient to propel him forward.

Svoboda, Buis and Gennai are the only riders to have won in 2023, but seven riders have finished on the podium: Samuel Di Sora (ProDina Kawasaki Racing), Humberto Maier (Yamaha MS Racing/AD78 Latin America Team), Dirk Geiger (Freudenberg KTM-Paligo Racing), Matteo Vannucci (AG Motorsport Italia Yamaha), in addition to the three winners. Will either of them achieve victory in Italy? Or will we see a new rider climb to the top of the podium? There have been six different winners at Misano in the class since 2017, with only Vannucci a winner on the current grid.

THE MAIN PROTAGONIST: track limits

Beyond what happened on the track, in these first four races we have had another protagonist: track limits and penalties. In all the races we have seen the final results altered. The most controversial case was in Race 2 of the Netherlands Round, when Humberto Maier crossed the line in the lead, but received a one position penalty for exceeding the track limits on the last lap. This would have given Matteo Vannucci victory, who crossed second, but received the same penalty, which dropped him to third and gave Petr Svoboda victory. It is undeniable that this situation is being decisive in the small category, but will it continue to be so in Misano?

THE PODIUMS IN 2022 AT MISANO: only Vannucci and Di Sora can repeat

Last season saw Alvaro Díaz's second and final WorldSSP300 victory, as well as a podium finish for the late Victor Steeman and Japan's Yuta Okaya, all in Race 2. In Race 1, we saw Matteo Vannucci's first WorldSSP300 victory, ahead of Álvaro Díaz and Samuel Di Sora, who added his fourth and last podium of 2022. The only ones who can repeat the podium this year are Vannucci and Di Sora, who, at the same time, are still looking for the first victory of the season. Will they get it at Misano? Or will we see another driver giving the surprise and adding his first win?

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