After an unfortunate home round last time out at Magny-Cours, Valentin Debise (Renzi Corse) stepped up his game in Spain and celebrated a landmark first career FIM Supersport World Championship at MotorLand Aragon. Not only did the Frenchman get the monkey off his back, but he found podium place twice on the weekend with his Race 2 third place, recording his first podium double since 2023.

BREAKING THROUGH TO THE TOP OF THE PODIUM: “I’ve had so many second and third positions, but it was hard to always come up short of the win… It’s a relief, and now I can move forward”

Debise made his WorldSSP debut back in 2012, competing in nine races that season atop a Honda CBR600RR. Later, he hopped around different competitions, including the Moto2 European Championship, French Supersport and MotoAmerica, before returning to the paddock in 2021. By 2023. he earned his first podium, and last season, despite finishing fourth in the Championship and earning seven podiums, his maiden win still eluded him. Thanks to his Race 1 exploits, Debise has his first win, and he raised Ducati’s Aragon win streak to five before Can Oncu (Yamaha BLU CRU Evan Bros Team) clipped it there with his Race 2 win.

On his momentous Race 1 win, Debise said: “I feel great, I’ve been waiting for a long time to get my first win. I’ve had so many second and third positions, but it was hard to always come up short of the win. In the end, in Race 1, I kept pushing and improving in training, and today I was able to put it all together to secure the win. It was a fun win to have a last-turn battle and come out on top. It was important to me to get this win. I’m happy to ride and compete, but for sure it’s a relief, and now I can move forward.”

FINDING ANOTHER GEAR: “I was trying to keep my tyres until the end of the race, but when I saw the other guys were pushing like crazy, I increased my intensity”

While Saturday’s Race 1 was undoubtedly the highlight of his weekend, Debise’s Race 2 was no slouch. He started in P5 between Bo Bendsneyder (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) in front of him, and Mattia Casadei (Motozoo ME Air Racing) behind him, but the Frenchman fired off the line to ride as high as P2 on Lap 2. He had to contend with substantial early challenges from fellow Ducati riders Jaume Masia (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) and Philipp Oettl (Feel Racing WorldSSP Team); however, Debise came out on top, only outpaced by Can Oncu in P1 and Championship leader Stefano Manzi (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing) in P2. #53’s successful weekend saw him jump ahead of Jeremy Alcoba (Kawasaki WorldSSP Team) in the Championship standings to take P7, and has cut his deficit behind his countryman Lucas Mahias (GMT94-YAMAHA) in front of him in half, now just 14 points behind Mahias in P6.

 On his Race 2, Debise said: “It was a more difficult race than yesterday; at the beginning, in Race 2, I was having problems with my disc brakes vibrating. When I was braking hard, it was fine, but when I was braking like I had to in the final loop, it was a struggle. In the end, I was still fighting with the others. I was trying to conserve my tyres until the end of the race, but when I saw the other guys were pushing like crazy, I increased my intensity. The warm conditions also helped us maintain a strong pace even at the end. I wanted to fight for the victory again, but the other riders were even faster than they had been yesterday; it was even harder than yesterday to pass. I was hoping they would fight amongst themselves, and it would give me an opportunity, but they both rode very clean. It was still very good to finish on the podium, it’s good for our team and with a podium and a win on the weekend, it’s hard to complain”

Catch Debise and the rest of the WorldSSP grid next round at Estoril! Tune in on October 10^th with the WorldSBK VideoPass! Now just €9.99!