Benat Fernandez (Team #109 Retro Traffic Kove) slipped by the contemporary Championship leader, Julio Garcia (Prodina Kawasaki Italka Racing) on the final straight of the Pirelli Emilia-Romagna Round to claim the race win. Fernandez’s win raised his tally to two wins and four podiums in his rookie season so far. Garcia earned his 12^th podium to tie Ana Carrasco in WorldSSP300 podiums, and David Salvador (Team ProDina XCI) notched his fourth rostrum finish in his two years in the Championship.

PHOTO FINISH TO CLOSE MISANO: Fernandez passes Garcia in final straight for Kove’s third WorldSSP300 win

Seconds after lights out, a crash between Felix Mulya (ProGP NitiRacing) and Emanuele Cazzaniga (Racestar Trasimeno) caused a red flag as medical attention was being rendered to Cazzaniga, who was taken to the medical centre before the race restarted over a decreased 8-lap distance. The race saw a host of different leaders across the shortened distance, Salvador Garcia and Benat Fernandez all led for stretches of the final lap, Garcia made a late move to brush aside Fernandez, riding defensively to hold off moves in corner after corner by the Kove rider until a desperate dash to the line on the home straight. In a photo finish, the rookie #7 pipped Julio Garcia (Prodina Kawasaki Italka Racing) by just 0.009s. Behind him, teammate David Salvador (Team ProDina XCI) was just behind the two fellow Spaniards ahead of him after overcoming his long-lap penalty, just 0.035s slower than Fernandez in P1.

TORRES' TOUGH BREAK: Despite running in the front positions, he falls to P4

Antonio Torres (Team ProDina XCI) was the odd man off the podium, a shame for him as he rode a strong race but couldn’t fight his way through the three riders ahead of him to get on the podium. Carter Thompson (MTM Kawasaki) was less than 0.05s behind Torres, and despite having led the race for stretches and starting from P1 on the grid, the Aussie was bundled down to P5 by the end of the race. Humberto Maier (Yamaha AD78 FIMLA by MS Racing) did very well to recover in Race 2 after what has otherwise been a weekend to forget for the Brazilian. He charged up the grid to finish in P6.

BUIS FALLS TO P10: Five points behind the Championship leader

Marco Gaggi (Team BrCorse) finished in P7, the rider finishing as the top Italian. 0.136s behind, Pepe Osuna (ZAPPAS-DEZA-BOX 77 Racing Team) landed in P8 ahead of fellow Spaniard Juan Risueno (MS Racing) in P9. Jeffrey Buis (Freudenberg KTM-Paligo Racing) finished in P10, a poor result for the two-time WorldSSP300 Champion; however, he did well not to crash after saving a huge moment he had in the early running of the race.

The top six from the WorldSSP300 Race 2 Full results here!

1 Benat Fernandez (Team #109 Retro Traffic Kove)

2. Julio Garcia (Prodina Kawasaki Italka Racing) +0.009s

3. David Salvador (Team ProDina XCI) +0.026s

4. Antonio Torres (Team ProDina XCI) +0.099s

5. Carter Thompson (MTM Kawasaki) +0.049s

6.Humberto Maier (Yamaha AD78 FIMLA by MS Racing) +0.203s

Fastest lap: Benat Fernandez (Team #109 Retro Traffic Kove) 1’49.106s

Championship Standings

1. Benat Fernandez (Team #109 Retro Traffic Kove) 134

2. Julio Garcia (Prodina Kawasaki Italka Racing) 133

3. Jeffrey Buis (Freudenberg KTM-Paligo Racing) 114

4. David Salvador (Team ProDina XCI) 104

5. Carter Thompson (MTM Kawasaki) 93

6. Humberto Maier (Yamaha AD78 FIMLA by MS Racing) 80

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