Jeffrey Buis (Freudenberg KTM-Paligo Racing) was the first victor of the 2025 FIM Supersport 300 World Championship season as he utilised his experience to master a big group in Race 1 at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve. KTM’s Buis was 0.658s clear of his rivals across the line as he took his 14^th win, while Kawasaki riders Julio Garcia (Prodina Kawasaki Racing Sport) and Antonio Torres (Team ProDina XCI) started their campaigns with podiums at the Pirelli Portuguese Round.

LEAVING IT LATE: Buis bolts at the end of the race, Garcia’s epic comeback from P18

Double Champion Buis, as he so often is, found himself fighting in the lead group but didn’t make his move for the lead until there were just a few laps to go but once he was in P1 and created a gap to the riders behind, the #6 was able to take a big lead onto the final lap. Although the gap reduced as riders went down the start-and-finish straight to start the final lap, the Dutchman was able to resist the pressure of the six riders within a second of him to claim his 14^th win in WorldSSP300; double the number of the next-best riders (Ana Carrasco, Marc Garcia and Mirko Gennai (MTM Kawasaki)) who all have seven. Buis was joined on the podium by Garcia and Torres, with the Kawasaki riders starting their season strongly. Garcia started from P18 on the grid as he completed a remarkable comeback to claim a rostrum.

FROM POLE TO P4: a strong start for rookie Fernandez, very little to separate the field

Polesitter Benat Fernandez (Team#109 Retro Traffic Kove) was a regular fixture in the lead group as he aimed to convert his maiden pole into a podium finish, but he was just 0.013s short of the top three. Brazilian Humberto Maier (Yamaha AD78 FIMLA by MS Racing) was fifth and just 0.003s behind Fernandez ahead, while Carter Thompson (MTM Kawasaki) was sixth. Just 0.706s separated the top six, and 0.658s of that was made up of the gap between Buis and Garcia in P1 and P2. This group had included Gennai but he fell out of contention when he crashed at Turn 3 with just a handful of laps remaining.

SCORING GOOD POINTS: Tonn shows he can fight at the front, Indonesia’s Mulya P9

Matteo Vannucci (PATA AG Motorsport Italia WorldSSP300) was just under a second away from victory as he claimed P7 ahead of Phillip Tonn (Freudenberg KTM-Paligo Racing) in eighth, with the German rider leading at several points throughout Race 1 but unable to convert that into a podium finish. Rookie Felix Mulya (ProGP NitiRacing) was ninth ahead of home hero Tomas Alonso (Pons Motorsport Italika Racing) completing the top ten.

ANOTHER ROOKIE SCORES: Toreqottullah takes home P11, Bartolini penalised

Elsewhere, Elia Bartolini (Team BrCorse) had crossed the line in 11^th place, ahead of Faerozi Toreqottullah (ProGP NitiRacing), Kevin Fontainha (Yamaha AD78 FIMLA by MS Racing), Kevin Sabatucci (Accolade Funds Smrz Racing BGR) and Petr Svoboda (Kawasaki Junior Team by MTM), but a Long Lap Penalty issued on the final lap for irresponsible riding – converted into a three-second penalty as he was unable to take it – dropped him to P15. After the race, Toreqottullah was penalised with a one-place penalty for overtaking under yellow flags at Turn 5, demoting him to P12 and promoting Fontainha to P11.

RETIREMENTS FROM RACE 1: front runners and a last lap fall

Filip Novotny (Accolade Funds Smrz Racing BGR) crashed on the exit of Turn 14 after he’d been given a double Long Lap Penalty for a jump start, with the Czech rider taken to the medical centre for a check-up. Unai Calatayud (ARCO Sash MotoR University Team) had the same penalty for the same offence and, on the exit when he was taking his second penalty, crashed at Turn 14; he was also taken to the medical centre for a check-up. The Spaniard was declared unfit with fractures to his second, third and fifth metatarsals on his left foot and a fracture on his left wrist tibial malleolus.Emiliano Ercolani (Kawasaki GP Project) crashed at Turn 11 on Lap 6. Towards the end of the 11-lap race, David Salvador (Team ProDina XCI) retired from the race after a technical issue on his machine; he’d been running in the top ten. On the last lap, Marco Gaggi (Team BrCorse) crashed at Turn 5 which forced him to retire from the race.The top six from WorldSSP300 Race 1, full results here:

1. Jeffrey Buis (Freudenberg KTM-Paligo Racing)

2. Julio García (Prodina Kawasaki Racing Sport) +0.658s

3. Antonio Torres (Team ProDina XCI) +0.663s

4. Benat Fernández (Team#109 Retro Traffic Kove) +0.676s

5. Humberto Maier (Yamaha AD78 FIMLA by MS Racing) +0.679

6. Carter Thompson (MTM Kawasaki) +0.706s

Fastest lap: David Salvador, Kawasaki – 1’54.414s

Don’t miss WorldSSP300 Race 2 on Sunday at 15:15 Local Time (UTC+1) using the WorldSBK VideoPass!