Surra shines in France as the WorldSSP replacement rider stands on the podium in his debut race
Italian Rookie Alberto Surra earned his WorldSSP stripes in Magny-Cours as he earned his maiden podium in his first-ever race in the Championship
With his FIM Supersport World Championship debut under his belt, Italian rider Alberto Surra (Yamaha BLU CRU Evan Bros Team) shone under the French sun at the French Round’s Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours. Riding as a replacement while Aldi Mahendra recovers from his wrist injuries suffered in training ahead of Magny-Cours. Despite the cast of big names he found himself surrounded by in this year’s talent-packed WorldSSP field, Surra turned heads in his Championship debut, landing a P3 podium spot in his very first race; however, he saw his debut weekend end early after a Turn 3 Lap 3 crash sent him and his Yamaha R9 into the gravel.
Surra's success on the weekend likely comes as no surprise to those familiar with the 21-year-old, who brings three years of Moto2 and Moto 3 experience into the paddock, riding in wildcard and replacement seats away from his regularly successful outings in the Moto2 European Championship. In his ongoing 2025 campaign, he sits fourth in the Championship with one win and a pair of podiums.
MAKING IT COUNT: “I’m very happy with this opportunity, it was a great weekend”
Having started the weekend in P11 in their Free Practice session, it was unclear how Surra was going to fare in the round. In the subsequent Tissot Superpole session, Surra laid down a 1’40.526 to improve his Race 1 start position to P7. In Race 1, the #76 established himself in P5 after just the first lap. After climbing past Jeremy Alcoba (Kawasaki WorldSSP Team) in Lap 3 for fourth place, Surra began his race-long showdown with fellow Yamaha rider Lucas Mahias (GMT94-YAMAHA). The rookie and the veteran traded positions for P3 for the remaining 16 Laps, culminating in Mahias beating Surra to the line; however, after a three-second penalty was applied to Mahias by FIM WorldSBK Stewards after he failed to complete his long lap penalty for course cutting, Surra was boosted up onto the rostrum for his maiden podium.
On his Magny-Cours weekend, the upcoming round at Aragon, and his future into 2026, Surra said: “I’m very happy with this opportunity, it was a great weekend, I’d like to thank the team for the chance to ride in WorldSSP. I will be replacing Mahendra at Aragon as he is still recovering. I like Aragon, I raced there in Moto2, so I’m hoping for a good weekend there! In terms of joining the paddock in the future, I don’t know, I will have to look at all the opportunities available and then make a decision this offseason”
September 26th-28th, Surra and the rest of the WorldSSP field return to Motorland Aragon! Tune in with the WorldSBK VideoPass! Now just €9.99!
