Thompson breaks down his decisive final sector move to snatch P1 away from Salvador in Race 1 at Aragon
Thompson made it two wins in the last three rounds as he prepares for a hectic climax to the 2025 WorldSSP300 season
The Aussie helped his FIM Supersport 300 World Championship hopes greatly with his Race 1 victory at MotorLand Aragon in the Tissot Aragon Round. After starting from P2, he maintained a strong race pace and weathered the storm of overtakes at the front, bided his time until late in the race when he struck gold in the final sector. The victory came as his second win in his WorldSSP300 career, both of which were earned in his current Sophomore season, and proved an essential inoculation for his unfortunate crash in Race 2.
PICKING HIS MOMENT: “I knew the slipstream would be a big factor in the final lap, every other lap I was getting overtaken in the back straight”
Thompson showed great awareness and composure to maintain his focus amid what was a barn-burner of a WorldSSP300 Race 1 at Aragon. Both the #50 and Spanish rider David Salvador (Team ProDina XCI) were hungry for every available point as the Aussie sits behind Salvador in P3 in the Championship. It was a late move by Thompson through the final Turn 16-17 loop that saw him take P1, and after a desperate dash to the line, the Australian rider shuffled the Spaniard to P2 in his home round to snag the critical five points extra.
On his Race 1, Thompson said: “I knew the slipstream would be a big factor in the final lap; every other lap I was getting overtaken in the back straight. I knew then that I had to be back a little bit, find a good position, then overtake in the last sector. “The race was really good, I felt like I had a really good pace the whole race. I tried to stay in front the whole time and just set a good pace each lap. The team helped me out by setting up the bike really well this weekend. I’m feeling really comfortable with it, and it was a great race. “
ONE RACE AT A TIME: “The Championship is looking good at the moment, but we’re still taking things race by race”
In Race 1, seven riders finished within half a second behind him, including the two riders ahead of him on the Riders’ Championship standings, David Salvador (Team ProDina XCI) in P2, and Benat Fernandez (Team #109 Retro Traffic Kove) whom he gained points on. After Race 1, he sat just nine points behind Salvador and 16 behind Fernandez; however, after he and Salvador both crashed out of Race 2, Fernandez grew his lead to 22 points over the Australian in third place.
On his view of his Championship chances, and his plan of attack for the final four races that remain, Thompson said: “The Championship is looking good at the moment, but we’re still taking things race by race. We’re thinking about the Championship, but right now we’re just focusing on finishing as high as we can in each race and working from there.”
Two rounds remain for the WorldSSP300 riders! Next up: Estoril! Tune in on October 10th with the WorldSBK VideoPass! Now just €9.99!
