"We’ve been fighting all season, now we’re finally here!" – Jespersen speaks on his Race 2 stunner
Simon Jespersen etched his name into the WorldSSP history books with his P2 podium, showing very impressive pace to battle with title rivals Manzi and Oncu
Danish rider Simon Jespersen (Ecosantagata Althea Racing Team) announced himself to the FIM Supersport World Championship paddock on Sunday afternoon with his Race 2 second-place podium finish. Jespersen is riding in his second full season as a WorldSSP rider. While his first full season riding on a Ducati V2 has been hard up until now, he found something at Balaton that enabled him to not only leave title contenders like Can Oncu (Yamaha BLU CRU Evan Bros Team) in the dust behind him for P3, but the #43 was pacey enough to give Manzi a run for his money for the race win.
MAKING HIS NATION PROUD: Jespersen lands Denmark’s first pole in 17 years
Qualifying in P7 after the Tissot Superpole session, the #43 was reminded of his 2021 wildcard appearance on Yamaha machinery in which he started in the same grid position. The difference, however, was that now with several more years of experience, the Dane managed his race to gain a position for his best finish in the category yet. Race 2 saw him find another gear entirely, attacking toward the front of the grid into the first corners, emerging through the pack in front of him to lead the race’s first three laps. Impressively, however, Jespersen showed great composure and understanding of his platform to manage his race well, keeping up with Manzi while being careful not to torch his tyres. He tried to stay close to mount a late assault, but on the day the #62 proved too fast to be caught, leaving Jespersen with his breakthrough maiden WorldSSP podium.
“Race 2 was incredible, it felt to me like déjà vu from Navarra in 2021, where I also started in P7. I knew there was a chance I could jump forward to lead in the first two corners. Luckily, the riders went wide, and I kept my spot there as long as I could. Initially, I attempted to create a gap, but with Manzi behind me, I noticed at one point on the pit board that I was +0.0s. When he passed me, I decided I would try to stay behind and wait for the last laps to see if there was something I could do.
AHEAD OF SCHEDULE: “I’ve been dreaming of this moment, of course, but I wasn’t expecting this moment to come so soon”
Jespersen joined the Ecosantagata Althea Racing team last season for a pair of rounds before joining the team as their full-time grid rider for 2025. In 16 races this season, he has only missed the points five times, two of those being from DNFs. His success at Balaton, however, seemed to a degree to surprise even him! Before Balaton, his results had shown no clear upward trajectory, with his recent results ranging between P16 and P11 generally. Yet, in Race ,1 he landed what at the time was by far his best result in the category, in P6.
“I don’t even know what to say! I’ve been dreaming of this moment of course, but I wasn’t expecting this moment to come so soon. We've been fighting all season, learning the bike, but now we’re finally here, bringing my country onto the podium is an unbelievable feeling. I hope there are many people from Denmark who are happy. Hopefully, I can do it again in future races. I’m going to keep pushing, keep working and see what comes.”
Jespersen will return to the track with the rest of the WorldSSP riders at Magny-Cours next round! Tune in live or on demand with the WorldSBK VideoPass! Now 50% off!
