After a surprise FIM Supersport World Championship result on Friday, Jeremy Alcoba (Kawasaki WorldSSP Team) showed that his pace was no fluke, outgunning the Championship leader Albert Arenas (AS BLU CRU Racing Team) and Filippo Farioli (VFT Racing) for his first-ever WorldSSP win. Arenas made it 15 podiums in his rookie season in the class, while Farioli earned his maiden podium at home. Now leading by 77 points, Arenas has a slim chance to win the title in Race 2 at Cremona. The Spaniard will be crowned WorldSSP Riders’ Champion if he wins in Race 2 and Debise doesn’t score any points.
AN EARLY RED FLAG
Filippo Farioli (VFT Racing) was the first rider through Turn 1, and while he lost P1 later in the opening sector to Arenas, the Italian hung in early on, determined to give the #75 problems. As the lead trio of Albert Arenas (AS BLU CRU Racing Team), Jeremy Alcoba (Kawasaki WorldSSP Team) and Filippo Farioli (VFT Racing) led the field into Lap 2, behind them, Roberto Garcia (GMT94 Yamaha) and Simon Jespersen (EAB Racing Team) crashed on Turn 7, sending gravel onto the track and causing a red flag stoppage.
ALCOBA GETS HIS FIRST
The grid reset to its original configuration before the two laps, except Garcia had to start from the back of the grid after he couldn't leave the pit lane in time. Alcoba was taking no prisoners after the restart, cutting across the nose of the #75 to take the lead at Turn 11 of Lap 2. The #52 is determined to race for a seat after it was announced that Jaume Masia (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) will ride with WorldSPB’s David Salvador (Team ProDina Kawasaki XCI) with the Kawasaki WorldSSP Team next season. The #52 stretched his legs and climbed to around half a second clear of the Championship leader, but with five laps to go, the #75 had closed in to within a quarter of a second. Three laps later, Alcoba maintained control of the race, and while Farioli opened the back straight in P2, Arenas showed he’s taking no prisoners in this title fight as he pulled alongside the #7 in a narrow gap of track just inches between Farioli and the trackside grass. The #75 braked later and stole P2 in the final sector. The result marks Alcoba’s first World Championship win since Moto3 Junior at Valencia in 2019.
DAMAGE CONTROL FROM DEBISE IN P4
Can Oncu (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing) was riding in P4 on Lap 5 when he lost the front exiting Turn 2, sending him to the gravel for another frustrating DNF this season. The Turk’s misfortune benefitted ZXMOTO’s Valentin Debise (EASTROC ZXMOTO Factory Evan Bros Racing), who took P4 and methodically cut away at Farioli’s gap to narrowly miss the podium by just over a hundredth. Tom Booth-Amos (PTR Triumph Factory Racing) benefitted from fighting ahead of him to claw his way up the order from his P9 grid start. While he finished in P5, the three-time Cremona podium man will start from pole position in Race 2. Matteo Ferrari (WRP Racing) had a proud ride at home, following the Brit up the order to take P6 from a P10 starting spot.
CASADEI CLIMBS UP FROM P17 AT HOME
Jaume Masia (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) lost three positions over the shortened 13-lap race to finish P7. He held off Italian rider Mattia Casadei (D34G WorldSSP Racing Team), who took his second-best result of the season with P8, finishing less than a quarter of a second behind Masia. Dominique Aegerter (Kawasaki WorldSSP Team) made it two Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R 636 bikes in the top ten with a P9 result. The Swiss rider's second top-ten of the season outpaced Aldi Mahendra (AS BLU CRU Racing Team), who climbed up from a P19 grid start to seal the top-ten positions.
CRASHERS AT CREMONA
After the restart, Oli Bayliss (PTR Triumph Factory Racing) crashed out on Turn 4 of Lap 1. A lap later, Jespersen suffered a tech issue at Turn 8, ending his race. Zaccone crashed out from P6 at Turn 10 on Lap 7 as he was beginning to fight with Booth-Amos for P5. At Turn 10, moments later, Lucas Mahias (GMT94 Yamaha) saw gravel at Turn 3 as his Saturday ended early.
The top six from the WorldSSP Race 1: Full results here!
- Jeremy Alcoba (Kawasaki WorldSSP Team)
- Albert Arenas (AS BLU CRU Racing Team) +0.568s
- Filippo Farioli (VFT Racing Yamaha) +0.688s
- Valentin Debise (EASTROC ZXMOTO Evan Bros Factory) +0.822s
- Tom Booth-Amos (PTR Triumph Factory Racing) +3.761s
- Matteo Ferrari (WRP Racing) +7.096s
Fastest lap: Tom Booth-Amos (Triumph), 1’31.822s – new lap record
Tune in on Sunday for WorldSSP’s final race of the round, kicking off at 14:00 (Local Time UTC +2 with the WorldSBK VideoPass! Now 70% off!