Xarly Mendez made history at Balaton Park on Sunday as he took a first victory for the Dominican Republic in a dramatic Race 2, crossing the line just 0.022 seconds ahead of Italy’s Angelo Mottola.

Mendez, who started from pole on Saturday and finished second, went one better with a clever final lap on Sunday to take his maiden victory in the series. Mottola, who hadn’t been on the podium before, tried his best to run his rival to the line but had to settle for second.

Race one victor Aymon Bocanegra completed the podium in third. Alessandro Binder (Switzerland) had pushed hard to lead the group crossed the line fourth, ahead of rookie Mauro Gomez (Spain) who sat on the back of the leading group for most of the race before trying to make his moves towards the closing stages.

Silvano Germano (Italy) crossed the line fifth but had to drop a position for exceeding track limits on the final lap so was awarded sixth overall. Riichi Takahira (Japan) rounded out a strong opening weekend in seventh ahead of countrymen Jean Kento Turner and Kakeru Okunuki. Daniel Krabacher (Austria) completed the top ten.

Victory and second place sees Mendez lead the championship over Bocanegra by four points, with Binder sitting third.

Xarly Mendez said: “It was a difficult race, I tried to break the group but that did not work! In the last lap, I managed to get the win, but it was not easy with such a big battle. I’d like to thank my team and all of my family.”

View the race results HERE and the World Cup standings HERE