Spanish rider Adrian Huertas (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team) tightened his grip on this year’s FIM Supersport World Championship title with victory in Race 1 and second in Race 2 at the Cremona Circuit. Couple with a crash for title rival Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team), it meant the #99 left the Acerbis Italian Round with a 43-point lead over his title rival with three rounds to go in what’s been a rollercoaster campaign.

Huertas stormed to a third consecutive pole position in Friday afternoon’s Tissot Superpole session, and he was able to convert that to a win in Saturday’s Race 1. The Spaniard, who is hoping to become the first WorldSSP300 and WorldSSP Champion, led every lap on his way to victory and won the race by more than four seconds ahead of Stefano Manzi (Pata Prometeon Ten Kate Racing) in second, with Montella coming home in third.

Speaking on Saturday after Race 1, Huertas said: “I’m super happy. I’ve been working so hard to be here again because we struggled a little bit in the last two rounds. I enjoyed it. I had an incredible pace and I’m very happy with what we’ve done. This victory is really important for us. Let’s try to repeat it on Sunday. It’s incredible. We had some difficult times and we managed to keep working, keep focused and not listen to other people; just focus on ourselves. We did a good job, and we’ll keep doing this until the end of the season.”

Sunday’s Race 2 was a dramatic affair for the title fight. Montella moved ahead at the start before Huertas came through a few laps into the race. When the Spaniard ran wide a few laps later, Montella and Manzi were both ahead of him although Montella’s charge ended when he crashed at Turn 7 from P1. That handed the lead to Manzi with Huertas trailing the Italian, although the Ducati rider opted to settle for second and gain 20 points over Montella.

Discussing Race 2 and the incredible title fight, Huertas stated: “It was a good race. I managed to get to the front after Yari led for a few laps. I felt quite comfortable but then, because of a technical problem, I ran wide and lost two positions. When I recovered, I didn’t have the same feeling. Then I saw Yari crashing when I caught them. I could have the pace, probably, to make more today but when you have the opportunity like this for the Championship, I need to take the opportunity of scoring points. I think I am happy about that, but I want to leave this Championship with some more wins. I think we need to keep enjoying it, flowing, finding the pace of Race 1 and when we win races, we’ll be around there in the standings for the Championship.”

With three rounds and six races to go, Huertas holds a 43-point lead over Montella. Manzi trails the #99 by 50 points and with 50 points per round up for grabs, this year’s WorldSSP crown could be going to one of three ridders.

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Source: WorldSBK.com