Despite finishing off the rostrum in Race 2, Adrian Huertas (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team) strengthened his grip on this year’s FIM Supersport World Championship title across the Tissot Aragon Round. On home soil at MotorLand Aragon, a win in Race 1 and a P5 in Race 2 meant he lost only a few points to rival Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) with two rounds to go. The #99 Ducati rider holds a 41-point lead heading into Estoril next week.

Huertas put his Panigale V2 on pole in Friday afternoon’s Tissot Superpole session, setting a 1’52.932s to claim a seventh pole position of the season. He was able to convert that into a dominant Race 1 victory on Saturday for his tenth of the season. He finished almost two seconds clear of Stefano Manzi (Pata Prometeon Ten Kate Racing) in second, while Montella finished in fourth, which opened the gap in the title race to 55 points.

Reflecting on his commanding victory, Huertas, who goes to Moto2™ for 2025, said: “Race 1 was really good. I think I couldn’t ask for much more! We had an incredible pace, we worked hard with the team, and I think we managed the race almost perfectly. We have some margin for Sunday, so let’s keep pushing and keep winning. It’s incredible to have 10 wins in my first season with the Ducati and the team. I will be really sad to leave them because they have been doing things perfectly. I will feel sad, but we are doing things really well and we hope we can create great things to end.”

Race 2 was a completely different affair, with Huertas coming home in fifth place. He started from P4 on the grid, which was set based on the top nine fastest laps in Race 1 and was unable to move himself into podium contention. He dropped to seventh on Lap 2 but was able to fight back to claim fifth and limit the damage somewhat. Montella took advantage of Huertas’ results with a victory, which meant the gap heading to Estoril was 41 points – less than it was going to Aragon, but with Huertas potentially able to wrap up the title next time out.

Looking back on Race 2, the Spaniard said: “I’m not so happy about Sunday because, in the end, we didn’t enjoy the race so much. We had a lot of problems with the setting, and we were missing something that we will need to improve for the next races. We need to keep going the way we were going and not the line of Sunday.”

In the title fight, Huertas can only win it in Race 2 at Estoril. Manzi is in contention as well, but Huertas will win the Championship if he outscores Montella by nine points at Estoril and Manzi by four points.

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Source: WorldSBK.com