The FIM Supersport World Championship was back in action on Saturday afternoon at The Circuito de Jerez – Angel Nieto, for the first WorldSSP race of the weekend. The Spanish spectators witnessed a home hero riding to glory as Adrian Huertas (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team) sealed the title, claiming the 2024 crown in his home country.
UNSTOPPABLE MANZI: Italian dominates Race 1
Stefano Manzi (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing) was keen to take the Championship decider to Sunday, and despite an outstanding ride where he dominated the field in first position throughout, he was unable to hold off the consistent Huertas. The Italian rider was strong from lights out, as he led Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) and Triumph’s Thomas Booth-Amos (PTR Triumph) in the first lap.
NAVARRO CRASHES OUT: #9 falls from fourth
Chasing down a rostrum finish, was Ducati’s Jorge Navarro (Orelac Racing VerdNatura), who was ahead of the Championship leader #99 in fifth, with 14 laps remaining. His race was cut short however, as he was taken out of contention at Turn 13 by Can Oncu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing), with the #61 given a double Long Lap Penalty for the crash. Huertas moved up to fourth as a result, closely followed by Germany’s Marcel Schroetter (MV Agusta Reparto Corse). As the laps passed, the 2020 WorldSSP300 Champion found some late race pace, moving into third and attempting to chase down Montella. As the race progressed, Huertas opted to sit behind Montella and even dropped a couple of seconds behind as he brought home his podium finish to take the 2024 crown and become the first rider to win both the WorldSSP and WorldSSP300 titles. Britain’s Booth-Amos was unable to maintain his early pace, falling out of podium contention.
BALDASSARI TOP 10: Italian rounds off first ten finishers
Marcel Schroetter led Lucas Mahias (GMT94 Yamaha) over the line to finish in fourth and fifth, whilst Booth-Amos and Dutchman Bo Bendsneyder (MV Agusta F3 800 RR MV Agusta Reparto Corse) claimed sixth and seventh. A positive weekend so far for John McPhee (WRP by SKM-Triumph) saw the Scottish rider go over the chequered flag in eighth, ahead of Niccolo Antonelli (Ecosantagata Althea Racing Team) and #7 Lorenzo Baldassarri (WRP by SKM-Triumph) who completed the top ten for Race 1.
18 PODIUMS FOR HUERTAS: Dream come true
Huertas becomes the youngest ever WorldSSP Champion at 21 years old and stood on the podium for the eighteenth time this season following his third-place result. The young Spaniard will be leaving the paddock however, as he moves to the Moto2™ World Championship in 2025. All riders are now focusing their attention on the final race of the 2024 season on Sunday afternoon with second place in the championship standings yet to be decided between Italians, Manzi and Montella.
The top six from WorldSSP Race 1, full results here:
1. Stefano Manzi (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing)
2. Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) +1.971s
3. Adrián Huertas (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team) 3.793s
4. Marcel Schroetter (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) +6.288s
5. Lucas Mahias (GMT94 Yamaha) +6.581s
6. Tom Booth-Amos (PTR Triumph) +9.595s
Fastest lap: Adrián Huertas, Ducati – 1’42.115s
Don’t miss the WorldSSP Race 2 at 15:30 Local Time (UTC+1) using the WorldSBK VideoPass
Source: WorldSBK.com