Niki Tuuli (EAB Racing Team) created a small bit of FIM Supersport World Championship history at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours after claiming Race 1 victory. The Finnish rider’s win was his third in the class on a third different manufacturer, after he mastered a wet-but-drying track during the shortened 12-lap race by opting for slick tyres when the race got underway. It means the #66 has now won with three different brands, Yamaha, MV Agusta and Ducati, only the third rider in WorldSSP to achieve such a milestone.
Tuuli claimed 10th in Friday’s Tissot Superpole session but the grid would have to wait until Sunday morning, with Race 1 postponed from its original starting time on Saturday afternoon due to torrential rain at the track. When racing did get underway, the Ducati rider opted to use slick tyres on a wet but drying track and was ninth in the first couple of laps. After that, he started to make even more gains and was fourth by the halfway stage before gaining three places on Lap 7 to move into first, a position he held on to after building a gap to the riders behind.
“I can be really happy,” began Tuuli when discussing his win. “Unfortunately, on Saturday, the race was postponed because I was hoping all day that it would rain because I know in the rain, I have a better chance to do a really good job. It rained a bit too much! On Sunday morning, I was a bit worried because I don’t really like to go out with the slick tyres in the wet; maybe I’m getting a little bit too old, and don’t have this crazy feeling anymore! After the first lap, I don’t know what happened, but I started to go faster and faster. I felt really comfortable with the bike, and I saw a couple of places where I was so much faster than the others. I was able to have a five second gap in a couple of laps and then just cruised to the finish line. It was a fantastic moment. My first win in this class was here in 2017 so it was really nice to do it again.”
A remarkable stat from Tuuli’s win is that he’s the third rider to win with three different bikes, joining Jules Cluzel and Fabien Foret. However, Tuuli is the first to claim their first three wins in WorldSSP for three different manufacturers. He won at Magny-Cours in 2017 for Yamaha, at Mandalika for MV Agusta and Magny-Cours again but this time with Ducati.
Reflecting on his three wins with three brands, the 28-year-old said: “It’s nice to win with three different bikes. There’s not been too many wins like I hoped but it’s really nice to have good results for the teams. Overall, we need to improve the package to be inside the top six in dry conditions. The team level is really high, and we just need to improve overall and then maybe we can fight.”
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Source: WorldSBK.com