The FIM Supersport 300 World Championship got racing action underway at the Pirelli Emilia-Romagna Round at the iconic Misano World Circuit “Marco Simoncelli” with a dramatic Race 1 as wildcard Bruno Ieraci (ProDina Kawasaki Racing) claimed a stunning home victory in his 49th WorldSSP300 race while Petr Svoboda (Fusport – RT Motorsport by SKM – Kawasaki) crashed out in the closing stages to relinquish his Championship lead.
DRAMA FROM THE START: a wildcard winner
The original race got underway but was quickly red flagged due to a technical issue with the race start, with the restarted race reduced to 10 laps with the original grid. It meant Lennox Lehmann (Freudenberg KTM – Paligo Racing) was able to take to the restarted race despite a crash at Turn 3 in the original start; he was classified in 17th place at the end of the race.
The restarted race was ten laps of thrilling WorldSSP300 action as Ieraci held off a last lap, last corner move from Mirko Gennai (Team BrCorse) to claim his first win in the Championship and his second podium in WorldSSP300. Gennai’s second place, coupled with Championship leader Petr Svoboda (Fusport – RT Motorsport by SKM – Kawasaki) crashing out of the race, means he now leads the Championship after taking his seventh podium and his third consecutive rostrum finish. Humberto Maier (Yamaha MS Racing/AD78 Latin America Team) battled his way up the order to claim third place, his third podium in WorldSSP300.
JUST MISSING OUT: close to the podium
Jose Luis Perez Gonzalez (Accolade Smrz Racing BGR) claimed fourth place for the fourth time this season out of five races time in 2023, narrowly missing out on a podium by just 0.078s, although he did have a half-a-second margin over Kevin Sabatucci (Team Flembbo – PI Performances) as he returned from injury with a top-five finish. Matteo Vannucci (AG Motorsport Italia Yamaha) battled his way from 19th on the grid to sixth place although he did lead at several points during the shortened race, finishing only 0.069s behind Sabatucci.
ROUNDING OUT THE TOP TEN: it was a closely-packed field
The last Italian rider inside the top ten was Marco Gaggi (Team BrCorse) as he claimed seventh place on home soil. He was just over a tenth behind French rider Samuel Di Sora (ProDina Kawasaki Racing) in eighth, who had to fend off a charge from three riders to take eighth place. Enzo Valentim (Yamaha MS Racing/AD78 Latin America Team) was 0.054s behind Di Sora, with Dirk Geiger (Freudenberg KTM – Paligo Racing) rounding out the top ten a further 0.033s behind. 2020 Champion Jeffrey Buis (MTM Kawasaki) narrowly missed out on a place in the top ten by just 0.037s.
SCORING POINTS: heading into Race 2 with points in the bag
Indonesian rider Galang Hendra Pratama (Sublime Racing by MS Racing) finished in 12th place as he continues his return to WorldSSP300. Alessandro Zanca (Team#109 Kawasaki), who started the race from the front row, dropped down the order to finish in 13th place ahead of Loris Veneman (MTM Kawasaki) in 14th and Fenton Seabright (Kawasaki GP Project) who completed the points. British rider Seabright also took the fastest lap of the race.
HOUSEKEEPING: to note from WorldSSP300 Race 1
It had been a strong weekend for wildcard Emanuele Cazzaniga (Racestar) and he spent time at the front of the field but on Lap 4, the #4 crashed at Turn 4 to end his weekend in the gravel. Yeray Saiz Marquez (Accolade Smrz Racing BGR) retired from the race in the final third of the race, as did Juan Pablo Uriostegui (Team#109 Kawasaki) after a crash at Turn 8.
The top six from WorldSSP300 Race 1, full results here:
1. Bruno Ieraci (ProDina Kawasaki Racing)
2. Mirko Gennai (Team BrCorse) +0.149s
3. Humberto Maier (Yamaha MS Racing/AD78 Latin America Team) +0.818s
4. Jose Luis Perez Gonzalez (Accolade Smrz Racing BGR) +0.896s
5. Kevin Sabatucci (Team Flembbo-PI Performances) +1.322s
6. Matteo Vannucci (AG Motorsport Italia Yamaha) +1.391s
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Source: WorldSBK.com