Yari Montella is back to the top step of the podium in the World Supersport Championship this Saturday at Portimão. The Italian rider dominated the first race of the weekend, defeating championship leader Adrián Huertas.
Starting from pole position, Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team/Ducati) quickly moved to the front, while the pole sitter, Huertas (Aruba.it Ducati), lost positions. After two laps, Montella had already built a lead of over a second on Stefano Manzi (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate), with Huertas struggling to recover from a poor start and in fourth place.
By the fourth lap, Huertas had moved up to second, but Montella had already established a lead of more than two seconds. He managed and extended his advantage throughout the race, which peaked at nearly four seconds. In the end, Montella won by 3.241s ahead of Huertas.
The top two riders were significantly ahead of the rest of the field: Manzi finished in third place, more than ten seconds behind the winner. Jorge Navarro (Orelac Racing VerdNatura/Ducati) and Federico Caricasulo (Motozoo ME AIR/MV Agusta) rounded out the top five.
Results:
#WorldSSP Race 1 results🏁
— WorldSBK (@WorldSBK) August 10, 2024
🥇 Yari Montella
🥈 @adrianhuertas99
🥉 Stefano Manzi#PortugueseWorldSBK 🇵🇹 pic.twitter.com/HartRbaPT3
