David Salvador won an exciting first race of the World Supersport 300 Championship in Jerez this Saturday. The title fight is not yet decided, but Aldi Satya Mahendra is on the verge of becoming champion.
As is usual in this category, the race saw a closely contested battle, with the top eight finishers separated by less than a second.
There were several lead changes, but Salvador (MS Racing/Yamaha) maintained supremacy. However, the Spaniard had to work hard until the end: he won for the first time in this category, with just three thousandths of a second ahead of Julián García González (KOVE Racing), in a battle decided almost with a photo finish.
Mahendra (Team BrCorse/Yamaha) managed what he needed to do, beating all the main rivals in the championship with a final third place, 0.549s off the top. The Indonesian reached the lowest step of the podium on the last lap, overtaking Carter Thompson (Fusport-RT Motorsport by SKM-Kawasaki), who finished in ninth place. If he finishes 12th or better, or if Veneman doesn’t win tomorrow, Mahendra will be the champion.
Loris Veneman (MTM Kawasaki) and Mirko Gaggi (Team BrCorse/Yamaha) rounded out the top five. It’s worth noting that Iñigo Iglesias Bravo (Fusport-RT Motorsport by SKM-Kawasaki), one of the title contenders, was forced to miss the race after being declared unfit following injuries sustained in a crash during the warm-up this morning.
Results:
🟣 #WorldSSP300 Race 1 final results🏁
— WorldSBK (@WorldSBK) October 19, 2024
Maiden win for David Salvador👏#SpanishWorldSBK 🇪🇸 pic.twitter.com/W4PBWQxN5V
