Stefano Manzi achieved his first victory of the season in the World Supersport Championship this Sunday. The second race in Barcelona was shortened after a red flag, with the Italian coming out on top in an exciting battle where the top five crossed the finish line separated by less than a second.
In the initial start, Adrián Huertas (Aruba.it Ducati) maintained the lead from pole position, with Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team/Ducati) and Can Öncü (Kawasaki Puccetti) as his pursuers. Öncü tried to take the lead at the beginning of the second lap, but the three made contact and Huertas dropped to fourth. Lucas Mahias (GMT94 Yamaha) joined the battle for the podium positions.
Huertas quickly reclaimed the lead, but was then pressured by Mahias until a crash by Piotr Biesiekirski (Ecosantagata Althea/Ducati) at turn one forced the race to be stopped with a red flag. The Polish rider had to go through the medical center.
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At the restart, six laps were completed. Huertas started from pole position, but Montella had the upper hand at the start to briefly take the lead – Huertas quickly regained the position. Manzi (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate) and Marcel Schrötter (MV Agusta) were also in the mix. Huertas would make a crucial mistake, running off into the gravel, which cost him a drop to the back of the pack on the penultimate lap.
The fight and uncertainty continued between Manzi, Schrötter, Mahias, and Montella. Schrötter led at the start of the last lap, but Manzi overtook him at turn one. The German kept the pressure on, but the Italian celebrated the victory with a 0.086s lead. Mahias finished third. Montella ended up fourth and Valentin Debise (Evan Bros. Yamaha) closed the top five just 0.714s behind the winner. Despite the mistake he made, Huertas still set a new race lap record but finished in 32nd place.
Results:
