WorldSSP: Montella wins in tricky conditions

Ducati’s would show their form in qualifying with Federico Caricasulo qualifying on pole position and Nicolo Bulega alongside him making it a Ducati one, two. Yari Montella be along side the Ducati duo on his Kawasaki.

Now two-time champion, Dominique Aegerter, would be starting further down the order on the second row of the grid. He would be joined by Marcel Schrotter who makes his debut in the class. Conditions on track were very wet, and a completely new challenge for the riders with no room for error.

Once the lights went out, it would be Caricasulo who led the way to turn one, as Bulega’s hopes for the win would quickly disappear as he was overtaken by Montella. Just an 18-lap race meant riders had to push quickly as Montella set his sights on closing in on the small lead that Caricasulo had.

It was a bad race for the Dynavolt Triumph team, Stefano Manzi would crash on the first lap of the race. His teammate Hannes Soomer retired from the race after a crash also on the opening lap as upfront.

It was still the Ducati of Caricasulo. He was now under massive pressure from Montella as his teammate, Oncu briefly made it up to third.

All eyes would remain on the front of the race, as a fierce battle would break out between Caricasulo and Montella. It was V2 vs inline-four, this battle caused the lead to change multiple times with no room for error.

Aegerter was having an unusual race down in sixth place as he attempts to find a way past Baldassarri. Behind the Swiss was Tom Booth-Amos who continued to work with the Motozoo Racing Team.

Montella would lead heading onto the last lap of the race, with nothing separating the two riders. Drama would strike at Miller Corner as Caricasulo would lock his front wheel on entry and crash out of the race, ending what was a fierce battle.

Victory for Montella

Montella would take the chequered flag to win his first-ever race. Nico Bulega would come home in second, on his Ducati after a consistent ride. The final podium position would be taken by Oncu as he puts in a great ride in tricky conditions.

Caricasulo would remount and finish in seventh place. His sights set on tomorrow for what will be a thrilling end to the season. Conditions tomorrow look to be wet, as the race kicks off at 03:30 GMT.

Image from worldsbk.com