WorldSSP: Yari Montella wins a thrilling Phillip Island battle

Yari Montella wins a thrilling race for Barni Spark Racing in Australia.

Adrian Huertas (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) set a stunning time on Friday qualifying, earning himself his first pole position. Barni Spark Racing Team’s Yari Montella was 0.159 behind, making it a Ducati one-two. The first non-Ducati was Marcel Schroetter (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) who enters his second season in the WorldSSP class.

Tension built on the grid with the addition of a pitstop to be made during the race due to safety concerns. The riders will only be allowed to complete a maximum of 10 laps on a rear tyre.

There was drama on the grid with last-minute adjustments being made to Huertas’ Ducati V2. The pole sitter dramas got worse as he was pulled into the pits before the warm-up lap. Meanwhile, Bahattin Sofuoglu received a back-of-the-grid penalty due to his tyre pressures.

2024 is go

Yari Montella was effectively in pole position and would have a near jump start at the beginning of the race. Leading into turn one was Montella with 26 competitive Supersport riders behind.

Kawasaki Puccetti Racing’s Can Oncu was involved in a crash on the first lap with Glen van Straalen (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing). At the end of the first lap, Huertas would pull into the pits – ending his chance of a win.

Stefano Manzi (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing) hit the front of the race, onboard the Yamaha R6. Three manufacturers were battling inside the top three, showing the competitiveness of the WorldSSP class.

The front group grew to four riders, with Valentin Debise (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team) joining the fight onboard the Yamaha. The lead changed every lap as they diced for the lead before the pitstop.

Pitstop time

The first rider to pit would be Montella with Manzi pitting before the time was expecting him. Every rider pitting must change the rear tyre with a minimum of one minute 18 seconds spent in the pits.

Schroetter pitted one lap later, changing both tyres of his MV Agusta in the process. This left four riders on track on the last lap allowed to pit before a penalty would be given.

Valentin Debise lost the front at Siberia, just one lap after pitting for a new set of tyres. This put an end to his race with a damaged bike and the Frenchman showing his frustration with his mistake.

After the pitstops, Yari Montella had a comfortable six-second lead, but with him being the first rider to pit he would have to conserve tyre life. Manzi and Schroetter were having a great battle for second position. Behind the podium battle was home hero, Oli Bayliss (D34G Racing WorldSSP Team) battling for fourth.

Kaito Toba (Petronas MIE Racing Honda) and GMT94 Yamaha’s Lucas Mahias received a time penalty for being under the minimum pit time.

An intense battle carried on for fourth with Federico Caricasulo (Motozoo ME AIR Racing) leading it. Meanwhile, John McPhee (WRP-RT Motorsport by SKM-Triumph) made his way into eighth in the group after starting in 21^st.

Montella takes the top spot

Yari Montella came across the line to win after a dominant second half of the first WorldSSP race of the year. It was a thrilling last lap to decide second with Manzi beating Schroetter to second at the line with the German rounding off the podium.

Federico Caricasulo came across the line in fourth in his debut race with the MV Agusta F3 800 RR. He was ahead of Oli Bayliss who brought the bike home after breaking his wrist just two weeks ago at Phillip Island. In sixth was remarkably Bahattin Sofuoglu after starting at the back of the grid.

Jorge Navarro (WRP-RT Motorsport by SKM-Triumph) came across the line in seventh ahead of his teammate John McPhee in a great race for Triumph. Lucas Mahias managed to hold onto ninth position with Tom Toparis (Stop & Seal Racing) rounding out the top 10 as a wildcard rider.

Yari Monetella will also start in pole position tomorrow after setting the fastest lap of the race. The second race of the weekend for the WorldSSP class will take place in the early hours of Sunday at 03:30 am GMT.

Image credit: worldsbk.com