WSSP Qatar: victory for Lucas Mahias, 2017 Supersport world champion !

Pushed to his limits by Jules Cluzel this evening at Losail, Lucas Mahias was not content to secure the title: he won the last race of the World Supersport 2017 season. ! Kenan Sofuoglu also pushed his limits by stepping onto the podium, despite his triple pelvic fracture…

Departure : The three men on the first line travel the first stretch of the straight line together. Sandwiched between poleman Lucas Mahias and Niki Tuuli, Jules Cluzel had to go under braking. Placed on the outside of Niki at the entrance of the turn, Lucas has to settle for second place.

The private Yamaha n ° 66 takes the ascendancy over the official n ° 144 of our 2016 world champion – Endurance motorcycle! – and on Honda n ° 16 of our other representative: Jules Cluzel, who takes advantage of the first passage in the complete straight line to take second place !

Behind the young Finn and our two French are the official Yamaha n ° 64 of Caricasulo, the private Yamaha n ° 32 of Morais, the MV Agusta n ° 99 of Jacobsen, the Honda n ° 111 of Smith, the Kawasaki n ° 4 Rea (Gino, not Jonathan) and the Kawasaki n ° 1 of the impressive Sofuoglu, injured at Magny-Cours but already back !

Determined to clinch his first victory of the season, Jules Cluzel plunges into the lead of the race in the 2nd lap! Lucas Mahias finds himself in Niki Tuuli’s wheel but remains closely behind by the R6s of his Italian teammate and his South African colleague … Sofuoglu occupies eighth place.

The leading group ensures a flamboyant – literally, the pots spit funny flames! – show: Cluzel, Tuuli, Caricasulo (author of the best time in the race) and Mahias cross the straight line but Lucas brakes the latest at the very start of the 3rd lap and takes the lead ahead of Niki, Federico and "Julo" !

Less than three seconds behind the race leader – and the championship! -, Kenan grits his teeth: his triple fracture of the pelvis makes him less mobile than usual, but the Turk is strong, especially mentally. In the 6th round, the five-time world champion reaches sixth place !

Mahias leads, but just behind him, his pursuers are particularly dissipated … Tuuli, Caricasulo and Cluzel are fighting for second place. Morais, Smith and Jacobsen watch a few lengths away. And Sofuoglu goes back !

Mahias posted the fastest time of the race on the 6th lap and took a slight advantage over Caricasulo and Cluzel. Tuuli is slightly behind by the leading trio … and caught by his teammate Morais! Sofuoglu continues to attack, a little too hard…

The # 1 Ninja widens in the first corner of the 7th lap, allowing Smith and Jacobsen to get ahead of him as he exits the corner. But the Supersport world champion makes up for it by taking a short dive into the second corner! Even physically diminished, his experience allows him to keep a sixth place !

PJ Jacobsen, who was fighting with Kenan, Kyle and Luke – Stapelford on Triumph – unfortunately has to abandon this final race of the season: his F3 675 is the victim of a technical glitch while the halfway point is not even crossed … The American can no longer defend his fifth place in the championship against Caricasulo !

At the forefront, Mahias continues his race without fault, while Cluzel must fight hard to climb the second step of the podium then occupied by Caricasulo … The fourth driver on the track is none other than Kenan: seven laps from the end, he takes the lead of the second group, placed two seconds behind the leading trio…

The fight intensifies as the laps pass: Jules takes advantage of the suction in the straight line and a clever braking at the end to pass Lucas four laps from the end! Federico still hangs on but can’t join the party…

The most impressive is undoubtedly Kenan. He is also the fastest, since he erases the record for the lap in the race of the circuit and goes back 1.5 seconds behind the Italian … Getting third place would not allow him to keep his crown. But it would be a victory for him !

Too fast for Caricasulo, Mahias and Cluzel engage in a formidable duel which spice up the last two laps! Lucas fights for the title and a second win this season, Jules for his first win of the year, his last on Honda before riding a Yamaha next year.

Another duel, just as tasty, opposes Federico to Kenan for the third step on the podium! The Italian rookie and the Turkish world champion are as hot as the other: their trajectories are much less certain than the two French leaders…

In the end, Mahias and Cluzel pass under the checkered flag at the same time … or almost, since Mahias is officially declared the winner of this twelfth and last World Supersport event of the year. The # 144 of the Yamaha factory team can finally let his joy explode: he is Supersport world champion !

Second in the race, Jules is naturally the first to congratulate him. Despite his 20 points pocketed, the n ° 16 of the PTR team cannot claim the "title" of vice-world champion: Sofuoglu, who was ahead of him by 10 points before this race, finally climbs on the Qatari podium (!) And scores 16 points.

In the championship, therefore, Lucas Mahias wins with 180 points (eight podiums, therefore two victories), ahead of Kenan Sofuoglu 161 (seven podiums including five victories) and Jules Cluzel 155 (six podiums, zero victories)! The 2017 World Superport season is over. But the three men will meet again in 2018 !

Losail 2017 WSSP Race Result

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