10-13 Portugal – Portimão – WorldSSP Portugal: Cluzel broke, Mahias cursed, Caricasulo winner … – Used YAMAHA

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WorldSSP Portugal: Cluzel broke, Mahias cursed, Caricasulo winner…

10-13 Portugal - Portimão - WorldSSP Portugal: Cluzel broke, Mahias cursed, Caricasulo winner ... - Used YAMAHA

Unbelievable. Like the Portimao track often compared to a roller coaster, the 2018 World Supersport race in Portimao was an incredible succession of strong emotions, twists and turns, ups and downs…. Report.

Departure : Poleman Lucas Mahias got off to a very good start on his factory Yamaha n ° 144, but Jules Cluzel started even stronger from the second row at the controls of his private Yamaha n ° 16. "Julo" takes the lead ahead of Lucas, followed by Sandro Cortese, Raffaele de Rosa, Federico Caricasulo, Kyle Smith, Corentin Perolari (started from 11th place!), Hikari Okubo, Ayrton Badovini, Randy Krummenacher, etc..

Cluzel and Mahias broke away from the peloton in the middle of the first lap, but Cortese held on and dragged Caricasulo, De Rosa and Smith in his wake. All the strong men of the championship are therefore gathered, with the sole exception of the "Krummenator".

Lucas passes in front of Jules on the first braking of the 2nd lap. No.16 remains in the rear wheel of No.144. Coming back to the level of the two French, Cortese tries to put the brakes on Cluzel in the hairpin n ° 5, very tricky because of its bumps … The German driver just loses the front and mows Julo !

The two championship leaders find themselves on the ground! Cortese managed to set off again fairly quickly and completed the lap in 25th position. Cluzel is not so lucky. On his knees, the n ° 16 taps the point and rage the Portuguese track on which he hoped to seize the reins of the championship…

Rid of his two pursuers, Mahias has a small second ahead of his teammate Caricasulo, and an additional second over De Rosa and his MV Agusta who virtually climb to the podium, followed by Smith and his Honda n ° 111 . Krummenacher and his Yamaha n ° 21 join the Top 5.

Our third "international" representative Perolari climbs to sixth position, just over two seconds behind Krummenacher. But the n ° 6 of the GMT94 team has a lot to do: the experienced Badovini is behind him on the second MV Agusta, as is Okubo on the first Kawasaki and the rest of the peloton made up of Soomer, Barbera (Hector, yes!), Quero Martinez, Gradinger, Stapleford … and Cortese who enters the points from the 5th lap !

In front, Mahias maintains his big second ahead of Caricasulo. The reigning world champion then turns half a second slower than his own race lap record. In "economy" mode, Lucas? De Rosa occupies a solitary third place, a second and a half behind young Federico.

Fourth, Smith – who is celebrating his birthday on September 16 – suddenly falls in the standings … The Englishman is still on his wheels, a second and a half from the podium: his transponder has undoubtedly had a small failure … Small stress stroke for Honda rider fans !

Halfway through the race, Cortese continued his infernal comeback: at the end of the 9th lap, the R6 n ° 11 was in eighth place. But Soomer and Badovini are just ahead, and the R6 easily overtakes the CBR600RR and F3 in the straight. Sandro therefore reaches the Top 6 and earns big points which accentuate his lead in the championship over the unlucky Cluzel..

Twenty seconds ahead of Cortese, the fratricidal and remote duel between Mahias and Caricasulo continues. Our champion still has a good second lead in the 11th lap … Admittedly, the n ° 144 is slower in the 2nd sector where the gap is reduced to just a second, but he always manages to recover wide in the last portion.

A magnificent battle opposes Smith more directly to De Rosa: the n ° 111 Honda is positioned in the rear wheel of the MV Agusta n ° 3 in the last and endless curve of the layout and overtakes its rival at the end of the pits! Kyle maintains the advantage on the brakes and takes advantage of the 14th lap to take a few steps ahead of Raffaele.

Krummenacher has the same tempo as Smith and De Rosa, but is more than three seconds behind. His fifth place is therefore almost acquired: Cortese gave up the gas ten seconds away and will have to be content with sixth place..

One lap from the end, Lucas Mahias slows down abruptly … Does he think he has already finished his race? No, our champion turns around and inspects his rear wheel: his tire is flat! The unlucky pilot puts his R6 away at the end of the straight line and lets his teammate race to victory…

But following a dangerous attack by Hartog on Quero Martinez in turn 11 (fall of the two pilots), the red flag is waved! This means that Mahias can still win, provided he reaches the finish line within five minutes … The champion then embarks on a very perilous final lap..

Caricasulo, Smith and De Rosa join the pit lane but are stopped a few meters from the parc ferme. Meanwhile, Mahias valiantly tries to tame his injured R6. Thrown to the ground twice, Lucas finally joined the pits and was received as the winner by his team.

A few seconds later, however, Lucas was informed by the race management that he was disqualified because he did not finish his race on time. His teammate Caricasulo therefore won this incredible Portuguese 2018 round and offered his employer the constructor title….

The only brand to have renewed its Supersport machine, Yamaha has simply been unbeatable this season: nine wins in nine races, along with Mahias (1 victory), Krummenacher (1), Cortese (2), Cluzel (3) and Caricasulo (2, consecutive!).

In the drivers’ championship, Cortese saw his lead drop from 5 to 16 points. Still second, Cluzel is just four points ahead of Krummenacher and Caricasulo. De Rosa is the only non-Yamaha rider still in contention with 119 points.

The "cursed king" Lucas Mahias finds himself 46 points behind the leader of the provisional, while there are only 75 points left to gain in France – at Magny-Cours in two weeks! -, in Argentina then in Qatar. For the Yamaha official, keeping his crown looks like an impossible mission … Mission accepted, of course !

Result of the 2018 WSSP race in Portimao

10-13 Portugal - Portimão - WorldSSP Portugal: Cluzel broke, Mahias cursed, Caricasulo winner ... - Used YAMAHA

10-13 Portugal - Portimão - WorldSSP Portugal: Cluzel broke, Mahias cursed, Caricasulo winner ... - Used YAMAHA

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