Argentina – San Juan – WSSP Argentina: Cluzel wins … his ticket to the final in Qatar! –

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WSSP Argentina: Cluzel wins … his ticket to the final in Qatar !

Argentina - San Juan - WSSP Argentina: Cluzel wins ... his ticket to the final in Qatar! -

Led by 38 points in the championship arriving on the – tricky – track of San Juan Villicum, Jules Cluzel won a masterful victory. The n ° 16 takes advantage of a very lively race, by Mahias and Perolari in particular, to remain in contention for the 2019 title… Well done Julo !

On Friday, the World Superbike and Supersport riders had to face an excessively slippery San Juan Villicum circuit, because too little use was made during the year. On Saturday, six riders even chose to stand up and not line up at the start of the first Superbike round, in protest ….

Two hours earlier, however, their Supersport colleagues had all participated in their qualifying session. Very comfortable in these ultra tricky conditions, Corentin Perolari confirmed his excellent first day (best time!) By taking his very first pole position in WSPP! Well done Pero !

Riding the other R6 of the Yamaha GMT94 team, Jules Cluzel took third place on the Argentinian starting grid: a nice gift for his 31 years (Happy Birthday Julo!) And a great place to try to push to the fault of the leader of the championship, Randy Krummenacher who has 38 points more in the provisional and starts from the bottom of the second row.

Our third compatriot, Lucas Mahias, qualified just ahead of the No. 21 Swiss. "Our" Ninja n ° 44 is no longer playing for the title, but will be keen to win a second race in a row this season … or at least, to finish ahead of the Kawasaki of Ayrton Badovini and Kyle Smith, respectively second and fourth of this eleventh Superpole 2019.

Second in the championship 10 points behind his teammate, Federico Caricasulo will start from seventh place, behind Isaac Vinales: Maverick’s cousin climbed on his first podium two weeks ago in France and could seriously complicate the task of the Italian … and the other cadors posted in front of him !

Finally, Jules Danilo "only" took the 15th fastest time in qualifying practice. The n ° 95 of the Honda PTR team will have to take the wheel of the very good riders who precede him: Thomas Gradinger, Raffaele de Rosa and Hikari Okubo all have the level and experience to enter the Top 10 that a certain Peter Sebestyen ( Danilo’s teammate) just loop on the grid…

Departure : Perolari took off perfectly from its pole position. A bit late on the brakes, Badovini widens and narrowly misses to be taken out by his teammate Smith! Cluzel and Mahias come out of the first one, second and third! Follow Smith, Caricasulo, Krummenacher, Badovini, Okubo, Vinales, Stange. Danilo is 14th, in the wheel of Sebestyen and ahead of the Belgian Cresson.

Jules passed Corentin in the very, very long straight line of the Argentine circuit. Mahias is the fastest on the track in the 2nd lap and tows – unintentionally of course – Caricasulo and Smith in his wake. After his fall at Magny-Cours, Krummenacher takes care not to rush…

Cluzel accelerates in the 3rd lap (new record), but his – our! – compatriots cling! After stumbling over the spectacular Kyle "while sliding" Smith, Caricasulo moved up to fourth position. Krummenacher then turns half a second slower than the French leaders. Vinales is in his aspiration…

Mahias overtakes Perolari at the end of the straight! The 2017 champion feels that the multiple vice-champion is slowly escaping, but surely. Caricasulo doubles n ° 94 under braking from the pit straight line: more than victory, the Italian is aiming for big points in Argentina. More points especially than his Swiss teammate !

Alone in the lead, the "locomotive" of the Yamaha GMT94 team makes quick laps: n ° 16 turns half a second faster than his three pursuers! At the end of the 7th lap, "Julo" is almost three seconds ahead of Lucas, Federico and Corentin. But in the championship, he is still 24 points behind Randy…

Krummenacher is back in the backsplash of Perolari, the young hopeful of GMT (and of France in WSSP!). Randy gradually gains confidence and ends up equaling the tempo of Jules … Focused on "our" n ° 94, n ° 21 is still followed by n ° 32: Isaac Vinales aims for a second world podium !

Mahias sets a new race record in the 10th lap: particularly incisive and swift in the two winding portions, the n ° 44 plagues in the stretches where he struggles to stay in contact with the R6 n ° 64. Lucas tries a very late braking at the end of the opposite straight line but misses the rope and stays behind Federico.

Two laps later, the face of the race changes completely: after a failed attack on Mahias, Perolari goes off-line and proves that the track offers dangerously precarious grip there, barely avoiding a high-side! Krummenacher clings to the rear wheel of Ninja # 44 … and it’s not over.

Lucas takes advantage of a kick from the Yamaha n ° 64 at the end of the pit straight to swoop into second place … and distance himself from the chase group now led by Krummenacher! The two riders of the Yamaha Bardahl team are literally neck and neck.

Far from all this tumult, Cluzel manages his three seconds advance. Jules can do no more to hope to remain in contention for the sacred 2019 … but his teammate can not do much either: back on Randy, Corentin can only deprive the Swiss of three points by stealing his third place. What he does with authority, four laps from the end !

Extremely fast at the end of the race, Vinales passed Krummenacher in quick succession then Perolari: Cluzel was therefore only 24 points behind Krummenacher, or less than a victory! Jules does not know it but he remains mathematically in the race … for the world title !

The situation of our favorite n ° 16 – good, tied with double WSSP champion Sebastien Charpentier … – improved thanks to a touchdown between Caricasulo and Krummenacher three laps from the end: in order not to risk the fall, Randy slowly put the gas back on the very dusty track and set off seventh behind the discreet De Rosa !

Extremely motivated – extremely motivated! -, Caricasulo is now targeting Perolari and his fourth place. The Italian overtakes our compatriot in the main straight but delays his braking too much, bites slightly outside the following left double and must let Corentin pass again..

At the end of the next stretch, Federico pretends to shift on the inside but cannot trigger his attack … The n ° 94 achieves a faultless end of the course and keeps his fourth place until under the checkered flag, his best result in World Supersport. Phew. Completely "phew" !

The last minutes of the race were much calmer for Cluzel, Mahias and Vinales who climb in that order on the Argentine podium. A second consecutive Marseille therefore resounds in World Supersport, after the one played in honor of Lucas at Magny-Cours.

The French clan is all the more happy that one of theirs will go to the final "by night" in Qatar in two weeks with the mad hope of crowning the world crown. Like last year, "Julo" wins the penultimate race of the season and remains in contention for the title….

In 2018, Jules Cluzel’s mission was already shaping up to be difficult. The n ° 16 had not managed to take back 5 points from Sandro Cortese and his fast R6 on the Losail track … strewn with puddles, for the record! This year, with 8 points to nibble on Caricasulo and 22 to nibble on Krummenacher, the mission seems impossible. "Tin, tin, tintin, tin, tin …"

WSSP 2019 race result in San Juan Villicum

Argentina - San Juan - WSSP Argentina: Cluzel wins ... his ticket to the final in Qatar! -

World Supersport 2019 ranking after eleven races

Argentina - San Juan - WSSP Argentina: Cluzel wins ... his ticket to the final in Qatar! -

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