Qatar – Losail – WSSP Qatar: Mahias winner ahead of Cluzel, Krummenacher champion 2019 –

WSSP Qatar: Mahias winner ahead of Cluzel, Krummenacher champion 2019

Qatar - Losail - WSSP Qatar: Mahias winner ahead of Cluzel, Krummenacher champion 2019 -

The 2019 Supersport World Championship night grand final in Losail kept the suspense going until the end: Cluzel fought for victory over his best enemy Mahias, while his teammate Perolari did everything to destabilize Krummenacher and Caricasulo… Report.

The spectators that we are could not have dreamed of better for this Qatari final: the last three contenders for the title qualified yesterday on the first row: Federico Caricasulo (194 points in the provisional) signs his fourth pole of the season in front of his teammate Randy Krummenacher ( 202) and our compatriot Jules Cluzel (180).

Corentin Perolari will start from fourth place on the grid and look to slow down – who said mowing? – the Yamaha Bardahl n ° 64 and n ° 21 placed just in front of him … The third Frenchman, Lucas Mahias, will ride for the honor: with his 143 points, he can no longer be titled, nor passed by his teammate Hikari Okubo (97 pts) sixth of the qualifiers elsewhere.

Our fourth representative, the "rookie" Jules Danilo, posts his Honda on 12th place on the last starting grid of this 2019 season. He starts behind the very experienced Raffaele de Rosa and ahead of the highly motivated Saeed Al Sulaiti (guest driver).

As a reminder, the mission of No. 16 of GMT94 is almost impossible. To win the WSSP 2019 championship, the has no other choice but to win this final race … This first necessary and completely achievable condition is unfortunately not sufficient: Krummenacher would also have to finish in the- beyond 13th place, Caricasulo beyond 4th…

Departure : Cluzel got off to an excellent start and plunged into the first curve ahead of … Perolari! The two GMT94 pilots precede the two Bardahl! Mahias attacks Caricasulo on turn 4 and chases Krummenacher. Smith, Vinales, Okubo, De Rosa and Badovini close the Top 10. Danilo is 14th.

Jules (Cluzel) completes the first lap with two tenths of a second ahead of Corentin, Randy and Lucas who are pushing together on the straight! Mahias brakes at Krummenacher and completes a podium then 100% French !

At this point, Krummenacher has 10 points more than Caricasulo and Cluzel. But Federico loses two points by letting Vinales pass at the end of the second round. The Italian saw his title hopes diminish again when Smith passed him. Vinales quickly climbs back on Krummenacher, the double and drops him just as quickly, determined to fight for the victory with the three French.

Mahias passed Perolari at the end of the 3rd lap, then attacked Cluzel in the first corner of the 4th lap but the N ° 16 retaliated from the following sequence. Corentin takes advantage of a slight gap from Lucas to replace his R6 n ° 94 in the asp of n ° 16…

Ninja n ° 44 tries his luck again a lap later: he delays his braking at the end of the straight line, passes his two rivals but cannot stay ahead! Vinales is content to observe … for the moment? The Spaniard is a second and a half ahead of Caricasulo who tries to move away from the duo Krummenacher – Smith.

There are still ten laps to go and Cluzel, still leading the race, is 7 points behind Krummenacher (same for Caricasulo …). The leading quartet rolls in tight rows but the turbulent Lucas procrastinates. Caricasulo and Krummenacher take advantage of a second wind and move away from their pursuers.

Vinales relaunched hostilities by overtaking Mahias in the 7th lap. Our 2017 world champion is back in the straight line and overtakes Perolari in his tracks! Vinales widens in the first curve and finds himself under threat from Caricasulo who has just broken the lap record in the race

Mahias easily climbs back on Cluzel in the 8th lap: the Kawasaki rider seems much faster than his – our! – Yamaha compatriot … Warned of the return of n ° 44, n ° 16 tried to accelerate but could not resist Mahias’ braking in turn n ° 7. Jules drops to 12 points behind Krummenacher in the championship.

Like Mahias – and Krummenacher in sixth place! -, Vinales turns in a short 2 ’02, half a second faster than Cluzel. The n ° 32 of the Yamaha Kallio team overtook the n ° 16 of the Yamaha GMT94 team on the braking of turn n ° 10 and moved away in the following triple straight…

Jules did not however give up his arms: remaining in Isaac’s aspi, he appeared at the end of the pit straight on the 11th lap and recovered second place! Corentin is too far to protect his teammate from Vinales … but the n ° 94 is just in front of the Yamaha Bardahl n ° 21 and 64 !

Attacked by Randy and Federico in the – very long – straight line of the pits, Corentin grits his teeth – and especially his right lever, without forgetting to wring out the handle! – to keep pace with the two title contenders. He completed the 12th lap behind the Italian n ° 64 but still ahead of the Swiss n ° 21…

In front, Mahias still firmly holds the reins of the race but his lead does not exceed a second. Cluzel knows he has to win in order to regret nothing, but the three-time "runner-up" WSSP must at the same time watch his back: Vinales is only a few lengths away.

The fight between Caricasulo, Perolari and Krummenacher is so intense that it totally eclipses the much more peaceful race of the leaders! Corentin does not leave the backsplash of Federico and always precedes Randy who knows that he is assured of the title in this configuration.

Mahias completed the last two laps without giving Cluzel a chance to get back into contact. "Julo" takes advantage of a mechanical glitch on the Yamaha n ° 32 to finish far ahead of Vinales who climbs on his third podium in a row … and climbs from 9th to 7th place in the general classification.

Mahias rounded off his solid 2019 season and his magnificent half-season with a sixth consecutive podium and a second victory (after his unprecedented success at Magny-Cours). The 2017 champion – then on the new R6 – shows that Kawasaki is still in the game against Yamaha in the intermediate category (in addition to dominating the WSSP300 and the WSBK).

Jules Cluzel finished second in this final 2019 race and third in the championship, like last year and the previous year (second in 2016, 2014 and 2012)! The Yamaha GMT94 rider is disappointed but not dejected: he is already eager to find his team and his bike to aim for the title in 2020.

Randy Krummenacher sealed his title with a narrow fifth place against Corentin Perolari: the Yamaha n ° 21 crossed the finish line five hundredths of a second earlier than the n ° 94! He is ahead of his teammate and rival Federico Caricasulo (4th in Qatar) by 6 small points in the final.

"Krummenachor" becomes "Championnator" at the end of a well-run season: apart from his slump in France and Argentina, Randy has never left the Top 5. He becomes the fourth Swiss to win a championship title motorcycle speed (Taveri and Luthi in GP125, Dorflinger in 50 and 80cc), the first in Supersport and in "big" displacement.

Losail WSSP 2019 race result

Qatar - Losail - WSSP Qatar: Mahias winner ahead of Cluzel, Krummenacher champion 2019 -

World Supersport 2019 final ranking

Qatar - Losail - WSSP Qatar: Mahias winner ahead of Cluzel, Krummenacher champion 2019 -

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