The afternoon proceedings at the Grand Ridge Brewery Australian Round saw a major change in schedule this afternoon, after an oil spill around Turn 2 occurred during a National Support category race earlier in the day.
With a major track clean up taking place and our volunteer officials doing a tremendous job to improve track conditions, all World Supersport riders conducted their 1 sighting lap and confirmed that further clean-up works needed to be done before the race got underway.
After some further delays and all hands on deck, and an announcement that World Supersport’s 18-lap flag-to-flag Race 2 would be reduced to a 9-lap sprint race around the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit.
The track finally opened up for riders to take part in a quick start procedure, with the final confirmation for the race proceeding determined by the entire grid giving the race start officials either a thumbs up or a thumbs down. While there were some riders who weren’t happy with the race going ahead, such as Adrian Huertas [Aruba.it Racing Ducati], majority ruled of riders giving the thumbs up, which meant the race was proceeding.
When the race finally commenced, Yari Montella [BARNI Spark Racing Team], the winner of Race 1, quickly built a lead of around eight tenths over his competitors, extending it to over a second by Lap 2.
While Montella held the lead, Marcel Schroetter [MV Agusta Reparto Corse] and Stefano Manzi [Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing] battled for second and third positions. However, as the race progressed, the gap began to narrow. Schroetter’s impressive pace allowed him to catch up with Manzi and Adrian Huertas [Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team], who had climbed from tenth on the grid to join the podium contention.
On Lap 6, Manzi suffered a lowside crash at Miller Corner, relegating him to 15th place. Despite attempting a comeback, Manzi crashed again on Lap 7 at Turn 10 before retiring from the race.
As a result, Huertas advanced to third place, while Schroetter focused on closing the gap with Montella at the front. By Lap 7, the margin had reduced to half a second, further shrinking to four tenths at the beginning of the final lap.
However, Montella successfully defended his position against Schroetter’s challenge, securing his second consecutive win, his first WorldSSP double, and his third race victory overall at Phillip Island. Schroetter’s ninth podium finish brings him closer to the record for most podiums without a win, while Huertas celebrated his first podium finish in the World Supersport category.
The top six from WorldSSP Race 2, full results here:
1. Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team)
2. Marcel Schroetter (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) +0.203s
3. Adrian Huertas (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team) +1.658s
4. Federico Caricasulo (Motozoo ME AIR Racing) +5.289s
5. Valentin Debise (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Racing Team) +5.554s
6. Bahattin Sofuoglu (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) +5.677s
Championship standings
1. Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) 50 points
2. Marcel Schroetter (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) 36
3. Federico Caricasulo (Motozoo ME AIR Racing) 26
4. Stefano Manzi (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing) 20
5. Bahattin Sofuoglu (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) 20
6. Oliver Bayliss (D34G Racing WorldSSP Team) 17
