Jeremy Alcoba and his Kawasaki WorldSSP Team Ninja ZX-6R 636 machine continued on from a double race-winning weekend at the previous round with a Race One podium place at Estoril.
In Superpole Qualifying, held on Friday as always, Dominique Aegerter (Kawasaki WorldSSP Team) was the top Ninja rider, in eighth place, with Alcoba tenth. The Spanish rider had been fifth in the morning FP1 session.
From their less than ideal starting positions, the two official Ninja riders pushed hard from the first lap and ended inside a ten-rider battle for the first race win at Estoril.
Near the end, while still fighting for a potential podium finish, Aegerter would fall on Lap 14, entering T8 on the brakes. He managed to restart and finally finished in 24th position.
Alcoba was involved in a fight with eventual new World Champion Albert Arenas in the final laps, with his determination taking Jeremy to a third place that seemed unlikely at one time after starting the race from the fourth row of the grid. This was Jeremy’s fourth podium of the season.
Sunday 11 October will host the second Estoril Race, with Alcoba starting from fourth place and Aegerter 12th.
Manuel Puccetti
“I’m really pleased with Alcoba’s third place finish in this race, which is a third consecutive podium for us. Jeremy made a great recovery, climbing all the way to third and repeating the podium achieved here last year in Race 2. I’m really sorry for Aegerter as he was running a very strong race, right behind the leading group, and without the crash he would undoubtedly have achieved a significant result. I’m confident he can make up for it tomorrow in Race 2.”
Jeremy Alcoba
“It is third and not a first position like it was in Cremona and had to sweat a little bit more this time. I did not feel good this weekend and on Friday we were struggling a bit to find the pace. We did a really good job in qualifying, with two good laps riding alone. Today the comeback was really good. I was not happy about my start because although the first touch of the gas was good, then I didn’t know why, I lost positions. Tomorrow we will start a bit further up the grid, because of my best lap, and that helps to be more calm in the first corners. I had something in the bike to help me be more smooth and take care in the final laps, and it looks like in the end we were really fast. Thanks to the team and everybody involved.”
Dominique Aegerter
“We started from P8 and had some big battles with a lot of riders in the middle of the race. I fought my way up from P12 to P7, so every lap I was fully on the limit, trying to close the gap. Finally I reached the front group and then everything was possible. I kept pushing to try to overtake riders and I made a small mistake, when I went a little bit too much out of the track. When I braked my front just washed away. I crashed at a high-speed corner but luckily I am OK. We start 12th on the grid tomorrow and I hope we can make a good start.”
