The Phillip Island Circuit in Australia today staged the second and final race of the first Supersport World Championship round. After qualifying fifteenth in Friday’s Superpole, Kawasaki WorldSSP Team rider Jeremy Alcoba powered his new Ninja ZX-6R to tenth in Saturday’s race, scoring his first world championship points in the process.
On Sunday afternoon, in hot and sunny conditions and on a dry track, the Spaniard tackled Race 2, which ran over a distance of 18 laps with a mandatory tyre change to be executed mid-race.
Alcoba made a very fast start that allowed him to climb to seventh. After pitting to make the tyre change, Jeremy returned to the track, moving into the leading group and battling for the podium. The Kawasaki WorldSSP Team rider ultimately crossed the line in fourth place, but was penalised for not having respected the minimum tyre change time, which meant he placed fifth.
The next WorldSSP round will take place at the Autodromo do Algarve in Portimao, Portugal on 28-30 March.
Phillip Island – Australia
Supersport World Championship
Race 2: 1) Manzi (Yamaha) – 2) Booth-Amos (Triumph) – 3) Schroetter (Ducati) – 4) Bendsneyder (MV Agusta) – 5) Oncu (Yamaha) – 6) Masia (Ducati) ……. 10) Alcoba (Kawasaki)
Jeremy Alcoba
“I am very happy because yesterday the target was top ten. Today I knew that the pace would be fast, but not as fast as it was. The slipstreaming was better with the wind, so the idea was to follow the others and stay part of the leading group, at the back – like in cycle racing – where the riding is easier for the last one in the group. The bike today was really good. I tried some new things through the corners that helped me a lot. The bike was good, but on the limit, let’s say, so I wasn’t able to turn like some of the other riders. I gave it more than 100% to be there and enjoy it with the team because we’ve struggled a lot during the race weekend and in the tests. So, to give them this good race result is nice. Yesterday the team left the garage at around 10pm, they were the last ones to leave, so I am really happy to secure this result for them. I don’t feel tired because I enjoyed the race and felt comfortable riding. I am really happy because if we were able to do this at this track, where we’ve struggled a lot, then it should all be easier at other tracks. Thanks to my team and Kawasaki – my Ninja ZX-6R 636 is starting to be fast.”
