Kawasaki Puccetti Racing and rider Lucas Mahias today competed in the Superpole and first race making up the twelfth and final round of the Superbike World Championship. Yesterday saw the Frenchman complete the first free practice sessions, where he spent time adapting to the Australian track, one he’s never raced at with a superbike until now. With a time of 1’32”720, Lucas placed thirteenth overall. This morning, on a day that brought rain, Mahias was out for the third and final practice on a wet track, finishing fourteenth with a time of 1’43”706 but retaining thirteenth place in the combined standings.
The rain stopped shortly before the last Superpole of the 2022 season, which got underway in the early afternoon on an almost completely dry track. Despite the tricky conditions, the Kawasaki Puccetti Racing rider confirmed the progress seen yesterday. Improving on his best lap, Mahias set a 1’31”406 to qualify eleventh, which meant a fourth row start for the afternoon’s wet race. Mahias made a good start to the race and was lying in around tenth position. The rain soon stopped and the track quickly began to dry, which meant all riders had to pit and change over to slick tyres. Mahias made the change at the end of lap ten and returned to the track in fifteenth position. Avoiding any mistakes, Lucas made up one place and crossed the line fourteenth, scoring two championship points as a result.
Tomorrow the Kawasaki Puccetti Racing rider will contest the Superpole Race and the final Superbike race of the 2022 season.
Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit – Victoria – Australia
Superbike World Championship
Combined free practice results: 1) Rea (Kawasaki) – 2) Bautista (Ducati) – 3) Lowes (Kawasaki) – 4) Razgatlioglu (Yamaha) – 5) Locatelli (Yamaha) ……. 13) Mahias (Kawasaki)
Superpole: 1) Bautista (Ducati) – 2) Rea (Kawasaki) – 3) Lowes (Kawasaki) – 4) Razgatlioglu (Yamaha) – 5) Locatelli (Yamaha) – 6) Gerlof (Yamaha) ……….. 11) Mahias (Kawasaki)
Race 1: 1) Rea (Kawasaki) – 2) Razgatlioglu (Yamaha) – 3) Lowes (Kawasaki) – 4) Locatelli (Yamaha) – 5) Bautista (Ducati) – 6) Gerloff (Yamaha) ……… 14) Mahias (Kawasaki)
Lucas Mahias
“This morning we found a good setup on the dry track but then we had to put in rain tyres for the race because the track was fully wet. I was still able to find good feeling with my Ninja in the wet anyway, but the track quickly dried out and I had to come into the pits to change the tyres. Once back on track, I found myself in fifteenth place and with the limited laps remaining, I wasn’t able to make up more than one position. We’ll take the points and focus on tomorrow, when I’ll compete in my last races with team Puccetti.”
