The Misano World Circuit today staged day two of the fifth Supersport World Championship round, comprising the Superpole and race 1.
During this Italian round, Kawasaki Puccetti Racing is fielding Frenchman Lucas Mahias, who substitutes for the injured Can Oncu. The experience rider closed yesterday’s free practices in thirteenth place overall, setting a best lap of 1’38”803. This morning Lucas was back out for Superpole, which established the starting grid for the weekend’s two races. Improving by almost a second (1’37”845), Mahias finished in seventh place, which meant he lined up on row three of the grid for the afternoon’s race.
The Frenchman made a very fast start but, as the race went on, he lost several positions, having not yet found the right feeling with his bike. He nevertheless crossed the line tenth, achieving that top ten finish that was one of his goals as he continues to adapt to the Supersport.
Tomorrow the Kawasaki Puccetti Racing rider will compete in the second and final race of this first Italian WorldSSP round of 2023.
Misano World Circuit – Italy – Supersport World Championship
Superpole: 1) Bulega (Ducati) – 2) Caricasulo (Ducati) – 3) Montella (Ducati) – 4) Schroetter (MV Agusta) – 5) Van Straalen (Yamaha) – 6) Sofuoglu (MV Agusta) – 7) Mahias (Kawasaki)
Race 1 – 1) Bulega (Ducati) – 2) Manzi (Yamaha) – 3) Caricasulo (Ducati) – 4) Schroetter (MV Agusta) – 5) Montella (Ducati) ……. 10) Mahias (Kawasaki)
Lucas Mahias
“In Superpole I was able to make some fast laps and qualify a strong seventh, which had me feeling confident for the race. After making a good start, I tried to stick with the riders in my group, but I couldn’t find sufficient pace and in the final stages lost a few positions, crossing the line tenth. I’m not totally happy with the result, but I still need to find the right feeling with the bike in the races, and so I consider it a positive result, although I hope to do better in tomorrow’s race.”
