Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) made it two from two at the iconic Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit as he resisted Marcel Schroetter’s (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) late-race challenge for his second win in two days. Taking a maximum 50-point haul from the Grand Ridge Brewery Australian Round, the #55 heads back to Europe full of confidence after his Australian masterclass in the FIM Supersport World Championship.
Two out of two: Montella unbeatable, Manzi crashes twice
Due to track conditions and oil needing to be cleared from a substantial portion of the track after an oil spill in a domestic championship race, there was a lengthy delay. As a consequence, the race was reduced to nine laps, and, because of this, the mandatory pit stop was removed. When the lights did go out, Race 1 winner Montella immediately pulled out a gap of around eight tenths over his rivals before expanding that to more than a second on Lap 2.
While Montella managed the lead out in front, Marcel Schroetter (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) and Stefano Manzi (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing) battled for second third but, as the race hit the halfway mark, the gap started to reduce. A series of fast laps from Schroetter allowed him to bring Manzi and Adrian Huertas (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team), who had surged from tenth on the grid to the podium fight. On Lap 6, Manzi had a lowside crash at Turn 4 and dropped out of contention, re-joining the race in 15th place. However, he took a second crash when he tried to climb through the field, on Lap 7 at Turn 10 before he brought his bike into the pits.
This promoted Huertas to third while Schroetter set his sights on Montella out in front, with the gap around half-a-second on Lap 7 before it came down to four tenths on the start of the final lap. Montella managed to withstand Schroetter’s challenge for his second consecutive win, his first WorldSSP double and his third win – all have come at Phillip Island. Schroetter’s ninth podium means he’s now two away from the record of rostrums without a victory, while Huertas claimed his first WorldSSP podium.