Stefano Manzi achieved his first victory of the season in the World Supersport Championship this Sunday. The second race in Barcelona was shortened after a red flag, with the Italian coming out on top in an exciting battle where the top five crossed the finish line separated by less than a second.
In the first start, Adrián Huertas (Aruba.it Ducati) retained the lead from pole position, with Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team/Ducati) and Can Öncü (Kawasaki Puccetti) chasing behind. Öncü attempted to take the lead at the start of the second lap, but the three riders made contact, causing Huertas to drop to fourth. Lucas Mahias (GMT94 Yamaha) joined the fight for the podium positions.
Huertas quickly returned to the lead but was then pressured by Mahias until a crash by Piotr Biesiekirski (Ecosantagata Althea/Ducati) at turn one forced the race to be interrupted with a red flag. The Polish rider had to go through the medical center.
Race red-flagged due to an incident involving Piotr Biesiekirski 🚩#CatalanWorldSBK 🏁 pic.twitter.com/0Xv7YymiTr
— WorldSBK (@WorldSBK) March 24, 2024
Upon the restart, six laps were completed. Huertas started from pole position, but Montella took the lead at the restart for a brief moment – Huertas quickly regained the position. Manzi (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate) and Marcel Schrötter (MV Agusta) were also in the mix. Huertas made a costly mistake, running wide into the gravel, which dropped him to the back of the field.
High drama as Adrian Huertas crashes on the penultimate lap ⚡️#CatalanWorldSBK 🏁 pic.twitter.com/TFRJIF33Yu
— WorldSBK (@WorldSBK) March 24, 2024
The battle and uncertainty continued between Manzi, Schrötter, Mahias, and Montella. Schrötter led into the final lap, but Manzi overtook him at turn one. The German continued to put pressure, but the Italian celebrated the victory with a lead of 0.086s. Mahias finished third. Montella was fourth, and Valentin Debise (Evan Bros. Yamaha) rounded out the top five, just 0.714s behind the winner. Despite his mistake, Huertas still set a new race lap record but finished 32nd.
Results: