WorldSSP300: Koen Meuffels (KTM Fortron Junior Team) makes it a debut win at WorldSSP300 kickoff

Koen Meuffels (KTM Fortron Junior Team) made his debut FIM Supersport 300 World Championship race one to remember, with a photo-finish win over fellow Dutch rider Scott Deroue (Motosport Kawasaki) at MotorLand Aragon. Mika Pérez (Kawasaki ParkinGO Team) repeated his performance from last year with a third place finish, despite leading six out of the eleven laps.

The first race of the WorldSSP300 season showed all of the same hallmarks from last year, when the debuting category proved to be one of the most exciting and unpredictable competitions in all of motorsports. Halfway through the race, a nine-strong group had formed at the front, with just about every rider taking the provisional lead at some point as the gap from first to ninth kept under one second.

That group remained together until the end, with the exception of sixteen-year-old Tom Edwards (Nutec-Benjan-Kawasaki) who crashed out with less than two laps to go. It ended up being a drag race finish to the line, with Meuffels edging out last year’s winner and poleman Deroue by three hundredths of a second.

Just missing out on the podium were Mykyta Kalinin (GP Project Team) in fourth, Robert Schotman (Motosport Kawasaki) in fifth, and Ana Carrasco (DS Junior Team), who led the second-most laps at MotorLand Aragon but comes away with just ten points, finishing in sixth. Glenn van Straalen (KTM Fortron Junior Team) and Dorren Loureiro (DS Junior Team) completed the runaway group in seventh and eighth, respectively.

P1 – Koen Meuffels (KTM Fortron Junior Team)
“I almost don’t know what to say, a big thanks to the team. They gave me the best bike today. My plan came together and I’m very happy.”

#AragonWorldSBK WorldSSP300 at MotorLand Aragon – Race
1. Koen Meuffels (KTM Fortron Junior Team)
2. Scott Deroue (Motoport Kawasaki) +0.031
3. Mika Perez (Kawasaki ParkinGO Team) +0.125

WorldSSP300 Championship Standings after Round 1
1. Koen Meuffels (NED) KTM (25 points)
2. Scott Deroue (NED) Kawasaki (20 points)
3. Mika Perez (ESP) Kawasaki (16 points)

Credits : Photos and content courtesy of worldsbk.com