WorldSSP300 – Scott Deroue (Kawasaki MOTOPORT) wins at Portimao to keep title fight alive.

It was an all-action start with Victor Steeman (Freudenberg KTM Junior Team) heading the front from Ana Carrasco (Kawasaki Provec WorldSSP300) and Manuel Gonzalez (Kawasaki ParkinGO Team) at Turn 1. Miraculously, everyone made it through the opening few corners, with Scott Deroue (Kawasaki MOTOPORT), Beatriz Neila (BCD Yamaha MS Racing) and her teammate Andy Verdoïa all making good starts and looking like potential winners. The first crashers occurred at Turn 1 on the second lap, with Jeffrey Buis (MTM Racing Team) and Keon Meuffels (Kawasaki MOTOPORT) crashing heavily.

The race continued and after a few laps of front-straight slipstreaming, it was a break-away at the front of the field with Scott Deroue and Manuel Gonzalez escaping from the chasing pack. However, one rider who had made stunning progress was Galang Hendra Pratama (Semakin Di Depan Biblion Motoxracing) carving his way into third, ahead of Marc Garcia (DS Junior Team), who led momentarily in the opening laps.

With the focus on the championship, if Scott Deroue finished first or second to Manuel Gonzalez, then the championship would stay alive. It became a game of mathematics to see exactly what could happen. If Gonzalez won and Carrasco and Verdoïa were not able to finish second, they’d be ruled out of the championship race. Meanwhile, in the manufacturers’ championship, a Kawasaki one-two would ensure them the crown.

The last lap was soon upon the WorldSSP300 class, and going into Turn 5, Scott Deroue hit the front. Gonzalez wasn’t giving up however and tried to pass at the final corner, but he wasn’t able to make it work. Scott Deroue clinched his first race win of the season, putting Gonzalez’ championship celebrations on ice. Ana Carrasco was able to finish third and thus stayed in the championship fight. Marc Garcia was able to finish fourth whilst Andy Verdoïa’s fifth place wasn’t enough to keep him in the championship fight.

It was an all-out brawl further down and finishing in sixth position, Ukrainian Nick Kalinin (Nutec – RT Motorsports by SKM – Kawasaki), ahead of Beatriz Neila, who took her best ever finish in WorldSSP300. Galang Hendra Pratama slipped to eighth place in the end, ahead of Donington Park race winner Kevin Sabatucci (Team Trasimeno Yamaha) and early race leader, Victor Steeman (Freudenberg KTM Junior Team).

Meanwhile, the 2019 WorldSSP300 manufacturers’ championship was wrapped up for a second season running by Kawasaki, with a dominant 1-2-3-4 finish confirming their prowess in the feeder class.

P1 – Scott Deroue (Kawasaki MOTOPORT)

Credits : Photos and content courtesy of WorldSBK.com