2020 Estoril World Supersport Race Two Result: Third Place Up For Grabs
Submitted by Jared Earle on
The last race of the year would also be one of the best of the year, with eighteen laps of the shortest track of the year being the setting for the battle for third between Jules Cluzel and Philipp Oettl as Andrea Locatelli and Lucas Mahias, Superbike-bound for 2021, have locked down the top two places.
Lucas Mahias led his teammate Philipp Oettl with Raffaele de Rosa, Andrea Locatelli and Jules Cluzel behind them. On lap two, Mahias tried to break free at the front, but Oettl held on to him. Raffaele de Rosa set the fastest lap with a 1'40.772 in the middle of the leading back of five, with Cluzel at the back of the pack almost a second clear of Steven Odendaal and Isaac Viñales.
Philipp Oettl closed up to Mahias, setting the fastest lap with a 1'40.707 as the leading five stayed in a group covered by under a second. At the start of lap five, Oettl took the lead into turn one, with De Rosa, Locatelli and Cluzel being joined by Isaac Viñales who set the fastest lap with a 1'40.171 to make the leading group six riders deep.
At the start of lap six, Lucas Mahias briefly held the lead down the straight, but he entered turn one on the outside and had to conduce the lead to his Kawasaki teammate. At turn nine, Mahias surprised Oettl with a sharp pass. The Kawasakis jostled for position down the straight, creating a bubble of clean air for Raffaele De Rosa to charge past both of them, forcing Oettl to hand over the lead. Oettl took it back a few turns later.
Seven laps down, the top seven were covered bu a second as Steven Odendaal joined the fray, making his way past Jules Cluzel and Isaac Viñales as De Rosa took back the lead. Lucas Mahias took the lead at turn nine but De Rosa took it back down the straight.
A lap later, halfway through the race, Mahias took the lead back down the straight. In the fight for fourth place, Steven Odendaal and Andrea Locatelli swapped places back and forth ahead of Jules Cluzel.
Thirteen laps into the eighteen lap race, the leading nine riders were all within striking distance of each other as the pack met back markers and Raffaele De Rosa took over at the lead. At the start of lap fifteen, a gap finally appeared in the lead group, as Hannes Soomer and Jules Cluzel dropped off the back of the front six riders. Mahias took the lead into turn one again, the lead swapping almost every lap, and De Rosa took it back a lap later, followed by Philipp Oettl taking second place off Lucas Mahias. Andrea Locatelli finally made it into the top three, jumping Mahias into turn three, but Mahias took advantage of Locatelli's wide line into turn six to take third place back from him.
With two laps to go, Philipp Oettl took the lead from Raffaele De Rosa and Mahias followed him through as De Rosa was wide into turn one. Places didn't change on the remainder of the lap and the last lap started with Mahias sliding the rear into turn one. De Rosa and Locatelli passed Oettl to start the lap and Locatelli tried a few passes but couldn't get past. De Rosa led out of the last corner, but Locatelli out-dragged him to the line and took second place by under a hundredth of a second.
Lucas Mahias won his second race of the year, the only rider aside from Andy Verdoïa to beat Andrea Locatelli this year, and ended his World Supersport career with a win as he heads off to World Superbike for 2021 to race second-placed, and current World Supersport champion, Andrea Locatelli. Raffaele De Rosa was third in the closest race of the year, but he is still hunting that elusive first victory.
Philipp Oettl finished in fifth place, behind Steven Odendaal, and beat Jules Cluzel to third place in the championship by just two points, the Marseilesse played out for the third time this year.
Results:
Pos | No. | Rider | Bike | Gap |
1 | 44 | L. MAHIAS | Kawasaki ZX-6R | |
2 | 55 | A. LOCATELLI | Yamaha YZF R6 | 0.886 |
3 | 3 | R. DE ROSA | MV Agusta F3 675 | 0.888 |
4 | 4 | S. ODENDAAL | Yamaha YZF R6 | 1.018 |
5 | 5 | P. OETTL | Kawasaki ZX-6R | 0.447 |
6 | 32 | I. VINALES | Yamaha YZF R6 | 1.670 |
7 | 81 | M. GONZALEZ | Kawasaki ZX-6R | 1.896 |
8 | 38 | H. SOOMER | Yamaha YZF R6 | 3.576 |
9 | 16 | J. CLUZEL | Yamaha YZF R6 | 4.518 |
10 | 99 | D. WEBB | Yamaha YZF R6 | 11.695 |
11 | 98 | K. HANIKA | Yamaha YZF R6 | 12.553 |
12 | 47 | A. BASSANI | Yamaha YZF R6 | 12.849 |
13 | 94 | C. PEROLARI | Yamaha YZF R6 | 15.531 |
14 | 61 | C. ONCU | Kawasaki ZX-6R | 15.592 |
15 | 25 | A. VERDOIA | Yamaha YZF R6 | 27.569 |
16 | 12 | A. RUIZ CARRANZA | Yamaha YZF R6 | 27.593 |
17 | 22 | F. FULIGNI | MV Agusta F3 675 | 30.338 |
18 | 34 | K. MANFREDI | Yamaha YZF R6 | 30.756 |
19 | 30 | G. VAN STRAALEN | Yamaha YZF R6 | 38.461 |
20 | 52 | P. HOBELSBERGER | Honda CBR600RR | 47.804 |
21 | 21 | V. FALCONE | Yamaha YZF R6 | 1'16.817 |
RET | 56 | P. SEBESTYEN | Yamaha YZF R6 | 11 Laps |
RET | 9 | G. HENDRA PRATAMA | Yamaha YZF R6 | 12 Laps |
RET | 78 | H. OKUBO | Honda CBR600RR |