Alvaro Bautista, Yari Mon-
tella and Surra formed a six-rider
Ducati phalanx out front, with the
next-best rider, Alex Lowes, on the
bimota. There was something of
a surprise package in the form of
Texan Garrett Gerloff (Kawasaki
WorldSBK Team) in eighth place.
In the final race, the American
ended up as the top non-Ducati
rider, in a whopping fifth position.
Nobody, absolutely nobody,
saw that one coming, but Gerloff
was startlingly swift on the old
-
est bike on the track.
Only Ducati riders were above
him, of course (Bulega, Lecuona,
Montella and Baldassari, in that
order), and three Ducatis were
behind him: Sam Lowes, Surra
and one Tarran Mackenzie (MGM
Optical Express Racing), who had
been up as high as fifth early on.
Bimota had a tough race two,
with Alex Lowes falling after tag
-
ging the back of Mackenzie, and
Axel Bassani experiencing brake
problems so severe he had to
pull in.
All the records from Bulega, the
great work from Lecuona in keep-
ing him honest were front and
center at Balaton, but every Ducati
rider had a real chance again, like
they had everywhere else.
Many other makes and riders
clearly have no chance, on the
evidence so far.
Pointswise, Bulega has a
perfect 248, which puts him 82
points ahead of Lecuona and
149 points ahead of Sam Lowes.
WorldSSP
Valentin Debise (ZXMoto Factory
Evan Bros Racing) won the first
WorldSSP race at Balaton, but
only after a typical race-long fight
among riders on many types of
machines. It started out as a Ya
-
maha benefit, almost as deeply
as WorldSBK is a Ducati benefit,
but it didn't end quite that way.
Albert Arenas (AS Racing Ya-
maha) was second and Can Oncu
(Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing)
was third, both possibly ruing their
final-corner battle that let Debise
through with a few turns to go.
His overtake on both riders at
once was poetic and effective,
as neither Yamaha rider could
get back into contention with so
few corners left to go.
Off the podium, Jeremy
Alcoba (Kawasaki WorldSSP
Team) was just 0.770 of a sec
-
ond behind Debise. Fifth was the
eventual top Ducati rider, Matteo
Ferrari (WRP Racing Ducati).
In race two, Arenas ended
with the win after a late attack
that broke the close attentions
of runner-up Oncu.
Roberto Garcia (GMT94-
Yamaha) was a strong contender
for the win until Arenas made his
move, but he was still just 0.509
WIND
IN THE
P64
Valentin Debise won the first WorldSSP race.
