Carrasco Takes First Win Of The Season
Reigning WorldSSP300 champion Ana Carrasco (Kawasaki Provec) won her first race of the 2019 season after making a small break from the rest of a six-rider leading pack and staying clear of the dogfights going on just behind her in the final few corners.
Ana enjoyed a winning margin of 0.822 seconds on her Ninja 400, which can be considered a clear win in this evenly matched and exciting world championship class.
Incidents and accidents through the race took their toll on some top runners and broke the leading groups up on occasion, but Manuel Gonzalez (Kawasaki ParkinGo Team) avoided the dramas and was second today.
Gonzalez had been on pole for this race, with Carrasco also on the front row of the grid, in third place.
The final six-rider group featured just two Kawasakis Ninja 400 riders, but they were to finish first and second. Ana’s win has maintained Kawasaki’s 100% success in 2019, after victories from Gonzales (three) and DS Junior Team Kawasaki rider Marc Garcia (one) in the four previous rounds.
Scott Deroue (Kawasaki Motoport) could not get to the final leading group after qualifying 18th in the wet Superpole for his group of riders.
The three time podium scorer in 2019 rode at high pace through the whole race but his race was interrupted by crashes that held up his push towards the front. Scott was finally seventh, having a lonely race in the final laps to finish 9.730 seconds behind the winner.
Manuel Bastianelli (Prodina IRCOS Kawasaki) was eighth, meaning half of the top eight riders today were on Ninja 400s.
The 13-lap race was held in warm and dry conditions after some earlier periods of wet weather on Saturday, but that did not prevent some bad luck showing up for winner of one of the most recent races in Spain, Garcia. He was 23rd and out of the points, having qualified 15th. Robert Schotman (Motoport Kawasaki) was one of the high-profile fallers, crashing out early at Turn 13.
No fewer than 58 riders tried to qualify at Misano, split into A and B qualifying groups who then went on to Superpole sessions. The sensational Last Chance Race on Saturday afternoon was just that as usual – the final opportunity for the top six riders who did not automatically make the grid via Superpole to race for points on Sunday.
Donington Park in the UK will host the sixth of nine championship rounds next time out. Raceday will be on Sunday July 7.
Ana Carrasco, stated: “I am very happy to have taken my first victory of the season. I think we have worked very well all weekend and this has allowed me to keep a very good pace in the race. I pushed hard from the beginning, but it was difficult because it was very hot and had little grip in some places. But I really wanted to win so I pushed as much as possible! I climbed many positions in the championship and I’m second overall now. Donington Park comes along now and I like the layout a lot. As always, thanks a lot to Kawasaki and Provec for giving me a super Ninja 400 to win on!”
Manuel Gonzalez, stated: “A good race for the championship. We knew we have to take podiums in all races to maintain enough points for the leading championship position but the race was very calm because the leading group was small. I tried to be second in the last lap but the KTM overtook me and then tried to push as much as possible to take Ana. But I have to be happy for a second place finish, as it is a good result for the championship. Thanks to all for the good work the team does through all the sessions. We have to continue like this.”
Scott Deroue, stated: “During the free practice sessions it went pretty well. I was always able to set good lap times. In the wet qualifying I did not have a good feeling with the engine and that resulted in being P18 on the grid. I had a good start, but the first lap was one big period of chaos. There were several falls around me, so I lost a lot of time. This created a gap from a few seconds to the leading group. I rode clear from the second group, but without a slipstream I could not get to the front. I have driven a very constant and good race, but it wasn’t possible to convert this performance into a good result.”