More, from a press release issued by Dorna WorldSBK Press Office:
Baldassarri claimed Race 1 victory at Most, Aegerter taken out in Lap 1-Turn 1 pile-up
Baldassarri took the win by more than six seconds to reduce the gap to Aegerter in the standings
P1 – Lorenzo Baldassarri (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team)
Baldassarri took advantage of the Turn 1, Lap 1 incident to pull a gap of 6.240s over Manzi.
He claimed his second victory in WorldSSP, the first one since Aragon 2022.
He closed the gap to 39 points to Aegerter, with 25 points up to grab in Race 2.
“It’s a very important day. We had a great day from this morning with pole position and then the win. We need to stay focus for tomorrow. We worked with the team step by step and today we had a great rhythm. Also, there was a crash in the first corner, Aegerter was involved among other riders. This also helped but we were really strong today.”
P2 – Stefano Manzi (Dynavolt Triumph)
Manzi claimed his first WorldSSP podium with Triumph, the manufacturer taking their first podium in 10 years.
He now stands in fifth place in the Championship standings with 92 points.
“Finally, after six rounds I have this podium. It was very difficult because it’s a new project with a new bike and everything is new. We worked a lot and finally we have this podium. This morning, I had a mechanical issue in the first lap of qualifying, so I had to start from 21st position. But I could recover to second place so I’m very happy.”
P3 – Steven Odendaal (Kallio Racing)
Odendaal, racing as a replacement rider, was third from 18th on the grid for his return to WorldSSP.
He claimed his 12th podium in the category.
“I’m super excited about the podium. We were battling the whole weekend. The team made a change for the first race and I think it worked out. The bike was really good, especially in the corners. I thought I could get Manzi in the last corner but I wasn’t sure of how quick he would come back. I was like – maybe I’d rather risk … maybe the team wants the podium!”
Valentin Debise (GMT94 Yamaha) was in the fight for the podium right until the end of the race and missed out by just 0.019s to Odendaal after 19 laps Glenn van Straalen (EAB Racing Team) finished fifth followed by Niki Tuuli (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) in sixth place on his comeback from injury and surgery. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team) was another who was in the podium fight but the Italian rookie finished in ninth place after he went through the gravel at Turn 10.
To note:
Championship leader Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) has been ruled out of the remainder of the Prosecco DOC Czech Round after suffering a concussion. The crash happened when multiple riders went down into Turn 1 on the opening lap of the race, as Raffaele De Rosa (Orelac Racing VerdNatura WorldSSP) collided with Yari Montella (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) after a bold move from Montella’s teammate Can Oncu, which then skittled Aegerter, Andy Verdoia (GMT94 Yamaha) and Federico Caricasulo (Althea Racing). Although Aegerter wanted to re-join, he didn’t and was instead taken to the medical centre where he was diagnosed with concussion and therefore ruled out of the remainder of the round. For his role in the incident, Oncu was given a ride-through penalty for “irresponsible riding” before going on to finish in 21st. Also involved in the accident, Federico Caricasulo will be reviewed before Warm-Up.
WorldSSP resumes on Sunday from 9:25 (Local Time) followed by Race 2 at 12:45.
