SSP300, Race: Deroue winner, González almost champion

With 108 points for Manuel González against 65 for his immediate pursuers Ana Carrasco, Andy Verdoïa and Scott Deroue, he could be crowned World Champion this Sunday in the Algarve if…

…González won the race, with Ana Carrasco, Scott Deroue and Andy Verdoïa finishing third or lower.

…González finished second, so Carrasco, Deroue and Verdoïa should not have been in the top 3 while Jan-Ole Jahnig and Victor Steeman should have finished beyond the Top 2.

...González was third in the race, Carrasco, Deroue and Verdoïa should not be part of the Top 6, Jahnig and Steeman should not get on the podium, Marc Garcia win the race.

... González placed fourth, Carrasco, Deroue and Verdoïa were expected to finish outside the top 9, Jahnig fifth or less, Steeman third or less, while Garcia and Hugo De Cancellis were not expected to win.

The starting grid was determined by the results of the Superpoles of Groups A and B, the "last chance" race and the penalties distributed, for example to Hendra Pratama who had been the fastest in Superpole A and who found himself fifteenth on the grid:

With 29° for the air temperature and 44° for that of the track, the fastest when the lights went out was Victor Steeman ahead of Manuel González, Ana Carrasco, Scott Deroue and Andy Verdoïa. Hugo de Cancellis moved to 28th in the first corner.

Steeman's KTM preceded the four Kawasakis of Gonzalez, Garcia, Carrasco and Deroue, then Verdoïa moved up with her Yamaha to second position while her teammate Beatriz Neila moved to third.

The Dutch Meuffels and Buis fell, while the other Batavian Deroue took command ahead of Ieraci, Carrasco, Gonzalez, Garcia, Verdoïa and Neila. De Cancellis moved up to 24th position. Galang Hendra Pratama, who started fifteenth, was now seventh in the leading group by breaking the circuit record with a time of 1'56.315. Samuel di Sora was sixteenth and Enzo de la Vega twenty-fifth.

The drivers remained tightly grouped at the front, led by Gonzáahead of Deroue, Carrasco, Garcia, Verdoïa, Hendra Pratama, Neila, Kalinin and Steeman. Gonzalezález was then virtually 48 points ahead of Deroue and 55 over Carrasco.

Hendra Pratama passed third in front of Verdoïa, behind Deroue and González.

At the halfway mark, González and Deroue opened up a fairly clear gap of 2.4 over Hendra Pratama, Garcia, Verdoïa and Carrasco.

GonzáLez was then 48 points ahead of Deroue, who overtook him in the straight and reduced the gap to 38 points with two races (Magny-Cours and Losail) remaining.

González took command again in front of Deroue, while Carrasco led the chasing pack in front of Garcia, Verdoïa and Kalinin. Dino Iozzo fell without seriousness in Turn 1 two laps from the finish.

At the finish line, Deroue won ahead of González, Carrasco, Garcia and Verdoïa. Di Sora finished 15th, de la Vega 18th, de Cancellis 19th, Pedeneau 27th and Quinet 29th.

Race results:

Provisional ranking of the SSP300 World Championship:

Photos © worlsbk.com / Dorna, teams, partners and manufacturers