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The official race report service of Kawasaki Racing Team.

9 Augusztus 2020

Sunday Fifth Place For Philipp

The 17-lap second WorldSSP race at Portimao saw Kawasaki Puccetti Racing rider Philipp Öttl finish in fifth place while his luckless team-mate Lucas Mahias crashed out of the leading positions on the first lap around the 4.592km long circuit.

Sitting in a top five place in the early laps, Philipp pushed on to regain that position at the flag, having been involved in a thrilling final lap fight with three other riders.

With Mahias out of the running after losing the front going into the second turn, Manuel Gonzalez (Kawasaki ParkinGO Team) was the second top scoring Kawasaki rider today in sixth place overall, after a battle with Öttl, Corentin Perolari and Hannes Soomer.

Both Öttl and Gonzalez, the latter being the 2019 WorldSSP300 champion, are first season full-time riders in the WorldSSP class in 2020.

After five rounds of the championship, across three different circuits, Mahias is still third in the points standings and Öttl fifth.

Five time race winner Andrea Locatelli now has 125 points, Jules Cluzel 90, Mahias 62, Perolari 57 and Öttl 49. Gonzalez moved up to tenth today, with what was his best WorldSSP result to date.

The next round will take place at Motorland Aragon in Spain, between 28 and 30 August.

Lucas Mahias, stated: “I cannot speak a lot about the race but I did not understand the crash. I lost the front directly in the second corner, a fast corner. I do not understand why. Maybe I touched the inside of the kerbs a little but I am not really sure. I will try my best again at Aragon and please no crash in the race next time!”

Philipp Öttl, stated: “It was a tough race from the beginning but I had a better feeling compared to yesterday’s race. The bike felt fun to ride but not on this track so much because it is like a motocross track, to be honest! My ambition was to finish the race inside the top five or six, because this track is so, so difficult. So I am not too unhappy about this result today – not yesterday – but I am happy with today.”

Can Öncü (Turkish Puccetti Racing) battled hard for his final tenth place today, and now sits 11th overall in the championship fight, one place behind Gonzalez.

                                               #NinjaSpirit