Filippo Farioli claimed a season-best second place in Race 2 of the FIM Supersport World Championship at Circuito Estoril on Sunday, crossing the line as runner-up in a six-lap sprint following an earlier red flag.
Roberto Garcia (GMT94 Yamaha) started from pole position after an impressive fightback on Saturday, charging from 19th on the grid to finish seventh. He took control at the front in the early laps, with several other R9 riders also in contention, including Farioli (VFT Racing Yamaha), Lucas Mahias (GMT94 Yamaha) and Can Öncü (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing).
After the euphoria of securing the championship on Saturday, Albert Arenas (AS BLU CRU Racing) was forced to watch from the sidelines when a technical issue ruled him out in the early stages.
While the leading group battled for the podium, contact between Can Öncü and Roberto Garcia ended Garcia’s race when the Turkish rider’s R9 struck Garcia’s outstretched foot on the approach to Turn 1. Garcia was taken to the medical centre, where checks confirmed that he had suffered no broken bones but had badly sprained his knee. The Spanish rider will undergo further assessment before a decision is made on whether he can compete at Jerez later this week.
After eight laps, spots of rain began to fall around the circuit. With several riders crashing in the worsening conditions, the race was red-flagged following a fall for Bahattin Sofuoğlu on Lap 10.
Once the track had been cleared, the race restarted as a six-lap sprint. Farioli, who had been leading when the red flag was shown, started from pole and controlled the opening stages. However, Jeremy Alcoba moved ahead before the finish, with Farioli taking second place just 0.378 seconds behind the winner.
Can Öncü, who had crashed out of the lead on Saturday, recovered to finish fourth ahead of Lucas Mahias.
There was disappointment for Aldi Satya Mahendra (AS BLU CRU Racing), who made a lightning start from 10th on the grid in the restart and battled for a podium place in the opening laps before crashing out with two laps remaining.
Yuki Okamoto (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing) narrowly missed out on a points-paying finish, crossing the line in 16th.
The championship now heads to Circuito de Jerez in Spain for the season finale later this week.
Filippo Farioli (VFT Racing Yamaha), Race 2: 2nd
“To be back on the podium after Cremona is a dream come true. At the start of the season I did not have a great feeling with the bike, but since we tested at Magny-Cours we made a big improvement and since then we have been improving race by race, and finally made the podium in Cremona and achieved it again today. I felt like I could have fought for the win yesterday, but I went wide, so I was confident heading into today’s race. We need to continue in this way and aim to finish the season on a high in Jerez.”
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