Lucas Mahias and GMT94 Yamaha made a return to the rostrum in a thrilling battle in Race 1 of the second round of the FIM Supersport World Championship at Portimão. Polesitter Can Öncü crashed out of the lead in the early stages.
With the sun shining on the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve, the first race of the European season proved to be a thriller with a five-way fight for the podium in the closing stages.
Having taken pole position with near record pace on Friday, hopes were high for Öncü (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing) to repeat his dominant victory from 2025, but it wasn’t to be for the Turkish ace. A strong start saw him take the lead in the early stages, but a mistake on the second lap saw him crash out of contention at Turn 14.
This left Mahias, his GMT94 Yamaha team-mate Roberto Garcia and championship leader after Round 1 Albert Arenas (AS BLU CRU Racing) battling for second place, with the Frenchman crossing the line just 0.081 seconds off the runner-up spot.
Garcia crossed the line fourth, with Arenas just 0.019 seconds behind him fifth. Yuki Okamoto (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing) and Aldi Satya Mahendra (AS BLU CRU Racing) finished 22nd and 23rd respectively, ahead of Öncü who finished 25th after remounting.
The result sees Arenas slip to second in the championship, just two points off the lead with Garcia the next best placed R9 contender in fourth.
Mahias will move up to second on the grid for Sunday’s second race with team-mate Garcia joining him on the front row in third. Arenas starts fifth, while today’s polesitter Can Öncü will start from 10th after his early race spill. The lights go out for the second race at 14:00 local time on Sunday.
Lucas Mahias (GMT94 Yamaha) – Race 1: 3rd
“It was not an easy race! Yesterday, with my pace and feeling on the bike it was a lot more easy than today. I don’t know whether it was the conditions, or the bike, but today it was a bit more difficult to ride with my style and we did not have a lot of grip. However, I tried my best and tried to push but when I saw Öncü crash I thought maybe the track conditions are not as good as yesterday. In the last two laps, I was in the fight so I pushed very hard to take the best result possible, it was a big fight and it felt like old Mahias style with a bit of aggression! It is nice to be back on the podium, it’s great for the team and Yamaha but I feel we can definitely improve for tomorrow.”
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