Supersport Balaton Race 1: Debise got the better of them again, ZXMoto celebrates a hat-trick

Another fantastic finale in this 2026 Supersport that keeps making us jump out of our seats every time. In a heart-stopping finish, Valentin Debise prevails again, brilliantly slipping between the Yamahas of Can Oncu and Albert Arenas. Both got outfoxed; for the Frenchman it’s the fifth win of his career, the third for ZXMoto: the Chinese are loving it.

The race was incredibly tight, with five riders and four different manufacturers (Yamaha, Ducati, Kawasaki, and ZXMoto) fighting for the win and the podium. Roberto Garcia, just 19, led for a long stretch, but with four laps to go he lost the front and goodbye dreams of glory. At that point, the baton passed to the more experienced riders. Can Oncu counterattacked and it seemed in the bag. Instead, halfway through the final lap he ran a bit wide, allowing Alberto Arenas to pull alongside. But the in-house Yamaha duel played into the hands of the third wheel, Valentin Debise. The Frenchman dove between them and, with a do-or-die braking move, zapped them both. The final three corners didn’t change the verdict. What a show!

The BOP formula, meaning the balance of performance among bikes so different in displacement, configuration, and philosophy, is working brilliantly this year. All the manufacturers are in the mix; to the quintet above you can also add Triumph, with Booth-Amos launching from the back but climbing to seventh. On Sunday, with the grid reshuffled based on the fastest laps from this showdown, we’ll see a different kind of race again.

The two Yamaha riders were disappointed, but at least in words they made peace with it. Albert Arenas lost the battle, but jumped to the top of the standings by capitalizing on Jaume Masia’s double blunder (crashes in qualifying and race 1). The Turk Can Oncu found the spark again after a few rather colorless outings. But the one who can celebrate without worries is Matteo Ferrari, author of a beautiful race 1, long among the frontrunners and finally fifth, as the top Ducati at the flag. The showdown is packed with promising signs.

The spill in Superpole proved very costly for Jaume Masia, who arrived in Hungary as championship leader. Forced to start at the back of the pack (24th slot), the former Moto3 world champion couldn’t get through the tangle at turn one: contact with Austrian Andrea Koeffler and goodbye race 1. The incident further worsens the situation because, having not set any fast lap, Masia will also have to start from the back in the final showdown. Harakiri at QJ: contact between De Rosa and Ramirez caused the Iberian rider to go down.

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