Supersport Jerez: Arenas Calls the Shots, Kawasaki Adds Spice to Race 1

Albert Arenas had imagined an afternoon of glory: dominating Race 1 at his home track, Jerez, and celebrating in the best possible way the Supersport World Championship title he clinched a week earlier at Estoril. Instead, he had to work incredibly hard for it...

The Yamaha protégé was hounded in the opening laps by Can Oncu, his fellow Iwata rider, but one who was hardly inclined to do him any favors. As so often happens, the Turk faded as the race wore on, leaving Arenas to enjoy the sweet feeling of leading alone. But it wasn’t over: Jeremy Alcoba, on the factory Kawasaki fielded by the Puccetti team, suddenly found his rhythm in the second half of the race. After dispatching Booth-Amos’s Triumph, the Spaniard swooped on Oncu and made short work of him. At that point, only Arenas remained up front. In just a few laps, the Kawasaki had made up two seconds, but it was too late to catch the wily veteran Albert.

The result remained in the balance until the chequered flag, but Arenas never wavered, claiming his fourth win of the season. Alcoba, still looking for a seat for 2027, took consolation in yet another podium finish during this brilliant end to the season, while Can Oncu managed to hold on to third place by just 34 thousandths of a second over Booth-Amos. Right at the end of the World Championship, Kawasaki also managed to bring Swiss rider Dominique Aegerter, a two-time champion in this category, back into contention—a sign of just how dramatically the Ninja 632 has improved. Jaume Masia will get to enjoy it in 2027, having missed this round because of a crash in practice. The former Moto3 world champion will take Aegerter’s place.

Matteo Ferrari won the mini-battle among the Italians, finishing ahead of Filippo Farioli and Alessandro Zaccone, who took eighth and ninth. ZXMoto has slipped to the fringes in this closing stretch of the championship, with Valentin Debise managing only tenth. The Chinese manufacturer won six races this year, but its drop in form is clear. Yamaha and Kawasaki are setting a blistering pace in the junior category, and the newcomers in 2027 will have their work cut out to keep up.

The factory Triumph fielded just one rider: Tom Booth-Amos. Australian Oliver Bayliss, meanwhile, took part in the concurrent final round of the British Superbike Championship, where he has won ten races this season and sits third in the standings.

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