Supersport Most: Fall of the giants, Chinese ZXMoto does the double

The World Supersport is speaking more and more Chinese: Albert Arenas and Jaume Masia fly off, Valentin Debise takes advantage and with a double win brings the Chinese ZXMoto back into the thick of the title fight. Meanwhile, the victories are already five out of ten contested.

Race 2 on the tricky Most circuit delivered plenty of twists. After the usual skirmishes at the start, the first big exit was Albert Arenas. The championship leader went down after an imperceptible contact with Jaume Masia’s Ducati. Race direction deemed the latter’s move faulty; he was on the inside and probably didn’t even realize it. A classic racing incident, but these days it seems impossible for the stewards not to stick their noses in every time. So they handed Masia, who was fifth in the leading group, a long lap penalty, and he rejoined in ninth. The time loss, however, was minimal—just two seconds—which the former Moto3 world champion began clawing back with a string of fast laps. Until he lost control, squandering the chance to close the gap to his compatriot.

The contest was decided on the last lap. Can Oncu finally made his move, jumping into the lead at the final pass through the chicane. Valentin Debise, the old fox, lay in wait. In the fastest section, the ZXMoto was better than the Yamaha R9; the winning overtake was forceful but clean. There was no chance for Can Oncu to respond: with Debise, the Turk is reliving Stefano Manzi’s ’25 nightmare. The first win of the season is still elusive.

With one lap to go, at the usual chicane, Booth-Amos and Mahias also crashed; they had been in the lead group, right behind the front two. Oliver Bayliss, Troy’s son, took advantage to seize the podium, a perfect way to close out a fairly troubled period. Great performance as well from Matteo Ferrari, fifth and best Ducati rider. In the final phase, the former MotoE world champion was the fastest on track. Also in the top ten were Zaccone, Farioli, and Caricasulo with the second ZXMoto. The rider from Ravenna, however, has yet to find the same magic formula as the unleashed Valentin Debise.