Cluzel’s weekend didn’t get off to the start he would have wanted, as the French rider qualified down in 13th on the grid. His pace was clear from Race 1 though, as he climbed up to fourth, just 0.563s off a podium finish.
On Sunday, Cluzel made short work of those ahead, moving up to eighth by the end of the first lap. At the halfway stage, the experienced 33-year-old was into sixth and onto the tail of the lead group, making his move inside the podium spots with four laps to go. Cluzel exchanged places out front, and heading into the penultimate corner, the GMT94 Yamaha rider went wide as he challenged for the lead. At the final turn though, Cluzul pounced on Federico Carciasulo and Ten Kate Yamaha’s Dominique Aegerter, who had taken each other wide, to score a dramatic victory.
2021 WorldSSP champion Aegerter qualified on pole position for the fourth time this season, and took advantage in Race 1 to take the lead through Turn 1. After getting overtaken later in the lap, the Swiss rider fell outside the top five, but was able to pull off a strong recovery to finish just behind the winner in second.
In Race 2, the Ten Kate Yamaha rider dropped back initially, but once again found some extra speed in the final third of the contest to be in the hunt for victory. After just holding off Cluzel at the penultimate corner, Aegerter went in deep at the final turn, defending from Caricasulo, losing two spots that saw him end the season with a third-place finish.
Riding for the VFT Racing team this weekend, having missed the Argentinian round, Caricasulo was instantly on the pace, qualifying on the front row in third. After battling for the lead in Race 1, the Italian lost some ground to the lead pair in the closing stages, holding on to take his second consecutive podium in third.
The 25-year-old enjoyed a superb start in Race 2, and was in the fight for victory throughout, but he was unable to pull off a move around the outside of Aegerter at the final corner and fell back to fourth across the line.
Spanish youngster Manuel Gonzalez was also in the fight in both races, starting from second on the grid. On Saturday, the ParkinGO Yamaha rider finished just behind Cluzel in fifth, and was in the hunt again in Race 2, before a crash at Turn 7 from the podium positions on lap two ended his chances. The 19-year-old still finished third in the final championship standings, after an impressive second season.
Evan Bros Yamaha WorldSSP Supported Team’s Steven Odendaal went from ninth to sixth in Race 1, which ensured he would end the season second in the riders’ standings. The South African had a difficult start to Race 2 and was battling at the lower end of the top 10 before losing the front on lap 15 and being forced into a DNF.
Kallio Racing Yamaha WorldSSP Supported Team’s Hanner Soomer made up places in both races after a disappointing qualifying result. Starting from 12th, the Estonian was ninth in Race 1 and seventh on Sunday.
CM Racing Team’s Randy Krummenacher was the early pace-setter on Friday, but couldn’t challenge the front group in the races, finishing eighth in both. Evan Bros Yamaha’s Peter Sebestyen picked up a pair of 10th-place results, ahead of Soomer’s teammate Vertti Takala in Race 2.
Yamaha MS Racing’s bLU cRU youngster Unai Orradre was 11th in Race 1 and 12th in Race 2, finishing ahead of local star Galang Hendra Pratama, who scored points in 13th on Sunday. GMT94 Yamaha’s Valentin Debise could not take part in either race following a shoulder injury sustained in Free Practice 1.
For Race 1 results, click here.
For Race 2 results, click here.
