Sunday’s WorldSSP race was held in the hottest conditions of the weekend so far, with track temperatures topping 60 degress Celsius around the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari di Imola on the scorching July day. Home rider Manzi was fresh from his sensational Saturday win, enjoying the circuit’s fantastic atmosphere and feeling ready to attack. The R6 rider was running second in the early stages of the race, but he showed his usual fierce determination and bridged the gap to the front before executing a pass and pulling his own substantial lead to eventually cross the line a whopping seven seconds ahead of his title rival, Nicolo Bulega. Manzi’s fantastic double win puts him 41 points from the top of the standings.
Manzi’s team-mate, Jorge Navarro had his own battle with fellow Yamaha rider Valentin Debise (GMT94 Yamaha) in the latter half of the race, with the Spaniard coming out on top to take sixth while Debise took seventh. Stand-in riders Andy Verdoia (Yamaha Thailand Racing Team) and Filippo Fuligni (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team) both rode impressively around the tough track to take 10th and 11th respectively. And reigning WorldSSP 300 Champion Alvaro Diaz (Arco Yart Yamaha WorldSSP) recovered from a DNF on Saturday to score points on Sunday in 13th.
