Saturday morning’s Superpole was dry for the WorldSSP300 riders as they headed out on the Czech track, and Yamaha riders Matteo Vannucci (AG Motorsport Italia Yamaha) and Humberto Maier (Yamaha MS Racing/AD78 Latin America Team) were quickly up to speed. Gaggi and Mirko Gennai (Team BrCorse) also showed great improvements on their R3 machines compared to Friday. The closing moments of qualifying were busy on track, making it tough to find ‘clear air’ and set a lap. However, Vannucci managed a front row with second, with Maier fourth and Gennai fifth.
The race was to be one of the most dramatic of the season so far with a dry start to proceedings before rain started falling with 13 laps to go, inviting indecision on the track. However, on the very first lap there was a big incident which took out title contender Vannucci and wildcard Kevin Fontainha among others and forced Gennai and Aldi Satya Mahendra to run off the track and re-join down the order. Maier, meanwhile, had made a flying start and was sitting as top Yamaha at the front of the field. When the rain came down harder it was time for Indonesia’s Mahendra, who loves wet conditions, to shine. The youngster shot up to second place followed closely by his brother, Hendra Pratama. It soon became clear that slicks were now a risky option as several riders went down, including a luckless Gennai, so most of the remaining contenders poured into pitlane to change tyres. Just a small handful stayed out and avoided the long pit-intervention time. One of these brave riders was Gaggi, and the Italian put in a display of focus and maturity as he carved his way to an excellent second place, and a career first podium.
Former R3 bLU cRU rider Ioannis Peristeras (ProGP Racing) had the same tactics as Gaggi, and the Greek also reaped the rewards, finishing in a fantastic fourth. Wildcard rider Mahendra slipped to 16th after his tyre change, but still took the honour of ‘fastest lap of the race’.
