Rain turned the Circuito Estoril upside down on Sunday afternoon, throwing up a chaotic red-flagged WorldSSP finale where Jeremy Alcoba (Kawasaki WorldSSP Team) sliced through the chaos to claim his third win in four races. The class rolled out for Race 2 with the championship already decided from Saturday, but Mother Nature had her own plans for the grid. Water started creeping onto the tarmac during the opening laps, setting the stage for an absolute war of attrition.
Roberto Garcia (GMT94 Yamaha) grabbed the holeshot from pole and looked settled at the front until the weather turned hostile. Drama struck on Lap 6 when Can Oncu (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing) clipped Garcia's leg heading into Turn 1, punting the Spaniard wide and eventually sending him to the medical centre where he was diagnosed with a contusion and sprain to his right knee. Tom Booth-Amos (PTR Triumph Factory Racing) snuck past the Turk immediately after, only to lose the front and bin it from the lead as the surface grew slicker. Moments later, Bahattin Sofuoglu (QJMOTOR Factory Racing) binned his bike at Turn 3, dumping dirt, dust, and fluids all over the racing line. The red flags rightly flew with 10 laps remaining.
When the dust and red flags cleared, the race compressed into a wild six-lap sprint to the checkers. Oncu launched himself from deep on the grid to snatch the holeshot once again, but his time at the sharp end had an expiration date. Alcoba pounced on the run into Turn 1 with three laps left, grabbing P1 and never looking back. Filippo Farioli (VFT Racing Yamaha) tried desperately to respond, finishing just 0.378 seconds behind the winner to secure his third consecutive podium and cap off a brilliant sophomore 2026 campaign. Valentin Debise (EASTROC ZXMOTO Factory Evan Bros Racing) kept his head down in a brutal scrap with Oncu, bringing his machine home in third with a 1.310-second gap to the winner to lock down second overall in the Riders' Championship. Debise even stamped his authority on the day by setting a blistering new lap record of 1'39.093s.
Oncu fought hard with aggressive moves into Turn 1 but missed out on the rostrum entirely, crossing the line in fourth at 2.242 seconds back. That leaves the Turkish rider with a massive final round ahead at Jerez, especially with Alcoba and Jaume Masia (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) now sitting just five points behind him on 234 points for third in the standings. Lucas Mahias (GMT94 Yamaha) ran near the front for large spells before settling for fifth at 2.665 seconds, repeating his finishing position from earlier in the weekend. Philipp Oettl (Feel Racing WorldSSP Team) pulled off his best result of the last three rounds in sixth with a 3.208-second gap, holding off Matteo Ferrari (WRP Racing) by just a tenth to help the Italian bounce back from a costly Race 1 DNF.
Further down the order, Dominique Aegerter (Kawasaki WorldSSP Team) salvaged a fine eighth place after starting down in fourteenth following the restart, a brilliant recovery from his tough P24 finish in Race 1. Mattia Casadei (D34G WorldSSP Racing Team) held his grid spot to take ninth, matching his third-best result of the year, while rookie Borja Jimenez (WRP Racing) rounded out the top ten for his career-best WorldSSP finish and his first time scoring points in both races of a weekend.
It was a brutal afternoon for equipment and bodies alike, with eight riders hitting the deck in the tricky conditions: Aldi Mahendra (AS BLU CRU Racing Team), Jaume Masia (Orelac Racing VerdNatura), Eric Fernandez (Cerba Yamaha Racing Team), Oliver Konig (Compos Racing Team), Roberto Garcia (GMT94 Yamaha), Tom Booth-Amos, Bahattin Sofuoglu, and Albert Arenas (AS BLU CRU Racing Team), who didn't even make the red flag due to a technical issue at Turn 1. Most walked away, but Masia suffered a fractured second metatarsal on his left foot following a collision with Fernandez.
