Absolute masterclass. That is the only way to describe what Carter Thompson (Team BrCorse) did in Race 2 at the EICMA Italian Round, leaving the entire field in his wake to secure his maiden victory in the FIM Sportbike World Championship. Not only is this a huge milestone for the Aussie, it also marks Yamaha's very first win in the class. And he did it in style, building a gap that resulted in the biggest-ever winning margin in a WorldSPB race.
Behind the runaway leader, Xavi Artigas (MTM Kawasaki) put in a stellar shift to chase him up to the rostrum, grabbing his sixth podium of the campaign and his third in a row with a P2 finish. Ferre Fleerackers (Track & Trades Wixx Racing) brought his machine home in third place, taking his first rostrum result since Assen and his third of the season.
The championship picture is heating up brilliantly as the series heads to Jerez for the penultimate stop's aftermath. David Salvador (Team ProDina Kawasaki XCI) clings to the lead in the Riders' Championship with 224 points, but Artigas is breathing down his neck with 212 points. That leaves just a 12-point gap with 50 points left to play for. Meanwhile, the fight for third in the standings has turned completely upside down. Thompson's stunning charge has supplanted Antonio Torres (Team ProDina Kawasaki XCI) for P3, with the Australian now leading the Spaniard by a single point on 158 to 157.
Race 2 itself was an absolute brawl from the lights. Artigas started from pole, fighting hard early on against Alvaro Fuertes (Deza-Box 77 Racing Team) and Fenton Seabright (PHR Performance Triumph). The opening lap saw Artigas, Fuertes, Seabright, and Fleerackers nearly go four wide charging into the braking zone of the back straight at Turn 11. Thompson swapped paint with the #65 for the lead across the first three laps before making his definitive strike at Turn 7. Once clear, the Aussie dropped the rest of the pack entirely, pulling out an insane lead of more than four seconds with two laps to go, eventually crossing the line more than 5.3 seconds clear of the chasing group. Artigas took P2 at the head of that lead group, while Fleerackers finished just over a tenth behind him.
Further back, the drag to the finish line was pure theatre. Alvaro Fuertes hung tough with the lead group from his P5 grid spot, fending off a late move into Turn 12 from championship leader Salvador. Fuertes edged out Salvador by just 0.004 seconds—or two thousandths—to take P5. Juan Risueno (Pons Motosport Italika Racing) also put in a phenomenal shift, climbing all the way from P16 on the grid to finish P6 for his best result of the season.
Not everyone had a clean run, though. Matteo Vannucci (Revo-M2) hit the gravel early in another rough break for the Aprilia rider, while Harrison Dessoy (PHR Performance Triumph) and Loris Veneman (MTM Kawasaki) crashed out after colliding at Turn 2 while running inside the top ten. Veneman was taken to the medical centre for treatment. Elia Bartolini (CM Triumph Factory Racing) also suffered an off, crashing at the final Turn 13 on Lap 6. Fenton Seabright ultimately faded to finish P7, while Pepe Osuna (Deza-Box 77 Racing Team) drove a consistent race from P11 to P8, marking his fifth consecutive top-ten finish. Marco Gaggi (Team BrCorse) rounded out a solid home round with a second straight top ten, and Antonio Torres salvaged tenth, missing out on the top five for only the second time this season as his points cushion vanishes.
