Newsletter

The official race report service of Kawasaki Racing Team.

6 Květen 2023

Mahias Just Misses A Points Score

Lucas Mahias (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) took over riding duties from the injured Can Öncü during the fourth round of the WorldSSP Championship at Barcelona-Catalunya, finishing Race One just outside the points scoring places in 16th.

Lucas, a former WorldSSP champion and multiple race winner, found a different WorldSSP landscape awaiting him in the era of ‘Next Generation’ machines of various larger capacities and more electronics in general inside the WorldSP class.

He worked with his old team (having raced for Kawasaki Puccetti for two years in WorldSSP and most recently for two in WorldSBK) on the latest spec of Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R machine on Friday and Saturday to prepare for the first 18-lap race at the 4.657km long Montmelo circuit. Lucas qualified 13th as a result of his and his team’s early efforts.

The race itself proved to be more eventful than Mahias had planned, after a delayed start and then two incidents involving other riders, which lost him places each time. He would finish 16th, just one place outside the points scoring positions.

Lucas, like his fellow Kawasaki riders, will have one more race to compete in at Catalunya, on Sunday 7 May.

Lucas Mahias (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing), stated: “It was difficult in my first WorldSSP race for the first time in two and a half years. The category has changed a lot compared to the past. The feeling in the first two laps is that there is too much aggression in the pack. Now everyone is trying to win the race directly. I also think in this race I was not really lucky because one guy crashed in front of me, losing me time and one other guy pushed me off line, losing me yet more time. This is not an excuse but with a little bit better luck I could have raced for 10th or 11th, but not more today. The conditions were quite hot so I tried to manage the tyres. I will try to be better tomorrow.”

Adrian Huertas (MTM Kawasaki) was the best placed Kawasaki rider in the opening race, in 13th place, after qualifying 14th in Superpole.

WorldSSP Challenge rider Tom Booth-Amos (Motozoo ME AIR Racing Kawasaki) was 13th overall and top WorldSSP Challenge rider in his own right.

John McPhee (Vince64 by Puccetti Racing Kawasaki) qualified 16th and finished in 19th place in the 18-lap race. Yuta Okaya (Prodina Kawasaki Racing) was 22nd and Luke Power (Motozoo ME AIR Racing Kawasaki) placed 25th.

Race Two takes place on Sunday 7 May, at the earlier time of 12.30 CET.

                                                 #NinjaSpirit