REPORT – 2017 WORLD SUPERSPORT CHAMPIONSHIP FINALE - JUST BIKES

REPORT – 2017 World Supersport Championship finale

In only his second full year in the series, Lucas Mahias has won the 2017 FIM Supersport World Championship, claiming the title at the final round in Qatar on 4 November.
Riding for the GRT Yamaha Official World SSP Team, Mahias started the 2017 season with a thrilling race at Phillip Island, where he was just beaten in a photo-finish.
The Frenchman’s first race win came at Aragon in April, and while he won only one other race for the rest of the season, a string of podiums kept him in championship contention.
Five-time WSS Champion, Kenan Sofuoglu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) stood in Mahias’s way and looked likely to claim after a sixth title, despite missing the first two rounds and being taken out of the race at round 3.
Ahead of round 10 at Magny Cours, Sofuoglu was actually leading the championship by four points, but a crash in the Superpole session left the Turk with multiple hip fractures and out of action for two rounds.
In Sofuoglu’s absence, Mahias regained the championship lead, but with fourth and fifth place race finishes at Magny Cours and Jerez, didn’t capitalise on it, meaning the 2017 WSS championship would be decided at the twelfth and final round.

Qatar Finale
With Sofuoglu declared fit to race at Qatar, Mahias knew his 20-point advantage could be overcome, so he gave himself the best possible start with a Superpole win, his first of the 2017 season.
The race saw Mahias take the lead on lap 3, but he had four riders less than a second behind him, but by the mid-point of the 15-lap race, only countryman Jules Cluzel (CIA Landlord Insurance Honda) and team mate Federico Caricasulo were close enough to take the race win.
Sofuoglu, meanwhile, had overcome a poor start to be sixth, and when Cluzel briefly took the lead on lap 12, the Turk was within striking distance after setting the fastest lap of the race.
A tense final few laps saw Cluzel and Mahias fight for the lead, while Sofuoglu capitalised on a mistake from Caricasulo on the final lap to take third, but it wasn’t enough and Mahias would win both the race and the championship.

Incredible Feeling

“I started riding properly ten years ago and if you had said to me then I would be the WorldSSP Champion I would have said it was impossible but I have worked hard and now it has happened...it still hasn't sunk in yet!” an enthused Mahias said.

“The race was really difficult, because all the different outcomes were going through my head. Should I push or not push? I didn't want to crash but, if I am honest, I really wanted to win the race to become champion as that is much better.

“It is an incredible feeling, I am very, very happy! Thank you to Yamaha, the whole of the GRT Team, and my family.”

Mahias also thanked Sofuoglu, acknowledging that without those rounds missed through injury, the Kawasaki rider would have likely won the title: “But this is racing and I am just happy to be champion!"

For Yamaha, claiming the rider’s championship came after securing the WSS team and manufacturer crowns at the previous round in Jerez.

Special mention must go to Australia’s Ant West, who ran only a partial season but still managed to finish eighth in the championship.

2017 FIM Supersport World Championship – after 12 of 12 rounds

1. Lucas MAHIAS (FRA) Yamaha 190

2. Kenan SOFUOGLU (TUR) Kawasaki 161

3. Jules CLUZEL (FRA) Honda 155

4. Sheridan MORAIS (RSA) Yamaha 141

5. Federico CARICASULO (ITA) Yamaha 118

6. Patrick JACOBSEN (USA) MV Agusta 108

7. Niki TUULI (FIN) Yamaha 82

8. Anthony WEST (AUS) Kawasaki 73

9. Kyle SMITH (GBR) Honda 57