Central Coast Aussie denied championship crown after wild final race decider
Australia’s Carter Thompson signed off the final FIM Supersport 300 World Championship season with a fighting sixth in a bruising title decider, banking second overall in the Riders Championship in the process. Thompson entered Jerez ten points behind the lead, securing second place in Superpole Qualifying and a wild eighth in a restarted Race One. He finished a penalised sixth in the Race 2 decider, with his main rival, Benat Fernandez, winning on the small-ish cc but very trick Chinese Kove machine. In a finale that saw crashes, penalties, dirt-tracking and last corner lunges, the MTM Kawasaki rider kept his head but couldn’t stop fellow rookie Fernandez from lifting the Championship trophy.
Thompson was muscled aside at Turn 13 on the opening lap of Race 2 as Fernandez forced the issue at the front, and for long stretches the Australian sat just beyond the podium fight while the pack traded paint. At the halfway mark Thompson attempted to draft past the inside of several riders down the back straight but ended up being pushed onto the dirt at high speed, and was lucky to stay upright heading into turn 6. That demoted Thompson back out of the top 10, and with the slipstream battles raging ahead, it would take several laps before the New South Welshman could force his way back to the front. On the very last lap Thompson mounted a late surge, climbing to third position before ultimately being shuffled back to sixth in the last-corner mayhem.
Fernandez also threw everything at the final lap and clung to the inside line at the last turn to beat David Salvador by 0.019 seconds on the road. Salvador was then demoted to 16th for irresponsible riding, a decision that reshuffled the podium and ensured Thompson would take 2nd in the overall standings. When the penalties were done, Dani Mogeda was elevated to second and Antonio Torres to third, with Jeffrey Buis in fourth and Thompson’s MTM teammate Loris Veneman in fifth.
In the title fight, Fernandez had 231 points, Carter Thompson 213, Salvador 203 and Vannucci 191.
2025 WorldSSP300 Jerez Race 2
| POS | RIDER | BIKE | GAP |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | B. Fernandez | KOV | — |
| 2 | D. Mogeda | KAW | 0.404 |
| 3 | A. Torres | KAW | 0.45 |
| 4 | J. Buis | KTM | 0.5 |
| 5 | L. Veneman | KAW | 0.735 |
| 6 | C. Thompson | KAW | 0.8 |
| 7 | H. Maier | YAM | 0.853 |
| 8 | J. Rosenthaler | KTM | 0.87 |
| 9 | M. Vannucci | YAM | 0.9 |
| 10 | R. Fernandez | KAW | 1.212 |
| 11 | G. Sanchez | YAM | 1.252 |
| 12 | A. Agaska | YAM | 1.441 |
| 13 | U. Calatayud | YAM | 1.854 |
| 14 | G. Ibidi | YAM | 1.87 |
| 15 | M. Gaggi | YAM | 1.89 |
| 16 | D. Salvador | KAW | 3.019 |
| 17 | E. Bartolini | YAM | 4.219 |
| 18 | M. Vich | YAM | 11.816 |
| 19 | P. Tonn | KTM | 19.895 |
| 20 | G. Zannini | KAW | 19.969 |
| 21 | U. Hidalgo | KAW | 20.018 |
| 22 | T. Sovicka | KAW | 28.788 |
| 23 | S. Zhang | YAM | 58.777 |
| 24 | K. Sabatucci | KAW | 61.178 |
| RET | J. Osuna | KAW | RET - 1 Lap |
| RET | J. Risueno | YAM | RET - 3 Laps |
| RET | K. Fontainha | YAM | RET - 6 Laps |
| RET | F. Mulya | YAM | RET - 7 Laps |
Carter Thompson (MTM Kawasaki)
“On Sunday we struggled a bit in the race but we still ended up second in the championship, so we have to be happy. The team did an unbelievable job all season. It was difficult be we still managed to get second. We cannot complain because that was not so bad – and we were the first Kawasaki in the championship.”
