Banged-up Bayliss forced to the sidelines at Balaton

Oli Bayliss recovered from a Superpole crash to secure seventh on the Race Two grid, but a heavy warm-up fall left him unable to start on Sunday

Valentin Debise (ZXMOTO Factory Evan Bros Racing won the first WorldSSP race at Balaton, but only after a typical race-long fight between riders of many kinds of machines. It started out as a Yamaha benefit, almost as deeply as WorldSBK is a Ducati benefit. It didn’t end quite that way.

Albert Arenas (AS Racing Yamaha) was second and third placed Can Öncü (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing) – both possibly ruing their final lap battle that let Debise through with a few turns to go.

Off podium, Jeremy Alcoba (Kawasaki WorldSSP Team) was just 0.770 seconds from Debise. Fifth was the eventual top Ducati rider, Matteo Ferrari (WRP Racing Ducati).

In Race Two, Arenas would end up winning and winning well, after a sudden late attack that broke the close attentions of Öncü.

Roberto Garcia (GMT94-YAMAHA) was a good bet for a potential winner until Arenas made his move, but he was still just 0.509 seconds away from victory, rounding out an all-Yamaha podium.

Matteo Ferrari (WRP Racing Ducati) faded from his part of the podium battle, to finish fourth, if only one second down on the victor.

Championship challenger Jaume Masia (Orelac Racing Verdnatura) recovered from a tough weekend, and a starting position 25th again, to take fifth place.

His boldness and passing ability mitigated the damage that a 2-1 race weekend record for Arenas did inside the points table, with the Albert on 150 points, Jaume second on 117 and Valentin third on 94.

What about Debise, BTW, the Race One winner? His race winning bike showed some frailty this time – a full spectrum of racing life, you could say – as he retired with a technical issue.

For Oli Bayliss, the Balaton Park weekend produced mixed fortunes. He qualified 13th in Superpole, but after getting caught out under braking and running into the gravel he was classified last in the session. He then pitted for a fresh tyre and set a lap that placed him seventh on the grid for Race Two.

Bayliss was unable to start the second race, however, after crashing heavily in Sunday morning warm-up and suffering hits to his backside and elbow.

“Obviously not the result we wanted today but our speed was good and we put ourself in a better position on the grid for Race Two,” Bayliss said. “A small mistake on my behalf passing another rider on the brakes and catching the slip of the guy in front, meant I had a small crash in the gravel.

“We had a small problem during Sunday morning warm up and it resulted in a big crash. I hit my elbow, and I hit my ass. It doesn’t really feel too good, in a bit of pain but for sure we will be fine for Most.”

HUNGARY WORLDSSP RACE 1

HUNGARY WORLDSSP RACE 2