Crashes, comebacks and podium glory marked Round 2 of the Spanish Supersport Championship
Harry Khouri, Taiyo Aksu and Declan Van Rosmalen continued their Spanish Superbike Championship (ESBK) campaign with the second round being held over 19-22 June at the Circuit de Barcelona – Catalunya. The trio are the only Australian representatives in the Spanish championship and all three are riding in the Supersport class, with Khouri taking on the Next Gen category this season onboard a Ducati Panigale V2 for Team Speed Racing. Both Aksu and Van Rosmalen compete in the legacy Stock category on Yamaha R6 machinery but often find themselves mixing it with the Next Gen bikes. Thrown into the mix was Archie McDonald, who was able to make an appearance for his Ps Racing Team at the opening round in Superstock, winning the opening race.
Aksu, who raced in the championship last year and finished ninth in the points, continues with the ARCO Motorsport team this season and sat atop the standings heading into the second round. Never out of the top five during free practice, Aksu then took his maiden ESBK pole position – despite a crash in the only qualifying session due to an oil spill.
After some hasty overnight repairs, Aksu fought to third place in his class in the opening race and backed that up with another third in the second encounter. “In race one, third was all I could do,” Aksu explained. “I had a little bit of pain from the crash, but it was good points for the championship. Race two we were fighting for the win the whole way. I was leading, then back to third, then second, then back to the lead. I can’t really complain. I gave it everything and we leave with another podium. I am so grateful for the team I have around me.”
Van Rosmalen, who grew up in Melbourne before moving to the US when he was seven years old, is riding with the IUM Motorsports team. He faced a quick repair job after also falling victim to the qualifying oil spill. After qualifying sixth, Van Rosmalen was able to fight his way to fourth in race one and race two, finishing 0.057 seconds adrift of Aksu in the second outing.
Khouri, who also crashed in the oil during qualifying, fought for the Next Gen podium but two mistakes relegated him to ninth. In the second encounter there was more improvement with a sixth placing. The championship continued on the 28-29 June weekend as the focus shifted to Aragon.
