Caricasulo closes gap to Krummenacher with Jerez win

Jerez WorldSSP - Race Results

Federico Caricasulo pulled back ground on title rival and team-mate Randy Krummenacher in the fight for the 2019 World Supersport Championship with a well-judged victory in Jerez.

The BARDAHL Evan Bros. Racing Yamahas were the class of the field once again, controlling the pace throughout and biding their time out front despite stacking up a lead group of up to seven riders at one point.

However, the pair stretched their legs when it mattered in the closing stages in reaction to coming under increasing pressure from Jules Cluzel on the sister GMT94 R6, the Frenchman working his way up to third place from eighth on the grid.

It was Caricasulo though that timed his sprint to the flag to perfection, breaking free with two laps remaining to catch Krummenacher unawares and leave him without a response.

A third consecutive 1-2 result for the Evan Bros. Racing team, Caricasulo’s second win of the year sees him slim Krummenacher’s lead back down to 17 points at what is now the half-way stage of the season for the WorldSSP contingent.

Cluzel made it a Yamaha 1-2-3 in third place, but the result means it looks increasingly likely the title battle will now come down to the Evans Bros. team-mates, with the ex-WorldSBK rider now 31 points in arrears of the Swiss leader.

Thomas Gradinger grabbed fourth place late on from MV Agusta’s Raffaele de Rosa on the highest-placed non-Yamaha in fifth, with Kawasaki’s Lucas Mahias and Hikari Okubo following up in sixth and seventh.

Isaac Vinales led the home contingent with his run to eighth, ahead of Corentin Perolari on his return to action from injury and top Honda rider Peter Sebestyen.