Estoril, Race 2: Race abandoned and chaos as Kawasaki claims victory – Öttl sixth

The second race of the 2026 Supersport World Championship at the Circuito do Estoril got underway at 2.00 pm local time. Dark clouds hung over the circuit at the start of the race, and at 20 degrees Celsius it was significantly cooler than on Saturday. After Albert Arenas (Yamaha) had clinched the World Championship early on Saturday with a fourth-place finish, Valentin Debise was aiming to secure the runners-up spot on Sunday. To do so, the ZX-Moto rider could not afford to lose more than four points to Ducati ace Jaume Masia.

For the second race, the top nine riders start based on their fastest lap time from Race 1. From 10th on the grid, the order is determined by the Superpole results. Consequently, Roberto Garcia (Yamaha), Tom Booth-Amos (Triumph) and Debise started the race from the front row. Garcia entered the first corner ahead of Debise, Booth-Amos and Filippo Farioli (Yamaha). Behind them were Can Öncü (Yamaha), Oli Bayliss (Triumph) and Jeremy Alcoba (Kawasaki). Light rain was reported in some sections of the circuit.

Bahattin Sofuoglu (QJ Motor) crashed, causing red flags

However, the rain was not the reason for the race being stopped on lap 10: Bahattin Sofuoglu had crashed his QJ Motor in Turn 3, sending a lot of dirt flying onto the tarmac. After the track had been cleared, the race was restarted for six laps from the position at the time of the stoppage. For Arenas, the second race was already over by that point – the newly crowned world champion had to retire on lap 2 due to a mechanical failure.

At the second start, the Yamaha riders Farioli, Lucas Mahias and Can Öncü were on the front row. Behind them were Alcoba, Bayliss and Debise. Philipp Öttl (Ducati), Dominique Aegerter (Kawasaki) and Andreas Kofler (Yamaha) were seventh, 14th and 24th on the grid.

Mahias got off to the best start, with Alcoba and Farioli in second and third respectively. Öttl got off to a good start and was fifth. Aldi Mahendra (Yamaha) got off to an even better start – the Indonesian surged forward from 10th on the grid to fourth.

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After the first lap, the top five remained unchanged. Öncü had a few tricky moments and was down in seventh place, with Debise behind him. After running wide off the track, Bayliss dropped to the back of the field.

On the second lap, Masia and Eric Fernandez (Yamaha) crashed – meaning Debise was crowned runner-up in the world championship.

Three laps had been completed and at the front, Alcoba, Farioli, Mahendra, Öttl and Öncü had pulled away. In ninth place, Aegerter was 3.5 seconds behind. The Kawasaki rider stepped up the pace, and Mahendra paid the price for the relentless tempo with a crash. With the fastest lap of the race in record time, Debise fought his way up to third place.

Jeremy Alcoba (Kawasaki): Three wins in the last four races

Alcoba went into the final lap with a 0.3-second lead over Farioli and a 1.2-second lead over Debise. After finishing third in the first race, the Kawasaki rider converted his lead into a convincing victory. Meanwhile, Öncü, Öttl and Mahias battled for fourth place – although the German had to concede defeat to the Yamaha riders, he was the best-placed Ducati rider in sixth.

Dominique Aegerter (Kawasaki) put in an impressive performance, securing his second single-digit result of the year with eighth place. His best finish so far was sixth at Assen. Andrea Kofler crossed the finish line in 20th place.

Honda, QJ Motor and MV Agusta failed to secure any points-scoring positions.