Former MotoAmerica Supersport regular Valentin Debise won FIM Supersport World Championship Race One Saturday at Portimao, in Portugal. Riding his Evan Bros Racing ZXMOTO 820RR, the Frenchman won the 17-lap race by 3.685 seconds.
Jaume Masia was the runner-up on his Orelac Racing Verdnatura Ducati Panigale V2, just 0.081 second ahead of third-place finisher Lucas Mahias, who rode his GMT94 Yamaha YZF-R9.
Mahias’ teammate, Roberto Garcia crossed the finish line fourth and Albert Arenas, riding his AS BluCru Racing Yamaha YZF-R9 got fifth.
Jaume Masia leads the championship with 51 points, 2 ahead of Albert Arenas who has 49 points. Philipp Oettl is third with 35 points.
wssp race 1
More from a press release issued by WorldSBK:
HISTORY MAKERS: Debise gives ZXMOTO first WorldSSP win after Oncu crashes from P1 at Portimao.The Chinese manufacturer can now call themselves WorldSSP race winners as the French rider takes them to the top step at Portimao.
After a no-holds-barred Tissot Superpole session for the FIM Supersport World Championship on Friday, the grid gritted their teeth for their Race 1 showdown. The Pirelli Portuguese Round’s Race 1 didn’t disappoint, and Valentin Debise (ZXMOTO Factory Evan Bros Racing) took his Chinese Manufacturer’s first WorldSSP win in their history. Sharing in the spoils with him, Jaume Masia (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) took his second podium of the season, joined him on the rostrum in second place, ahead of Lucas Mahias (GMT94 Yamaha) in third place for his 35th career WorldSSP podium.
P1 TO P25 IN A BLINK: Oncu crashed from the race lead
Oncu sailed off the line for the holeshot while Mahias leapt ahead of his compatriot #53. Jaume Masia tailed the French duo, determined not to let them run away with the podium places ahead of him. By the first sector of Lap 2, Oncu was already beginning to stretch his legs, clocking in +0.445s faster than Debise behind him. While it looked like he was set to sail away, on Turn 14 of Lap 2, Oncu took a lowside spill from the lead. Masia had by then already overtaken Mahias for P2, and with the race win now in sight, he doggedly pursued the #53 from P2. By Lap 11, the Frenchman had increased his gap to nearly 1.3s, and as the riders behind him began to battle, he only grew his gap, running away with the contest to land ZXMOTO their first win in the category.
GARCIA THE BEST OF THE REST: P4 for the Spaniard
Not content to settle for his P4 grid start, Albert Arenas, by Lap 4, had closed the gap and made his move past Mahias; simultaneously, Masia’s pace gradually hit a wall, allowing the riders behind him to close the gap and call second place into question. Thus began a four-way fight between Masia and Yamaha riders Arenas, Mahias and Roberto Garcia (GMT94 Yamaha) for the last two podium places. By the 10th lap of the race’s 17 Laps, Mahias led Masia, Arenas and Garcia. As the riders behind him fought amongst themselves, by Lap 14, Masia was able to dive into P2 on Turn 1, from which he held on doggedly to take the silver medal. Behind him, the Yamaha family feud would end with Mahias leading his teammate across the line for P3 and P4 respectively, while Albert Arenas (AS BLU CRU Racing Team) took P6, just a mere 0.019s behind his countryman.
SOLID DAY FOR OETTL: Logs a solid P6, unable to close the gap ahead of him
Philipp Oettl (Feel Racing WorldSSP Team) fell a place to P6 early in the contest, and while by the final laps he had closed the distance to the group ahead of him, he couldn’t quite make up the distance to overtake. Corentin Perolari (Honda Racing World Supersport) ran a solid race to take P7 in his first race of 2026. The WorldSSP Challenge rider’s result comes as his best finish since his home round at Magny-Cours last season. Alessandro Zaccone (Ecosantagata Althea Racing Team) matched his Race 1 performance from Phillip Island as he took P8 away from the first contest at the rollercoaster round.
ALCOBA’S RECOVERY RUN: From the back of the grid to P10
Federico Caricasulo (ZXMOTO Factory Evan Bros Racing) held onto his P9 position to log solid points, a big improvement from his Phillip Island high of P14. Spanish sophomore Jeremy Alcoba (Kawasaki WorldSSP Team) showed his calibre once again, despite a back-of-grid penalty for Irresponsible Riding assessed by the FIM WorldSBK Stewards in the Tissot Superpole session, he charged to a P10 finish. Meanwhile, his teammate Dominique Aegerter had an improved pace, finishing just behind him in P11, yet the two-time WorldSSP Champion surely would like to be further up the order.
The top six from the WorldSSP Race 1: Full results here!
1. Valentin Debise (ZXMOTO Factory Evan Bros Racing)
2. Jaume Masia (Orelac Racing Verdnatura) +3.685s
3. Lucas Mahias (GMT94 Yamaha) +3.766s
4. Roberto García (GMT94 Yamaha) +4.046s
5. Albert Arenas (AS BLU CRU Racing Team) +4.065s
6. Philipp Oettl (Feel Racing WorldSSP Team) +4.659s
Fastest lap: Valentin Debise, ZXMOTO – 1’43.634s
The rollercoaster round’s action continues into its final day on Sunday! Sign up today to watch the action Live or OnDemand with the WorldSBK VideoPass!
