Rolfo triumphs in chaotic Supersport encounter

Vamag MV Agusta’s Roberto Rolfo won a sensational opening round of the 2017 World Supersport Championship in a photo-finish with GRT Yamaha’s Lucas Mahias.

It was a chaotic start to proceedings. Pole man and early leader PJ Jacobsen ran off track on lap two with a mechanical issue, while his successor at the front of the pack, Alex Baldolini, slid off at the Turn 10 hairpin.

Behind the leaders, WorldSSP debutante Robin Mulhauser was flicked from his CIA Landlords Insurance Honda at Turn 6, littering the track with debris and taking Team GOEleven’s Gino Rea out with him.

This saw the red flag flown on lap three, allowing Jacobsen to restart from pole and Baldolini from sixth for the shortened 10-lap sprint.

At the second start, CIA Landlords Insurance’s Jules Cluzel took the holeshot, though he didn’t hold onto the lead for long as Baldolini took over on lap two.

Jacobsen’s hopes of victory disappeared on the third lap at Turn 10 when he ran wide and dropped to the back of the pack. Puccetti Racing’s Kyle Ryde, who led the original race briefly, was unfortunately punted wide by the American and was caught up in a similar incident late in the 10-lap contest at the hands of Cluzel.

The lead swapped hands a number of times across the 10 laps, and on the final lap Rolfo swooped ahead at Turn 2. Mahias’ team-mate Federico Caricasulo was in contention for the victory, but slammed into Cluzel at Turn 10, taking both out on the spot.

On the run to the line, Mahias pulled alongside Rolfo and crowded him to the outside of the circuit. Split by virtually nothing, Race Direction declared the MV-mounted Italian as the victor by 0.001s – his first in the series and coming just days after dislocating his shoulder.

Aussie wildcard Ant West capitalised on the restart and was up to 10th from 21^st by the end of the opening lap. Keeping his wits about him, West once again stormed through to complete the podium.

Ryde took the chequered flag in fourth ahead of Kallio Racing’s Niki Tuuli, the Finn coming from 15^th on the grid. Jacobsen, Aiden Wagner, Kazuki Watanabe, Nacho Calero and Lachlan Epis completed the top 10.