In the closest FIM Supersport World Championship race ever recorded, Roberto Rolfo (Team Factory Vamag) produced a remarkable performance in the Yamaha Finance Australian Round, taking his first ever WorldSSP victory by just 0.001s over the line.

Lucas Mahias (GRT Yamaha Official WorldSSP Team) put up an incredible fight and heading into the final lap all bets were off, as it looked as if the fight would be heading into the final corner. Leaving the rest of the field behind the pair had an impressive pace in the restarted race.

WorldSSP fans were treated to a thrilling end of year battle at the Gaerne Qatar Round last season, as Kyle Smith snatched the victory from Champion Kenan Sofuoglu by 0.006s over the line. However to be treated to an even closer battle the next time the rider lined up on the grid would have been an unexpected thrill, with WorldSSP continuing to provide a high level of fantastic racing.

36 year old Roflo has plenty of experience in the world of racing, moving over from the MotoGP™ paddock in 2004 in which he recorded 17 podiums and three victories in the 250cc class. Spending many seasons in both the WorldSBK and WorldSSP classes, Roflo’s best result in the support class was a third position – the last one he recorded was at Magny-Cours in 2014. The Italian started the opening race of the season at Phillip Island from eighth on the grid following a strong Superpole performance and he steadily worked his way through the field, before producing his final lap heroics.

French rival Lucas Mahias returns to the WorldSSP, after putting on a stunning display in the closing rounds of the European Superstock 1000 Championship in 2016. Ending the season with the PATA Yamaha Official Stock Team with two wins and three podiums, Mahias moved up with the team into the World Class, and began his season with a strong display. The 27 year old was able to get a solid start off the line and was up in contention for a podium early on, narrowly missing out on that debut win. However it was later announced that on his approach to the line he ‘demonstrated dangerous riding’ and was penalised by 1 second – but he was able to keep hold of second position.

Riders return to the track in just under two week’s time for the MOTUL Thai Round, as fans will hope to be treated to an equally gripping World Supersport race.