One rider who found consistency across the Gaerne Estoril Round in the FIM Supersport World Championship was Philipp Oettl (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) who claimed two podiums across both races at the Circuito Estoril as he showcased his title credentials in Portugal with second place in Race 1 and third in Race 2.

Oettl qualified on the front row as he secured second on the grid for both races after the Tissot Superpole session, around one tenth away from polesitter Federico Caricasulo (GMT94 Yamaha); with the Italian the only rider to lap the Circuito Estoril in the 1’39s bracket during Superpole.

Oettl twice led the first race of the weekend as he led from the start of Lap 4 of 18 until Lap 15, and then again on Lap 17, as the race ebbed and flowed between the four riders in contention. The German was able to lead again in Race 2 as he got the jump at the start of the race to lead until the 15^th lap, before Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) passed him to claim his maiden WorldSSP win.

Looking back on Race 2, where Oettl led for the first 14 laps, the German rider said: “It was a hard fight with a lot of riders there. It’s a really competitive class this year. Every rider is so tight together. You have new riders and old riders on different bikes so it’s so difficult. It was a really hard race today; it was the second week of racing for us.”

Afterwards, he added: “I had a fantastic start and tried to pull away in the beginning of the race. But this abused my tyres a little bit. I saw that there were three of us in that early top group, but then more and more riders came through. My tyres, compared to Saturday, were a little bit more used, but in the end, we got another podium, which helps us for the Championship. This was a really difficult race and towards the end the track was hot and greasy. Some riders made mistakes but today we finished the race, like we should have done in Aragon. I am happy for this. The team did an amazing job again all weekend long; just like the first round and during testing.”

Oettl’s double podium in Portugal moves him into third in the Championship, behind Race 1 winner Steven Odendaal (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team) and Race 2 winner Aegerter with 23 points separating first and third in the standings. Oettl is the only rider in the top three yet to win a race in 2021, or in WorldSSP, and will be looking to change this so he can close the gap further as WorldSSP heads to Misano.

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