Adrian Huertas (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team) made history in the FIM Supersport World Championship paddock on Saturday with a third-place finish in Race 1. That rostrum gave the #99 his first World Supersport crown and his second title after he won the 2021WorldSSP300 title. He is also the youngest rider to win the title as he wrote a small bit of history within the WorldSBK paddock.

The #99 headed into the Prometeon Spanish Round knowing it was likely he’d be Champion given the 45-point advantage he had over Stefano Manzi (Pata Prometeon Ten Kate Racing), with just 50 remaining. Five points across the weekend would be enough to secure the title but he still had to work hard for it. He lined up from pole position but was soon demoted to second when Jorge Navarro (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) came through at Turn 1, before a scrappy opening few laps left him outside of the podium places – but still in the right position for the title.

He was lucky not to be taken out when Can Oncu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) tried to pass both Huertas and Navarro at Turn 13, with the #61 making contact with the latter when he lost the front of his ZX-6R. The move took both Oncu and Navarro out of contention and left Huertas clear of the fights behind him, although he soon set his sights on Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) ahead of him. Despite closing the gap, the #99 held position in third to claim his second World Championship and first in WorldSSP.

Discussing how it felt to be Champion, Huertas said: “I feel incredible, it’s been an incredible season because I have been fighting a lot. It’s not been easy in the last races because we had many problems. In the end, we did what we needed to do; stayed on the bike and scored points. This was really important for us and today we achieved the world title. It’s my second one. I feel incredible. I want to thank my team because they trusted me when I wasn’t even a podium finisher in this class. A lot of people said I wouldn’t be able to repeat what Niccolo did.”

Huertas’ title came with a bit of history. He’s the youngest winner of the WorldSSP title in history, beating Chris Vermeulen, while he also became the first to win both the World Supersport 300 and World Supersport crowns. He took the former in 2021 before adding the latter this year, ahead of a new adventure for him in 2025 when he heads to Moto2™.

Talking about the history he made, the Madrid-born rider said: “It’s difficult to do it better. We did a really good job in our first year with Ducati. It wasn’t an easy change, but we managed to do it well, win when we needed to and to stay behind when we needed to. I’m happy about that, happy about how I managed the season. I’m super, super proud because it’s not an easy change. We saw a lot of riders making the step and then not be competitive. I showed today you can be World Champion coming from WorldSSP300 and you can make a career here in WorldSBK from the beginning.”

Congratulate Huertas on his title using #LionKingHuertas on social media and watch the final day of WorldSSP in 2024 using the WorldSBK VideoPass for only €9.99!