Having not won in the 2024 FIM Supersport 300 World Championship prior to the Czech Round, it was a memorable weekend for Loris Veneman (MTM Kawasaki) as the 17-year-old Dutchman stormed to a double. Taking victory in two last lap thrillers against Championship leader Inigo Iglesias (Fusport-RT Motorsports by SKM-Kawasaki), he moves into the top three overall in the Championship and to within a race win’s worth of points of the Championship lead.

Both races were well timed and well measured from Veneman, demonstrating his excellent race craft throughout the weekend. In Race 1, he left enough of a gap to build into on the final lap with clear air ahead of him, timing his attack for the final sector. After a big moment at Turn 16 disrupted Iglesias and bunched up Mirko Gennai (MTM Kawasaki) behind him, Veneman swept through at Turn 18 in an unconventional pass, grabbing the advantage and holding on until the chequered flag.

In Race 2, he was in a head-to-head with Iglesias once more and it was a same Turn 16 moment that caught out the Spaniard. However, Veneman couldn’t make the pass and it was all about a slipstream to the line; contact coming down the straight resulted in an initial 0.001s winning margin for the #58 of Iglesias, what would have been the closest-ever World Championship finishing margin in the WorldSBK paddock. However, for irresponsible riding, he was demoted a position, resulting in a double win for Veneman.

Speaking after the race about his weekend and in particular Race 2, Veneman said: “It’s been really perfect, I couldn’t have imagined it better. I’m really happy and don’t know what to say! It was a hard battle in Race 2; with four laps to go, there was a big crash in front of me and I had to slow down and go around it. I lost about 1.5s to Inigo but with two laps to go, I caught up and in the end, I got the win on the slipstream to the line and I got it.”

Talking about his target to win the Championship in 2024 and the upcoming rollercoaster ride of Portimao, he continued: “Of course, it’s always the goal and now I’m even closer than I was in Race 1, so I’ll try my best to do the same at Portimao. Last year, I was really fast there so I guess I’ll try and do the same as this weekend.”

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