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While the majority of riders from the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship paddock are enjoying some downtime, riders from WorldSSP, WorldSSP300 and WorldWCR ventured to Jerez for the first FIM Intercontinental Games. In a battle of six confederation unions – Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, North America, and Oceania – it was FIM Europe who came out on top thanks to an incredible display of consistency across their two four-rider teams in the Supersport and Supersport 300 categories, which raced with the Yamaha R7 and Yamaha R3 machines.

SATURDAY QUALIFYING: Maier takes second, Bartolini fourth in Supersport; Sanchez on pole in Supersport 300

Stars from inside the WorldSBK paddock shone on Saturday when the grids for both of Sunday’s races were set. Two qualifying sessions took place with the combined times from Q1 and Q2 taken into account. Pole was taken by FIM Africa’s Dino Iozzo in Supersport with his closest challenger coming from WorldSSP300. Humberto Maier (MS Racing) took second place as he rode the Yamaha R7 machine for the first time, finishing 0.369s down on the South African. In Supersport 300, Gonzalo Sanchez, who impressed as a replacement rider in WorldSSP300 at the end of the year, claimed a stunning pole ahead of Australia’s Archie McDonald. Completing the front row was Team Oceania’s Cameron Swain, who is a race winner in the Yamaha R3 bLU cRU World Cup. Often WorldSSP300 wildcard Tomas Alonso (Pons Motorsport Italika Racing) was fifth while reigning WroldSSP300 Champion Aldi Mahendra (Team BrCorse) took sixth. Elsewhere, there was disappointment for Nicole Van Aswegen (Andalaft Racing) as she was ruled out of action after Saturday’s practice sessions as a result of the leg injury she sustained at Portimao in WorldWCR.

RACE 1 DRAMA: Mahendra wins Supersport 300 as Sanchez crashes, Maier takes red-flagged Supersport victory

The first races on Sunday both featured equal amounts of drama in different ways. In Supersport 300, Mahendra claimed a hard-fought victory as Sanchez crashed from the lead group, potentially costing FIM Europe valuable points in the fight for glory. Alonso, in his first race on the Yamaha R3, also claimed a podium finish. In Supersport, the race was red flagged after a crash for South Africa’s surprise package, Clint Seller, with Brazilian rider Maier taking victory; resisting the challenge from South Africa’s Iozzo, with the FIM Africa rider enjoying a stellar week after excellent JuniorGP™ exploits at Estoril earlier in the week.

DECIDED IN THE FINAL RACE:  FIM Europe win first Intercontinental Games

In Race 2 for Supersport 300, Mahendra crossed the line in first with a 0.001s margin over second place but a penalty for irresponsible riding demoted him to third, handing victory to Nahuel Santamaria from FIM Latin America and allowing Sanchez to claim second place as he bounced back from his Race 1 spill. It meant the fight for the title would go down to the final race, which produced even more drama. A rain shower after just a handful laps meant the race was red flagged before being resumed over 10 laps, down from the original 16 and FIM Asia took advantage of this in the early stages. Soichiro Minamimoto and Apiwath Wongthananon were the lead two riders as they mastered wet conditions in the opening laps. However, Elia Bartolini (Yamaha Motoxracing WorldSSP300 Team) soon found confidence as the track dried to take victory as the FIM Europe Supersport captain and that, coupled with Enzo De La Vega (Perles de Fruits Racing Team CMS) and Valentin Folger finishing in the top ten was enough to give FIM Europe glory in the first-ever FIM Intercontinental Games. Joining Bartolini on the podium were Iozzo and Australia’s Mike Jones, a former MotoGP™ racer and WorldSBK points scorer.

INDIVIDUAL HONOURS: Mahendra, Dobbs and Bartolini take home golden helmets

While the main focus was on the Teams’ Classification, there were awards given out to the highest-scoring male and female riders in each category. Mahendra claimed the male Supersport 300 award and took home a golden helmet as he concluded a successful 2024 in style, while Josephine Bruno claimed the female Supersport 300 award. In Supersport, Bartolini received the award for his win and podium on the Yamaha R7 while Mallory Dobbs (Sekhmet Motorcycle Racing Team) secured top honours out of the female riders.

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