MotoMatters.com | Kropotkin Thinks

World Supersport opened with a red flag on the warmup lap. Axel Bassani adjusted his visor as he left the grid and, in a moment of inattention, ploughed right into the back of Raffaele De Rosa at a low speed. Bassani crashed and his bike tumbled into the gravel while De Rosa's rear tyre was deflated and the rear of his seat was destroyed. De Rosa limped his MV Agusta around an entire lap with bits falling off his bike and a floppy rear tyre. The race start was delayed and the incident immediately went under investigation. 

After the cement dust was leaf-blowered off turn one, a quick restart was announced, with the restarted race being reduced to eleven laps.

Andrea Locatelli and Jules Cluzel resumed their weekend-long battle at the front, ahead of Philipp Oettl, Corentin Perolari, Manuel Gonzales and Lucas Mahias. Mahias took fifth place from Gonzales as Isaac Viñales held off Steven Odendaal in seventh and eighth places.

Lucas Mahias advanced to fourth place on the second lap but at the front, Andrea Locatelli worked on a one second lead after setting the fastest lap with a 1'43.498. Mahias was second quickest behind Cluzel and Oettl on track. Behind the leader, the three riders in second to fourth places broke clear of Perolari and Viñales.

Lucas Mahias in fourth place, was visibly quicker than his teammate Philipp Oettl in third place, but there were no easy passes offered up and the three-way fight for second place raged on. Further behind, the unlucky Raffaele De Rosa was gaining places, working his way yup to seventh place then sixth with Viñales his next target in fifth. 

On lap seven, Oettl took turn five a little wide and Mahias wasted no time taking third place from him. De Rosa left up to fifth place and then dropped to seventh, with Viñales and Perolari passing him into turn six as they wrote three abreast into the favourite passing place on the track. The fight for fifth was three seconds behind Oettl's fourth place. 

With two laps left, Andrea Locatelli had a clear three second lead over Jules Cluzel and Lucas Mahias as Philipp Oettl dropped off the French pair ahead of him. Raffaele De Rosa was over two and a half seconds behind Oettl, with Isaac Viñales and Corentin Perolari within well under half a second behind him. 

Lucas Mahias was on the tail of a very quick Jules Cluzel, but Cluzel was faultless on the last lap as every passing place was crossed off. Andrea Locatelli won his third race in a row with his third fastest lap, almost two seconds clear of Cluzel and Mahias. Philipp Oettl finished in a lonely fourth place with Raffaele De Rosa holding off Corentin Perolari and Isaac Viñales for fifth place.

As the top three finished in the same order they're contesting the championship, there were no changes at the top of the title race. 

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