WorldSSP Misano Round 6: Valentin Debise Wins Thrilling Race for His 6th Victory of the Season! Championship Battle Intensifies

Valentin Debise (EASTROC ZXMOTO Factory Evan Bros Racing) secured his sixth win of the season in Race 1 of the FIM Supersport World Championship (WorldSSP) Round 6 in Misano. He battled fiercely with the Yamaha riders to take the victory and moved up to second in the championship standings.

Debise Wins a Dramatic Race After a Final Lap Showdown

In Saturday's Race 1, Debise started from third on the grid. Although he initially allowed the Yamaha R7 riders, Albert Arenas and Can Oncu, to pull ahead, he moved into second place by passing Arenas in the middle of the race. He took the lead on lap 6, but Arenas immediately retook the position. On lap 9, Oncu's pace dropped, narrowing the lead battle to just Debise and Arenas.

Debise stayed close to Arenas until the final stages, but he avoided risky overtakes to minimize the chance of crashing. However, just before the final corner on the last lap, he seized an opportunity when Arenas slightly missed his line, launching a decisive attack to snatch the lead. He clinched a dramatic victory by a mere 0.1-second margin.

"Saturday's race was good. I didn't expect to be able to run at such a fast pace from the beginning, but I had to push to keep up with Arenas and Oncu. Especially since Oncu is fast off the line, I was desperately trying not to fall behind him. I didn't expect to be in a position close to them until the end of the race. When Arenas took the lead, he was setting very fast laps, so it was tough to follow him. After the race, Arenas asked me, 'Why didn't you pass me?' but at that point, I couldn't. However, in the last three laps, I realized my pace was better. But I didn't want to risk being passed on the final lap, so I waited for my chance. After passing him, I closed the line in the last right-hand corner, but I didn't expect him to overtake me in the final left-hand corner, so I took the normal line. Seeing him go wide, I relaxed and managed my speed. I'm really happy with this win," said Debise.

Struggles in Race 2, but Moves to Second in Standings

In Sunday's Race 2, Debise started from pole position but dropped to third by the end of the first lap. His pace didn't improve, and he lost further positions. However, he managed to recover in the latter half of the race, finishing in eighth place. Although he received a one-position penalty for exceeding track limits on the final lap, Debise seemed unconcerned about the result due to his victory in Race 1.

With the weekend's results, Debise moved up to second in the World Championship standings, overtaking Jaume Masia (Orelac Racing VerdNatura), who crashed in Race 1 and finished Race 2 in fifth. Debise is now 56 points behind the leader, Arenas. To complete his Cinderella story in his debut season with ZXMOTO, he will need to step up his game further and consistently outperform Arenas, the 2020 Moto3 champion.

"This victory was important to stay in the fight for the riders' championship. We need to score more points. Our biggest challenge is that Arenas keeps getting on the podium in every race! We have to score more points than him and beat him. The fact that he's on the podium so often means we have to win," Debise commented on the championship situation.

Valentin Debise will clash again at Donington Park on July 10th for the next round.