After winning third place at the FIM Supersport 300 2020 World Championships in Estoril last weekend, Bahattin Sofuo-lu was also crowned champion of this year’s Yamaha R3 bLU cRU Challenge, ahead of Yamaha MS Racing WorldSPthree’s Unai Orradre.
WorldSSP300 first visited the Estoril Circuit for the last double game of the coronavirus season. On the new track, bLU cRU riders discovered the limits of the circuit and their motorcycles supplied R3 GYTR and at the end of the first day, the 2020 rookie Alvaro Diaz, the fastest of the young yamaha in fifth place.
After Saturday morning’s FP3, the five participants in the bLU cRU had done enough to automatically qualify for the races, with Yamaha MS Racing’s Alan Kroh impressive in fifth place, ahead of teammate Ton Kawakami, who ninth, while Biblion Motox competes with Yamaha Diaz 13.
Sofuo-lu and Orradre, who started the weekend with the possibility of finishing in the 3 most sensible of the standings, struggled to combine the best lap and were the 20 most sensible outdoors, but signed up for their fellow bLU cRU drivers the qualifying session.
In the Superpole, the 16-year-old Spanish engine, Orradre, accelerated his speed and qualified eighth for the race grids. Kawakami continued to show consistency in 13th position, with Sofuolu 21, Diaz 27 and Kroh 28th.
Saturday’s frantic race 1 saw Brazilian Kawakami avoid the chaos surrounding him to finish in respectable tenth place, with Sofuolu climbing to positions that gain trouble in 14th place, Diaz and Kroh complex on the field, shortly missing in 15 18 and 19, respectively, while Orradre got stuck in an inevitable incident, forcing him to surrender while fighting for a five more sensible.
After a promising Warm Up, in which Sofuolu placed third as a cRU bLU driver, with Orradre, Kawakami and Kroh in the 10 most sensitive, Race 2 saw the young Turk produce another thrilling fight on the field. The race rose to the podium war with 4 laps to pass and finished third on the last corner on the last lap. However, with the long run to the line, he was helpless in the back wing and finished just 0. 067 seconds off the podium in 4th place.
Orradre scored his first goal since Teruel’s streak after a series of bad luck in the 13th, ahead of Kawakami and Kroh, who finished the trouble positions at 14 and 15, and Diaz also dates back to the 20 most sensible, though perhaps only fits his 18th result on Saturday.
This concludes the 2020 season, with the five bLU cRU drivers demonstrating wonderful prospects and world championship advances: both Sofuolu and Orradre were winners, while Kawakami, Diaz and Kroh finished the season with the 10 most sensible.
To see the full effects of Race 1, click here.
To see the full effects of Race 2, click here.
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