2017 FIM SUPERSPORT 300 WORLD CHAMPION
GARCIA BECOMES FIRST EVER CHAMPION OF NEW CLASS
Marc Garcia (Yamaha) made history in 2017 as the first ever winner of the new FIM Supersport 300 World Championship, taking the title by a single point from Alfonso Coppola (Yamaha) in a gripping final-round decider at Jerez. The new series was designed as an entry-level World Championship that would give new teams and riders from all corners of the globe the opportunity to make their mark on the international stage, and so it proved with the emergence of some exciting young talent and incredibly close racing all season.
Running alongside all European rounds of the FIM World Superbike Championship, the first WorldSSP300 race took place at Aragon in April, with the Netherlands' Scott Deroue (Kawasaki) taking an historic win. Deroue doubled up in his home round at Assen however podium consistency proved key to the title as groups of six or more riders regularly crossed the line within the same second. One such heart-stopping battle at Portimao was won by Ana Carrasco (Kawasaki), who became the first ever female to win an FIM World Championship Circuit Racing event after overcoming both Coppola and Garcia by less than a tenth of a second.
Garcia took his second win and fifth podium in the penultimate round at Magny Cours to set up a grand finale against Coppola, who trailed by four points. The title swung both ways throughout another race-long group skirmish, which wasn't decided until the final lap as Coppola crossed the line third, just 0.038 seconds behind race winner and Indonesian wildcard Galang Hendra (Yamaha), but with Garcia claiming the title just behind him in fourth.
PALMARES
World title – 2017
