2018 FIM SUPERSPORT WORLD CHAMPION
SANDRO DOES IT IN STYLE
Sandro Cortese (Yamaha) added the FIM Supersport World Championship title to the FIM Moto3 World Championship he claimed in 2012, after a season of unerring consistency in the 600cc class. The German rider moved to production bike racing after a long career in the Grand Prix paddock - which started in the 125cc class in 2005 before progressing to Moto3 and then five years spent in the Moto2 class that wielded three podium finishes - and he brought his experience, speed, racing talent and fighting spirit, to ensure fans were entertained to the very last lap of the season.
Cortese started his rookie season in the class with a podium at Phillip Island in a race won by defending champion Lucas Mahias (Yamaha), with the Frenchman taking second behind Randy Krummenacher (Yamaha) in round two in Thailand to share the early championship lead with the Swiss rider. However, as both Mahias and Krummenacher struggled for consistency, victories for Cortese at Aragon and Donington and Jules Cluzel (Yamaha) at Assen, Imola and Brno saw the German and the Frenchman move clear at the top.
There was controversy at Portimao when a collision between the pair ended with Cluzel on the ground and empty-handed, but the Frenchman bounced back with consecutive wins at Magny-Cours and Argentina, where Cortese was second on both occasions, to set up a final-round decider with five points between them in Qatar.
A dramatic race that almost didn’t go ahead because of a bizarre rainstorm in the afternoon, saw Cortese and Cluzel regularly trade places at the front, but when Mahias made a move for the lead the German used all his racecraft to keep the pressure on his title rival, who needed the win. Eventually Cluzel cracked and a front-end crash with just three laps to go secured a hard-earned championship for Cortese, whilst a third win for Mahias moved him ahead of his compatriot in the final standings.
After Jörg Teuchert in 2000, Sandro becomes only the second German to win the FIM Supersport World Championship.
PALMARES
2 World Titles – Supersport in 2018, Moto3 in 2012
