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VALENTINDEBISE
He sent a message to his competitors throughout qualifying as he was
the only rider able to break the barrier and drop down into the 1:27s, setting a 1:27.917 in order
to place himself on pole position for the first time this season. It was a carbon copy of the opening round of the series at COTA when the lights went out on the first race as the top three immediately separated themselves from the rest of the field. Debise forced his way into the lead ahead of the Yamaha duo in pursuit, doing everything within his power to maintain the advantage. Unfortunately, the race was red flagged due to a crash for the second week in a row and proceedings were restarted,
and shortened to an eight lap race. Only a couple of laps into the restart, JD Beach made a mistake and dropped down the order, therefore setting up
a titanic duel between Gerloff and Debise for the victory. Despite the Frenchman’s best attempts and heroic late braking antics, he wasn’t able to withstand the pressure of the defending champion as the Texan stormed up the inside into turn ten. Debise did his best to latch onto the back of Gerloff in an attempt to return the favor on the last lap,
but he wasn’t able to stay within touching distance and he was forced to settle for second position.
As the lights went out on the second race, Debise showed unrivaled determination on the opening lap as he forced his way into the lead without hesita- tion. The twenty-five year old rode like a man on a mission as he disallowed the chasing Yamaha duo any opportunity to squeak by into first place He maintained the lead for more than half of the race, striking back immediately at any overtaking attempt from his competitors, until the twelfth lap when Gerloff was able to work his magic again at turn ten. Debise was determined to fight back and score his first victory of the 2017 season and he waited patiently for his opportunity. He struck back on the final lap in order to capture the second race win and maintain the points lead heading into the third round of the series at VIR.
The M4 ECSTAR Suzuki rider started the
SUPERSPORT
weekend off right as he immediately shot to
the top of the timing screens throughout the
opening practice sessions.
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