Niki continued his wild-card campaign in the same style that has taken the World Supersport paddock by storm with another superb performance in Jerez. As we saw as in the previous rounds at Magny-Cours and Lausitzring, Niki finished In second place and again set the fastest lap of the race. Niki proved once again that he has the talent to be a force to be reckoned with at World Championship level. Niki got a good start to the race from fourth place on the grid and placed himself just behind the leading Kawasaki duo of Sofuoglu and Krummencher in the early laps.

"My aim was to get behind Sofuoglu and Krummennacher immediately from the start and battle for the podium. Everything worked as planned and after Krummenacher crashed at turn 1 I concentrated on following Kenan. I felt very comfortable behind Kenan but when I passed him he was able to follow and then repass me" said Niki

As in the French round Niki managed to lead the pack for several laps despite being under pressure from the five time World Champion Sofuoglu. After a tight battle the Turkish rider managed to gap the main group of riders behind him.

"When we started the final lap I was just half a second behind Kenan, but as I was lining up to make an attempt to overtake I missed a gear changing down to brake and therefore the gap to Kenan increased too much. My tyres were also in quite bad shape for the final lap and the slides started to get a bit bigger. Still I am very happy to cross the finishing line in second place again here in Jerez"

Niki has achieved tenth position in the World Championship standings despite competing in only three races.

"It has been quite a year at World Championship level with these three races. I cannot thank the team enough for all the high level effort they have put in to make this possible. A huge thanks also goes to all the sponsors who have supported me. After all they are the ones that make a huge contribution to make this success possible. Added to the team work at the very highest level and with my management it all helps to make the racing feel good, it is hard to think how it could be any better!"

Photo: Philippe Damiens