Carter Thompson podiums on WorldSupersport 300 debut

Australia’s Carter Thompson made a big impact on his first ride in the FIM Supersport 300 World Championship (WorldSSP300), securing a podium on debut. The 16-year-old from suburban Newcastle had been drafted in by Fusport-RT Motorsport by SKM-Kawasaki in July to replace the injured Petr Svoboda for rounds at Most and Portimao

Thompson, who has been racing in the Red Bull MotoGP Rookies Cup since 2023, enjoyed impressive results in the Asia Talent Cup and won the Oceania Junior Cup and R3 Cup domestic titles before taking his skills to Europe.

Despite being a newcomer to WorldSSP300 at Most, Thompson was fast from the outset, recording the second fastest time in the Free Practice session, then repeating the feat in Superpole, meaning he’d line up on the front row of the grid for the first of two 12-lap races at the Czech circuit.

Falling back to fifth on the opening lap, Thompson recovered to lead the field at the end of the second lap, then spent the next few battling for position inside the Top 5. By the race’s midpoint, the Aussie was part of a pack of six riders that had pulled away from the rest of the field. Although this group was constantly trading positions amongst themselves, Inigo Iglesias (Fusport-RT Motorsport by SKM-Kawasaki) and Loris Veneman (MTM Kawasaki) seemed to have the slightest of advantages.

At the start of the final lap, Thompson was at the tail end of the six-rider pack, but made up ground in the final corners to ultimately finish third behind Veneman and Marc Garcia (KOVE Racing Team). In addition to securing a podium finish on debut, Thompson also set a new race lap record.

Under WorldSSP300 rules, Thompson’s fastest lap in the first race meant he’d be on pole for the second, but Race 2 was far less positive for the Aussie. After another slow start, Thompson was soon back in the lead group and another podium finish looked to be on the cards. However, on Lap 9, he was caught up in a four-rider crash that ended his race.