Lorenzo Baldassari marked his debut in the 2022 WorldSSP Championship in some style with an extraordinary victory moments after saving a last corner slip… with a little help from Dominique Aegerter.
Making his WorldSSP debut as the latest big name signing from Moto2, Baldassari - a four-time race winner in the intermediate GP class - stamped his mark with a commanding performance in the first of two races at Aragon following a tussle with Dominique Aegerter.
However, it very nearly ended in disaster after the Italian lost the front-end of the Evan Bros. Yamaha R6 around the long, fast final corner left-hander and washed out into what would have likely been a crash.
Fortunately for him, close-following defending champion Aegerter would find himself in the right place for Baldassari - albeit the wrong place for himself - as he jinked right in avoidance, only to provide a useful rolling barrier for the Italian to bump back upright.
Frustratingly for Aegerter, the impact forced him out wide and allowed Baldassari to get the hammer down again to sprint to the line just in front.
It’s not the first time Aegerter has been involved in a frustrating last corner situation after he was knocked wide by a crashing Eric Granado while leading on the final corner of the MotoE race at Misano with the loss of drive allowing Jordi Torres to win
