Image: Russell Colvin.

Frenchman Jules Cluzel scored a thrilling victory in the opening round of the 2014 World Supersport Championship this afternoon, claiming MV Agusta’s first win since the 1970s.

An oil spill in the first part of the race caused a lengthy red flag delay, resulting in a five-lap sprint race that saw favourites Kenan Sofuoglu (Kawasaki) and Michael van der Mark (Honda) crash out.

Earlier, American PJ Jacobsen’s Kawasaki had a technical fault that ruled him out of contention, just moments before Jack Kennedy’s engine fault caused the stoppage.

Cluzel eventually won in a wild final lap, heading Yamaha-mounted Kev Coughlin and Raffaele de Rosa. Florian Marino was fourth, within 0.3s of the race victory.

Billy McConnell was another high profile rider to crash out on his Triumph, while Bryan Staring exited the top 10 in the closing laps with a clutch failure.

2014 FIM Superbike World Championship
Round one – Phillip Island, VIC

Supersport race results:
1. Jules Cluzel
2. Kev Coghlan +0.224s
3. Raffaele de Rosa +0.317s
4. Florian Marino +0.347s
5. Roberto Tamburini +0.822s
6. Kevin Wahr +4.010s
7. Graeme Gowland +5.282s
8. Riccardo Russo +5.310s
9. Fabio Menghi +5.517s
10. Christian Gamarino +5.858s
16. Ryan Taylor (AUS) +12.895s

Supersport championship standings (after round one):
1. Jules Cluzel 25
2. Kev Coghlan 20
3. Raffaele de Rosa 16
4. Florian Marino 13
5. Roberto Tamburini 11
6. Kevin Wahr 10
7. Graeme Gowland 9
8. Riccardo Russo 8
9. Fabio Menghi 7
10. Christian Gamarino 6

Click here for detailed results