American rider Chris Clark got off to an incredible start in the 2025 FIM Yamaha R3 BLU CRU World Cup Championship, which had its opening round this past weekend at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve in Portimão, Portugal.
Clark took the win in Race 1 and also got on the podium again with a third-place finish in Race 2. Those two results put the 18-year-old from Fairfax, Virginia, at the top of the championship points standings. He is the first American rider to ever win in the spec series.
Starting from the front row of the grid after setting the third-fastest time in Superpole, Clark put himself in perfect position as the lead group entered the final couple of laps in Race 1. With one lap to go, he made a final attack and took the victory by .110 of a second.
Sunday’s second race saw the Accolade SMRZ BGR rider start from 11th on the grid, but an aggressive opening two laps soon saw him at the head of the pack for the second race running. A group of 10 riders fought back and forth with Chris once again putting himself in the perfect place to maximize the draft. The #5 rider was lucky to stay aboard his R3 after he was hit from behind in an incident that saw two of the leading riders crash out, but he soon regrouped and, once again, it was a last-lap shootout to decide the podium. A photo finish between four riders at the flag saw him classified third.
“What a start to the season,” Clark said. “To start the day on Saturday with no warm up was something new for me but, honestly, I liked just getting straight into it. I made a good start in Race 1 and led early on. I rode smart and defensive when I needed to but also made some cool overtakes. At one point, I was shuffled back to ninth but I passed a bunch of riders to move back into second in one corner. Going into the last lap of the race, I knew I could lead out of the final corner and lead it over the line, and it worked out perfectly. Race 2 was awesome. It was a little bit of a challenge to get up to the front after starting eleventh, but I made it by lap two, which I am happy about. I was able to fight for the win after making some aggressive overtakes and leading many laps. It’s a shame that, on the last lap, the other riders were able to benefit from my slipstream as I was leading but I managed to take another podium, which is great. Overall, it couldn’t have been much better. It was a great weekend for me and the team, and we are leading the championship heading to Misano. I want to thank everyone who is supporting me. It means the world.”
Elated to be leading the R3 BLU CRU World Cup standings after the opening round, Clark heads home to the U.S. fully focused on round two in Italy in June and confident of challenging for the title.
