2021 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship
Round Nine Catalunya Saturday Report

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Three Ducati riders stood on the podium after the opening race of the Catalunya World Superbike weekend in what was the first time since 2012 that the Italian machines had locked out the rostrum.

A late charge from Scott Redding saw him take maximum points ahead of Axel Bassani in what was the rookies first podium finish. Michael Ruben Rinaldi rounded out the podium ahead of Jonathan Rea.

Championship leader Toprak Razgatlioglu suffered a machine failure which forced the Pata Yamaha to retire and thus score no points, thus Rea will take a six-point lead into Sunday’s two battles.

Redding’s win edges him a little closer to the top two in the championship. Redding is now 47-points behind Razgatlioglu and 53-points behind Rea, but there are a lot of championship points still to be scored before this championship is decided.

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WorldSBK Race One Report

Jonathan Rea quickly hit the front as the race got underway while Axel Bassani battled his way through the pack and fought with Razgatlioglu in the first half of the race before the pair closed the gap to Rea. ‘

Eventually they both found their way past Rea, and Bassani then took the lead after Razgatlioglu pulled over with a technical issue.

Toprak Razgatlıoğlu – DNF

“Today was the first time I’m very fast in the wet conditions, my team give me a great bike and I could take the lead for the last laps… until the electrical problem arrived. So, I am surprised and happy about this performance, because you know I am not normally so fast in wet conditions, and normally I try my best just for a good position. But, I see that I can go to the front after I pass Johnny – and I say, this race is my race, we can win in the rain! I think every rider had a problem with entry to the corner and also rear sliding. My feeling was much better after some laps, with Bassani a little bit fighting, but also after I pass Johnny we go together. Then feeling good and I ride better because I know which corners I am sliding and I try also different lines for better grip. I am still surprised because wet conditions I am not normally fast, so this is a big improvement for me. After electrical problem of course I am very angry, but this weekend is not finished and also many races left this year – also two races tomorrow. I try my best, I try again for the win.”

As the 20-lap race progressed, the two factory Ducati riders of Michael Ruben Rinaldi and Scott Redding started to hit their stride.

In the closing stages, Redding passed team-mate Rinaldi for second and then put a move on Bassani for the lead with a handful of laps to go.  After hitting the front Redding managed to pull away from Bassani to secure the victory while Rinaldi rounded out the all-Ducati podium.

Scott Redding – P1

“The first few laps were really difficult. From the middle of the race, though, I started to gain confidence. If I have to be honest, when I arrived close to the podium group and saw two Ducatis in front of me I thought, “I’ll take some risks but I want to win”. I’m very happy to have given this satisfaction to my team. Let’s keep on thinking race by race and then we’ll take stock at the end of the season”.  

Axel Bassani – P2

“It’s a very strange situation but I’m very, very, very happy! It was such a difficult race because the asphalt was very slippery. I tried to stay focused. It was very strange to stay with Jonny and Toprak for the first time. A lot of emotions. I’m very happy. I say thank you to all my team, my family. I cried for the entire last lap because it was emotional! Fantastic.”

Michael Rinaldi – P3

“I was really upset about the rain because my race pace in dry conditions was really positive. However, I remained focused and only thought about pushing. At the end, I tried to attack Bassani but in the last two laps, it was not easy to ride because of the water coming from his slipstream. Anyway, I am very satisfied and I hope to get another good result in the dry tomorrow“.

New championship leader Jonathan Rea claimed fourth ahead of Michael van der Mark who applied late pressure to Rea.

Jonathan Rea – P4

“A very tough race, especially in those conditions when it comes on you ten minutes before the race starts. In the beginning, when it was fully wet, I felt great. I got a horrendous start but I could lead at the end of the first lap, passing a lot of riders. We hadn’t ridden here in the wet this weekend so you get a little bit nervous, also about the set up. What’s the right set-up direction to go in? I feel like we just got that a little bit wrong. We went full wet in the rear – a full really wet set up – but there was no standing water on the surface. The track was just wet. After three or four laps the rain stopped so when the temperature came up I was really struggling, because we were not putting weight on the tyre. Coming out of the corners the bike was just ‘sitting’ onto the tyre and spinning. On the brakes I felt quite good! When Toprak and Bassani came past I could see that they had a lot more traction. One of the hardest fought fourth places of the season.”

Michael van der Mark – P5

“This morning in FP3 I felt really good. I had good pace after making some changes to the bike which I felt comfortable with. In Superpole I was quite happy with my laps. P9 on the grid wasn’t ideal, but I knew we had a good bike for the race. The race then was wet. I had an OK start and got into a good rhythm and started to pass people. At a certain point in the race I was feeling really confident but I felt the bike spinning as soon as I picked the bike up out of the corner, especially compared to the other riders. For me it was an enjoyable race but it was also really frustrating as I had the feeling that if I had a little more grip on the exit I could have been up there fighting for the podium. Anyway, this is another race done and we learnt a lot from it. We have to find the solution when it’s wet again to get more drive grip.”

Alex Lowes claimed sixth place ahead of Leon Haslam and Tom Sykes while Alvaro Bautista claimed ninth and Chaz Davies rounded out the top ten a nose ahead of the first Yamaha home, Kohta Nozane.

Alex Lowes – P6

“Sixth was OK today, but this track is one of the more difficult ones for us. You have the bike on its side for a long time to come back to the late apexes of the corners. Free Practice Three this morning was quite good, Superpole was also, and in the race when I saw it was going to wet I thought I was going to be quite strong and  challenge for the podium. In the rain I am normally pretty fast but today I did not have the grip. I was sliding a lot on corner entry, the back was really sliding, and on the exit I could not get the bike to drive. It was a long race. I enjoyed it, but not to be in the position I was in. On the other side, it was easy to have no points today, so it can always be worse. I honestly thought that I rode well so I can’t complain. I just have to try and do better tomorrow.”

Leon Haslam – P7

“Qualifying was positive and we were not so far off, similar to Magny-Cours really. We have a more stable dry setting anyway, that’s for sure. But I was still looking forward to racing in the rain because I felt we might have the opportunity to perhaps go for the podium. Unfortunately though, right from lap one I really struggled with corner entry. I tried to get around it, and was able to fight with a few riders, but I honestly feel that I could have been faster if we had chosen a slightly different engine-brake setting. We’ll see how the weather is tomorrow and if we can fight for a better result”.

Tom Sykes – P8

“It obviously was great to get pole position in Superpole but then at the race start, I went from pole position to 15th. In the rainy conditions I got on a lot of paint on the track after half a metre so the bike spun up twice. It was unfortunate because in the early laps we had good speed and then everybody seemed to go quite flat so it was difficult to make the difference, so it was a disappointment but it is like it is. The bike was working very good in a lot of areas, just missing entry grip on the rear. This is something to look after for tomorrow and then we will get our next chance.”

Alvaro Bautista – P9

“This morning’s track conditions were much better than yesterday and we were able to lap faster in the final free practice session, but then in qualifying we really struggled. The rear tyre was spinning a lot and I didn’t have any grip, which meant I couldn’t make a really good lap, so we started very far back in Race 1. The first part of the race was difficult, as the rear tyre was still spinning a lot. I changed mapping and started to feel better, especially with the engine brake and traction control. As a result, I started to gain some confidence and increase my pace and, from the middle of the race onwards, I was able to race with similar pace to the front group. We made up a few positions, after which the gap was too big. We have collated a lot of information anyway, so let’s see what kind of weather we will have tomorrow and if we can use today’s experience to get a better result”.

Andrea Locatelli finished in 12th place after falling down through the order as the race wore on, eventually finishing four-tenths clear of French rider Lucas Mahias. Isaac Viñales was 14th with Leandro Mercado taking the final point from Race 1 with 15th.

Andrea Locatelli – P12

“It was a very difficult race for me, because I try to start very well and also in the first corner I made the second position, but in the end during the race I spin a lot on the rear tyre – I don’t know what the reason is but I still try to get the maximum on the wet condition. When I tried to open the gas, I continued to play with the throttle but I can’t go forward in the exit of the corner and so I lose many seconds just spinning, spinning! But, now we need to forget a little bit! We just need to understand what happened today, then we need to forget and stay focused on the next race because tomorrow we have another two races. I feel positive and also today we will learn something, and then we will see tomorrow. For sure, if we have dry conditions we are ready to fight with the front group!”

Samuele Cavalieri took home 16th place on his first start of 2021 with the Barni Racing Team with Christophe Ponsson in 17th. Loris Cresson came home in 18th place ahead of Jonas Folger and Lachlan Epis in 20th on his WorldSBK debut in difficult conditions.

Epis finished a lap down with a best lap of 2m04.070. The fastest lap of the race was recorded by Scott Redding at 1m56.166, but even that was 15-seconds slower than a regular dry pace at Catalunya, underlining the difficulty of the conditions.

Garrett Gerloff did not even make the race start after a crash on the Sighting Lap as he lost the rear of his Yamaha YZF R1 machine on the kerbs on the exit of Turn 10 and on the run through Turn 11, damaging his bike and preventing him from gridding up for the 20-lap encounter.

Catalunya WorldSBK Race One Results

WorldSBK Championship Points

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WorldSSP

After two years away from the top step of the podium in the FIM Supersport World Championship, Randy Krummenacher (CM Racing) was back on top after a rain-affected Race 1 at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya for the Hyundai N Catalunya Round after switching tyres in the early stages of the race.

Only two riders stayed out at the end of Lap 2 when the rest of entire field pitted, Loic Arbel (Andotrans Team Torrento) and Shogo Kawasaki (G.A.P. MOTOZOO Racing by Puccetti) the only riders opting to stay out. While they gained track position initially, the switch of tyres proved to be the better strategy.

Steven Odendaal (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team) came out of the pits first but Odendaal, along with a number of other riders, were subsequently penalised for a pit-stop that was quicker than the mandatory stop time length of 1min-21secs that is enforced for safety reasons and had the time difference added to their total race time.

Nonetheless Krummenacher was able to pass Odendaal on track and went on to build a gap of around 16-seconds by the end of the 18-lap encounter.

Spanish rider Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha ParkinGo Team) moved into second place, and De Rosa then pushed Odendaal back to fourth, but after his time penalty was applied he was relegated to eighth.

Turkish star Can Öncü (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) started the race from tenth place but soon find himself leading the race at Turn 1 after an incredible start, with Öncü finishing the race in fourth place after a late-race battle with teammate Oettl. Oettl was another who was penalized for a pit intervention time infringement, with 1.995s added to his time.

Arbel was the only rider who stayed out of the pits throughout the race and, despite losing time on slick tyres as the track was wet but drying, finished in sixth place in his first race in the Championship, less than a second behind Oettl in the final classification. Hannes Soomer (Kallio Racing) had a strong race as his comeback from injury continues finishing in seventh place, ahead of Odendaal.

Odendaal’s teammate, Peer Sebestyen, was eight seconds back from Odendaal in ninth place with Glenn van Straalen (EAB Racing Team) tenth on his return to the Championship.

Simon Jespersen (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha), competing in place of Dominique Aegerter, came home in 11th place but had a 17.795s pit intervention time penalty added to his time, having initially crossed the line in ninth place.

Christoffer Bergman (Wojcik Racing Team) was 12th place with Galang Hendra Pratama (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) in 13th; the Indonesian given a 19.450s penalty for a pit intervention time infringement.

Vertti Takala (Kallio Racing) was 14th despite a double Long Lap Penalty for a jump start with Ludovic Cauchi (GMT94 Yamaha) completing the points on his WorldSSP debut.

Young Australian Billy van Eerde kept his nose clean to cross the line in 22nd place on what was his World Supersport debut.

WorldSSP Race One Results

WorldSSP Championship Points

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WSSP300

It was a run to the line to decide multiple positions in the FIM Supersport 300 World Championship at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya with 2020 Champion Jeffrey Buis (MTM Kawasaki) claiming his second victory of the 2021 campaign by just one tenth of a second ahead of Bahattin Sofuoglu (Biblion Yamaha Motoxracing).

Championship contender Tom Booth-Amos (Fusport – RT Motorsports by SKM – Kawasaki) scored no points after a Turn 1 crash.

Young Aussie Harry Khouri (Fusport – RT Motorsports by SKM – Kawasaki) crashed out at Turn 5 on Lap 8.

WorldSSP300 Race One

WorldSSP300 Championship Points

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Catalunya WorldSBK Schedule

2021 WorldSBK Calendar

Source: MCNews.com.au