2021 FIM Superbike World Championship
Round One – Aragon – Sunday

After a starting grid characterised by frenetic decisions between the intermediate or rain tyre, pole man Jonathan Rea took the race lead straight away ahead of team-mate Alex Lowes  in Sunday’s Superpole race. Behind them were Ducati rider Chaz Davies and Yamaha’s Garrett Gerloff, battling it out for third.

The leading four riders decided to race on intermediate tyres, whereas the first rider on rain tyres was Scott Redding in fifth.

During the race, Michael Van der Mark made a comeback after starting from the fifteenth spot on the grid, he gambled on slicks and moved up to fifth place behind Davies. However, his performance was not quite enough to finish on the podium and, at the end of the ten lap sprint race, Jonathan Rea finished 3.5-seconds ahead of Lowes, while Gerloff rounded out the podium a further two-seconds behind.

WorldSBK SuperPole Race

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WorldSBK Race Two

The drama continued in  the afternoon after a tyre gamble by Scott Redding saw the Brit respond to earlier disappointment and claim a sensational victory in Race Two, coming home almost ten seconds clear of his rivals.

An earlier rain shower meant the track was wet but drying throughout the day and, although there was a drying line appearing, most riders decided to race with the immediate tyres. As the track dried further, Redding was able to make his slick tyres work to move into the front and he did not look back, while Jonathan Rea came home in second ahead of teammate Alex Lowes.

The intermediate runners started off the race in the strongest position with six-time World Champion Rea and team-mate Lowes with American star Garrett Gerloff. Gerloff was able to make the move on Lowes for second place.

He soon had his eyes on Rea but it ended with Gerloff coming off his bike and Rea taking a trip through the gravel at Turn 14; an incident that cost both riders places and was placed under investigation by the FIM WorldSBK stewards, and Gerloff given a Long Lap Penalty; the first rider in WorldSBK to be given such a penalty.

The incident allowed Lowes, Toprak Razgatlioglu and Michael van der Mark to jump ahead of Rea, with Razgatlioglu challenging Lowes for the lead of the race before van der Mark got by his former teammate to give the BMW M 1000 RR its first lap in the lead.

The mixed conditions meant different strategies on the grid with tyre selection with only Scott Redding and Jonas Folger starting from the grid, although Michael Ruben Rinaldi made the switch to slicks before the race started with the Italian starting from the pit lane.

While the intermediate runners had the advantage in the early stages of the races, the track soon came into favour for the slick-shod bikes, with Redding passing Razgatlioglu for the lead and soon pulling out a large gap to the chasing pack to take his first win of the 2021 season.

While Redding extended his lead out in front, the battle for second was hotting up between van der Mark, Rea, Lowes, Razgatlioglu and Tom Sykes, who managed his intermediate tyres to latch onto the battle for second place. Rea had briefly got ahead of van der Mark at the final corner, but the Dutchman was able to fight back, although Rea was able to make the same move work on Lap 10 until Turn 1 on the next lap, with van der Mark fighting back.

Sykes was able to pass Razgatlioglu on Lap 12 of 18 to move into fifth place as BMW searched for a strong result on their first weekend with the new BMW M 1000 RR, although the move cost both riders time. On Lap 13, Rea was able to make a move on van der Mark and make it stick to secure second place, before Lowes followed through a couple of laps later. Van der Mark tried to fight back but found himself sandwiched between teammate Sykes, who was on the kerbs at Turn 1, and Lowes on the inside, with van der Mark eventually falling down to fifth behind Lowes in third and Sykes fourth; the first time two BMWs have finished in the top five since 2013.

Drama was never far away in this race and that continued throughout the top ten with a three-way battle for sixth place between Razgatlioglu, Folger and Gerloff; the Turkish star just about holding on from Gerloff and Folger, who started on slick tyres. Andrea Locatelli was ninth with Lucas Mahias securing his first top-ten finish.

Alvaro Bautista came home in 11th place ahead of a trio of rookies as Kohta Nozane secured another points finish in his maiden WorldSBK weekend, Isaac Viñales in 13th and Axel Bassani in 14th on an impressive weekend for the youngest rider on the grid. Christophe Ponsson was the final points position with 15th, finishing ahead of Rinaldi.

Eugene Laverty was the only BMW rider outside the top ten, finish just clear of Leandro Mercado who was 18th. Chaz Davies was the first to fall victim to the difficult conditions as he came off his Ducati Panigale V4 R at Turn, forcing the Welshman to retire from Race 2 on the opening lap of the race. Leon Haslam’s race came to an end on Lap 5 after he came off his Honda at Turn 2, with the British rider retiring from the race. Tito Rabat (Barni Racing Team) was another retirement after he crashed at Turn 1. Davies was able to finish the race in 19th despite the crash, ahead of TPR Team Pedercini Racing duo Loris Cresson and Samuele Cavalieri.

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Scott Redding – P1

“Yes, it’s true, I took a big risk. In my career, however, the intermediate tires have betrayed me twice, both times when I was close to achieving a great result. For this reason, without hesitation, I asked my team to put on slicks. In the first few laps I tried not to make any mistake and then, obviously, it was not difficult to take the lead. For sure I would have preferred winning after having fought with the other guys, but it is still an important success, especially in light of what happened this weekend”.

Jonathan Rea – P2

“I am really content with the weekend because to win the first race of the season was 100 times better than last year, and also to claim my 100th victory was a real target of mine. Today, I never experienced conditions like this in my whole career, where it really is a big tyre choice by the minute. Every minute it changes. With three minutes to go in race two I was asking Pere if they still had slicks on the grid! The Superpole race was the first time I had ever raced the intermediate tyres so huge kudos to Pirelli. I decided after that experience to use that tyre choice in the final race as well. It was the safest option. It wasn’t the right one, but it was the safest one, for sure. The majority of the grid had that combination. I realised that I was going to race for second but second feels like a win. The only way we could have been more competitive is with the right tyre choice. From that point of view I am really happy and excited for Estoril next week.”

Alex Lowes – P3

“We had no chance of staying with Scott in race two because after two laps the track was completely dry. That was a shame but I felt good on the bike and at the end I played a bit with some settings to find a bit more grip. Three podiums to start the year, on a track I think I have had one podium at in a sprint race on another bike before, but nothing really special. So it is nice to start the season like this. It is just one weekend but I feel good on the bike, which helps. If you are in control on the bike then you can manage the situations a little bit better. This morning in the full wet conditions I felt good. In the dry I felt good. In the mixed conditions we did a good job. In all of these conditions with the bike we understand what is happening and that puts us in a good position going forward.”

Tom Sykes – P4

“A bittersweet day, really. We definitely had a Superpole race to forget which we won’t go into too much detail about. That meant that we compromised our start position in race two. For race two, I wanted to go with the slick tyre but after this morning we opted to play it safe on the intermediates. Overall, after a good start, it was a bit of a waiting game. I could see what the guys in front of me were doing but obviously considering the tyres we were on I tried a different strategy to feel where the BMW M 1000 RR was working and where we had to improve. Unfortunately, we just missed out on the podium today, but considering our results here last year it is a huge improvement.”

Michael van der Mark – P5

“This morning, we had a wet warm-up session which was my first time on the BMW M 1000 RR in the rain, and to be honest I had such a good feeling from the first lap. The Superpole race was in mixed conditions but I opted to go with the slick tyre and in the end was the right choice. It did however keep raining at times during the race which slowed me down in places but anyway it was a good result for us. This afternoon’s race two again was a gamble on tyre choice, and I knew I made the wrong choice going up to the start as the track was drying so quickly. Despite that we made a good start, had some incredible battles taking the lead but I knew I was asking too much of the tyres and in the end some guys got past me. But we have got to be happy with the two P5 positions and most importantly the experience I’ve gained with the BMW M 1000 RR.”

Toprak Razgatlıoğlu – P6

“In the Superpole Race, my strategy was to choose the wet tyre because I saw that it was starting to rain again on the grid – my target was to finish well and to start from a better grid position in Race 2. Sixth was good considering the conditions, the riders in front all chose the intermediate tyres so it was a hard fight to get this result. The second race, I tried hard again to fight for the podium and I was strong in the opening laps – taking the lead for some laps and enjoying fighting. The feeling was not good in the middle of the race and I had to manage some problems, but sixth position can still be important points for the championship. We will see next weekend in Estoril, I love the track, now my R1 is better than before and I have good memories from last year!”

Garrett Gerloff – P7

“Our Sunday started off really well with a third place in the Superpole Race. The team and I made a perfect decision to go with the intermediate tyre, and it worked. It was nice to be on the podium, even though I felt like I could have gotten second place. In Race 2, I felt really good from the start, and wanted to at least fight for the podium, so I’m very frustrated with the mistake I made. I was behind Johnny (Rea), but I couldn’t stop as quickly as he did, and my options were either to hit him in the back or to get to his inside and hopefully miss him, so that’s what I tried to do. Unfortunately, I still ran into him, but at least he was able to stay on two wheels. I crashed, but I managed to pick up the bike right away and keep going. It was a bit bent, but overall the bike was good, so I tried to give the team the best possible result despite the mistake. It was nice to be the top independent rider at the finish. Next week we go to Estoril, a track that both I and my Yamaha R1 really like.”

Jonas Folger – P8

“We are absolutely happy with eighth place in race two. It is class that we managed this at the end of what was a difficult weekend. The conditions were very difficult and we did not know for a long time whether wets or slicks were the best option. We opted for slicks in the end. Only very few others made the same decision, including the winner Scott Redding, and we set the same lap time as Scott. The weather obviously suited us, but we are very happy. Unfortunately, I went wide in the battle with Toprak Razgatlioglu at the end of the race, otherwise we could perhaps have finished sixth. However, eighth place was still the highlight compared to the rest of the weekend, so we are very happy.”

Andrea Locatelli – P9

“I am quite happy because in the end we finish P9. It is not easy on the first and second lap for me, so now we need to work on this but for sure today’s races were difficult in the wet conditions. In the middle of Race 2, I was able to go quite fast here and the feeling was good. Overall I learned a lot during the weekend, and with the guys on the team together we did a really good job. Today is one of those days where you can be unlucky or lucky. Because maybe if we tried to use the slick tyre, it could have been a good chance for us to do something – but okay, we lose this opportunity but it is only my first race weekend in WorldSBK. Now we go on to Estoril and hope to push much more because I have more confidence on the R1 and I think this track is a really good opportunity for us.”

Alvaro Bautista – P11

“Today in the Superpole race we opted for rain tyres and when the track started to dry out the riders who had chosen intermediates or slicks clearly had different pace. In the end we ended up seventh, the second fastest among those who’d opted for rain tyres. The positive thing is that I had good feeling with the bike in conditions where we have struggled in the past, and that means we’ve taken a step forward in that respect. In race 2, the track was wetter than in the morning and we opted for intermediates, but the asphalt dried quickly during the race. It was the first time I was using these tyres and with a setting that was a bit of a mix, I wasn’t perfectly comfortable. Then, towards the middle of the race I started to have the same electric problem as yesterday and kept struggling to change gear. I had to manage the situation, riding very carefully to avoid taking any risks. It’s a shame, because without this problem yesterday we would have been fighting for the podium, and at least for the top six today. Having said that, we have to stay focused on the positive things, on the fact that we have worked very well on the set-up, the geometry, the suspension, and also the electronics. This gives me a lot of positive energy for next weekend at Estoril.”

Kohta Nozane – P12

“The conditions were different today, so the tyre choice was a bit tricky. The track kept changing too, so, at the beginning of the race, I was too cautious and I lost positions. I still managed to finish the race and learn so many things. I also took note of so many different aspects in which I have to improve. The next race will be my first time in Estoril, so it will be tough for me, but I will try to be as prepared as possible to do my best for the team. They are working so well with me and helping me a lot, so I will try to get a good result for them in Portugal.”

Michael Rinaldi – P16

“In these circumstances, you have to know how to evaluate the situation and make the right choice. Today I made the wrong choice and, as a result, I had one of the worst races of my career. Last year I came away from Aragon with 3 podiums; this year with only 9 points. This means that we have to find the feeling that we have been missing. The motivation is not lacking and I will try, together with the team, to turn the page from the next race”.

Eugene Laverty – P17

“It was not a good day, unfortunately. We had some problems in all sessions. For the long race, I had the wet front tyre and the other riders had intermediates or slick tyres so there was no chance to move further forward. So it was really disappointing but I am looking forward to Estoril already. I said that Aragón and Estoril have been the toughest two tracks for our bike last year so we have a big challenge but we did a good job here yesterday during qualifying so that’s reason for optimism. In Estoril, we need to put our progress on paper because this weekend we weren’t able to get the results we wanted.”

Leon Haslam – DNF

“The Superpole race did not go well unfortunately, after what was a positive (wet) warm-up. One of the issues was that we should have gone with the intermediate, but we also struggled a bit with throttle delivery. So a difficult race in which I took some risks on several occasions. Then in the final race we went with the intermediate solution, as did most riders, and the pace felt really good. I felt that we resolved the power delivery, as well as a few other things, it was only unfortunate that I then crashed. So even though the results overall have not been what we wanted, I do feel that we were able to make a good step in this final race, and I’m really looking forward to seeing what we can do next weekend at Estoril.”

WorldSBK Race Two Results

WorldSBK Championship Standings

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WorldSSP

Tyre gambles were the order of the day as Steven Odendaal claimed a stunning FIM Supersport World Championship victory in difficult conditions at MotorLand Aragon for the Pirelli Aragon, while Jules Cluzel fought from last on the grid to claim a podium.

The drama kicked off before the race had started with Cluzel losing his pole position due to a tyre pressure infringement, meaning the Frenchman had to start from last of the 25-strong grid. This gave both Philipp Oettl and Odendaal a clean run at the start, although Oettl was unable to convert this into a strong result after coming off his bike at Turn 2 on Lap 1, being joined in the gravel by Federico Caricasulo in separate incidents. Both were able to remount although Oettl retired from the race while Caricasulo finished in 18th place.

This allowed Swede Christoffer Bergman to take the lead of the race ahead of rookie Marc Alcoba, with Bergman becoming the first Swedish rider to lead a race in WorldSSP. However, the race was defined by tyre selections with both Bergman and Alcoba on full rain tyres, falling down the order and finishing in sixth and seventh.

As the race progressed, riders on Pirelli’s intermediate tyres started to pick up the pace with Odendaal, Raffaele De Rosa, Hannes Soomer and Dominique Aegerter all jumping ahead of Bergman and Alcoba.

Cluzel’s race was compromised from the start with the tyre pressure infringement forcing him to start at the back of the grid, although he made light work of moving up the grid. The French rider had moved up to tenth in the early stages of the race and claimed the lead of the race with a handful of laps to go; his moves through the field including a double pass at Turn 1 to move up into fourth place on Vertti Takala and Manuel Gonzalez.

It had looked like the Frenchman would bounce back from yesterday’s disappointment, after being taken out from the lead of the race, but he was reeled in by Odendaal and De Rosa with just a few laps of the race left.

The battle for the win ended with a four-way scrap between Odendaal, De Rosa, Cluzel and Soomer with less than four tenths separating the four riders. De Rosa led on the final lap of the 15-lap race, aiming for his first ever win in WorldSSP, but lost out to Odendaal on the run to the final corner with the South African rider moving to the inside of the double left-hander to claim the lead of the race, with De Rosa unable to get the run out of the final corner to take victory; Odendaal making it two from two at MotorLand Aragon. Cluzel came home in third place despite starting at the back of the grid, holding off Soomer by 0.055s at the chequered flag.

Aegerter was some way back off the four-way scrap for the lead but came home in fifth place with Bergman finishing six, 12 seconds clear of early challenge Alcoba. Finnish rookie Takala came home in eighth place ahead of 2019 Champion Randy Krummenacher and Indonesian Galang Hendra Pratama.

Gonzalez secured 11th place, ahead of Kevin Manfredi who was the highest placed WorldSSP Challenge rider ahead of fellow competitor Maria Herrera in 13th place. Can Öncü came in in 14th place while Pawel Szkopek became the oldest rider to score points in WorldSSP at 45 years, nine months and 17 days old.

Niki Tuuli did not start Race 2 after he was declared unfit following yesterday with a concussion; an incident for which he has been penalised with a pit lane start for the next race he participates in. Thomas Gradinger was also declared unfit with a left foot contusion following a crash in Sunday’s Warm-Up session. After yesterday’s strong showing, Luca Bernardi had a technical issue in the early stages of Race 2 as he ran in the top five until the issue that forced him to retire.

P1 Steven Odendaal (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team)

“To be honest, it came as a huge surprise to me. I would’ve been happy on the podium today. The conditions were super difficult today. I’ve never even done a race, or practiced, with the intermediate tyres. The team on the grid said ‘no, we need to take the risk and go with the intermediates’, so I said I trust you guys. A big thanks to them because honestly, if it was my choice, maybe I would’ve gone with the wets.”

P2 Raffaele De Rosa (Orelac Racing VerdNatura)

“I’m really happy, for me this is incredible. This winter, I had a big injury on my shoulder. For this, I want to say this was a difficult winter. I had an operation. Now I want to say thank you to my team, all the Calero family. The race is incredible, it was difficult trying to understand the conditions. I started too slowly but again, it came better and better throughout the race. I’m really, really happy.”

P3 Jules Cluzel (GMT94 Yamaha)

“To be honest, I was thinking not to fight for the victory, but I was fighting for the victory, so it was a great achievement. I had a moment at the end, it was raining, and it was incredible how fast we can go with the nearly slick tyre. It was something that you can take a lot of risk with to win, but you can also lose a lot. I was in the middle to manage but 16 points is great. It’s a shame that yesterday I lost 25 but the season is long and it’s good to be on the podium now.”

WorldSSP Race Two Results

WorldSSP Standings

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WorldSSP300

The FIM Supersport 300 World Championship lived up to its reputation of unpredictability after a thrilling Race 2 at the Pirelli Aragon Round, where Tom Booth-Amos claimed a stunning first victory of 2021 at MotorLand Aragon.

As ever in WorldSSP300, drama was never far away throughout the 12-lap race with the lead ever-changing as well as battles throughout the field as the 43-strong field took part in Race 2. Booth-Amos claimed victory ahead of Unai Orradre, although the Spanish had crossed the line first he was penalised with a one-place penalty for exceeding track limits on the final lap. It meant he was relegated to second place, ahead of compatriot Adrian Huertas in third, just 0.013s between them.

Huertas had been in the lead of the race but did not want to be ahead going onto the back straight on the final lap, although he was unable to use the slipstream to retake the lead. Yuta Okaya finished in fourth place, with Ana Carrasco in fifth after a strong comeback weekend following an injury sustained in testing in 2020.

Ton Kawakami finished in sixth place, just 0.020s away from Carrasco but also just 0.056s ahead of Hugo de Cancellis in seventh and fellow French rider Samuel di Sora in eighth; a late charge seeing di Sora move up the order. Bruno Ieraci finished in ninth place with Meikon Kawakami completing the top ten.

The returning Dorren Loureiro finished in 11th place ahead of reigning Champion Jeffrey Buis; the Dutchman holding the lead of the race throughout different stages of the race but being shuffled down into 12th in the latter stages.

He finished four seconds clear of Jose Luis Perez Gonzalez who came home as the first of four consecutive Spanish riders in a group. Stand-in rider Alex Millan Gomez, replacing Alejandro Carrion who was declared unfit, claimed 14th place despite his first action of the weekend being in Tissot Superpole. 2017 Champion Marc Garcia was in 15th and completed the points, just 0.025s ahead of Inigo Iglesias.

Turn 1 was a pinch point for the 43 riders taking place in Race 2, with rookie Harry Khouri, Oliver König, Victor Rodriguez Nuñez, Joel Romero  and Miguel Santiago Duarte all having incidents on the opening lap; the latter taken to the medical centre for a check-up following the crash. One Event rider Stefano Raineri came off his bike on Lap 2 while Sylvain Marakarian crashed two laps later following his crash. Julian Giral Romero was also a retirement from Race 2.

Vicente Perez Selfa retired from the race after seven laps, shortly after he was given a double Long Lap Penalty by the FIM WorldSBK Stewards for irresponsible riding at Turn 1, while Bahattin Sofuoglu crashed out recovering after taking the first of his two Long Laps; the Turkish star given a double Long Lap Penalty for a jump start.

Kevin Sabatucci was the penultimate retirement of the race when he crashed at Turn 1 on Lap 9, while Koen Meuffels brought his Kawasaki back to the pits after 10 of the 12 scheduled laps.

P1 Tom Booth-Amos (Fusports – RT Motorsports by SKM Kawasaki)

“I didn’t really expect the win because I crossed the line in second but I’m obviously over the moon. I feel like this is my hardest round of the year so very happy to come away with a win and a second place and obviously the Championship lead. It’s a good way to start the season and we’ll continue like this.”

P2 Unai Orradre (Yamaha MS Racing)

“I’m very happy with the race. During the race, I pushed a lot and fought with the Kawasaki. I’m very happy for me.”

P3 Adrian Huertas (MTM Kawasaki)

“It has been a really good weekend. Today in the race, I gave my best but it wasn’t enough. I’m ready to fight for the Championship and I’m really with all the time, with the sensations.”

WorldSSP300 Race Two Results

WorldSSP300 Championship Standings

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2021 WorldSBK Calendar

*** = Subject to homologation

Source: MCNews.com.au