2021 FIM Superbike World Championship
Round Three – Misano – Friday

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Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) claimed an emotional victory in front of fans in the Motul FIM Superbike World Championship to claim the second win of his career, and the first on the factory Ducati.

Rinaldi got a superb start as the lights went out to start the race, first passing Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with BRIXX WorldSBK) as well as teammate Scott Redding, before sweeping around the outside of Turn 1 on reigning Champion Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK).

Rea tried to defend on the outside of the left-hander of Turn 2, which forced Rinaldi around the outside of the next corner but allowed Turkish star Razgatlioglu to take advantage to briefly take the lead of the race. Soon, Rinaldi made his move on Rea to take the lead but was unable to build up a gap.

Rinaldi resisted all pressure from the six-time World Champion Rea in the first ten laps of the race, with the gap fluctuating up to a maximum of half-a-second but with Rea not able to even consider making a move on the race leader. It was a similar story throughout as the two riders looked to apply pressure to each other.

The pressure would eventually pay off for Rinaldi when Rea made a rare mistake at Turn 1, having to save a massive slide on his ZX-10RR; Rea was able to stay on his machine but lost time to Rinaldi as well as second place to Razgatlioglu, the pair around four seconds behind home hero Rinaldi. It meant Rinaldi became the first Italian winner at Misano since Marco Melandri in 2017. Rea’s podium meant he claimed his 150th podium with Kawasaki, while it was Kawasaki’s 350th race on the podium.

It meant the podium would finish with Rinaldi claiming a maiden factory Ducati victory after a difficult start to the 2021 season with his new team, with Razgatlioglu and Rea completing the podium. Redding, who initially tried to grab the lead in the opening corners of the race, was not close enough to Rea to take advantage of his error.

Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) claimed fifth place on his Kawasaki ZX-10RR, just finishing ahead of Team HRC’s Alvaro Bautista after the Spanish rider showed strong pace throughout the weekend. Less than a second behind was rookie and the youngest rider on the grid, Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing), with Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) in eighth. Bautista, Sykes and Bassani engaged in a titanic three-way battle for sixth place, with Sykes holding on until the penultimate lap of the race.

Italian rider Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha with BRIXX WorldSBK) claimed a ninth-place finish after a quiet but solid race battling his way up the order, finishing ahead of the rider he replaced at Pata Yamaha as Michael van der Mark (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) completed the top ten.

After a strong Tissot Superpole session, Lucas Mahias (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) came home in 11th place while Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) battled from the pitlane, starting there after being sanctioned for a crash with Rinaldi at Estoril, to finish in 12th place. Kohta Nozane (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) and Leon Haslam (Team HRC) engaged in a battle for the majority of the second half of the race, with the Japanese rookie coming out on top in that battle; Nozane finishing 13th and Haslam 14th. Tito Rabat (Barni Racing Team) completed the points paying positions with 15th. Haslam and Gerloff were the only two riders to use the standard SCX tyre provided by Pirelli, with the other 19 opting to use the development SCX solution for Race 1.

Jonas Folger (Bonovo MGM Action) just missed out on a points finish at Misano, finishing just 0.161s behind Rabat in 16th place, with Isaac Viñales (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) in 17th place, nine seconds behind Folger. Frenchman Christophe Ponsson (Alstare Yamaha) was 18th with TPR Team Pedercini Racing duo Samuele Cavalieri and Loris Cresson rounding out the classified finishers. Chaz Davies (Team GoEleven) had been running in the top ten when he had a crash at Turn 4 at the Italian venue, meaning the British rider was unable to re-join the race.

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Race One Quotes

Michael Rinaldi – P1

“Winning the home grand prix is a unique emotion. Today it was even more exciting due to the fans back on the stand after a long time: they are always able to give an extra motivation. The race was long and difficult and I tried to find my pace.  Then Rea’s mistake while I was pushing hard allowed me to have less pressure. The smell of victory made the last two laps incredible for me. Now, however, maximum concentration on the two races tomorrow.”

Toprak Razgatlıoğlu -P2

“A good qualifying lap today, I started in second position and also finished in second position – but I am not fully happy with this race, because in the first laps I had too much sliding on corner entry with the rear tyre. I tried to stay with Jonathan and Rinaldi but it was not possible, because I was then fighting with Redding. But, I guess to finish P2 I can be happy as well because we take good points for the championship. Tomorrow, maybe I will try some changes to the set-up for the race because we need some improvement – Rinaldi is very fast – and we want to fight for the win. We need good points and position from the Superpole Race, and most important to be fighting for the win in the second race. We will try!”

Jonathan Rea – P3

“Saving a possible crash was more lucky than anything. I chose the new front tyre for this race. I used it in Superpole and felt quite good but we did not have a lot of information after ten laps in all. It seems like the temperature, especially in the race, meant I cooked the tyre too much. It started moving quite a lot. When I rejoined the track and had a gap up to Toprak it felt better, not perfect, but better. So tomorrow we need to revisit things to see if we can be fast with our ‘normal’ front tyre. The new one brought some confidence on the brakes but we need to be able to fight at the end of the race. My pace was still OK for the last laps but the moment I had in Turn One disturbed my rhythm and let Michael get away. He did fantastic today and the pace at the front was really good. I think tomorrow we can make a small step with the bike because I learned a lot from Michael and Toprak in Race One. Tomorrow we should be better prepared.”

Scott Redding – P4

“It was a very difficult race for me right from the start. The feeling with the bike was not ideal and I had to take a lot of risks to push in an attempt to stay with the leading group. At a certain point I preferred to think about taking some points rather than making a mistake. For tomorrow we definitely need to find more grip. We will work this evening with the team to understand which is the best direction to take”.  

Alex Lowes – P5

“I was a lot worse than I expected today. In the practices I thought, ‘I feel good,’. I set lots of good laps and changed the bike a little bit on the front. In the race I didn’t have the feel I needed and from the first laps I was struggling with releasing the brake and carrying some corner speed. The front was moving a lot. I had a couple of warnings so I did not have the confidence to push like I expected. It was a shame because I hoped to be a bit faster but this was my first time racing here on the Kawasaki and obviously the temperatures came up for the race too. So we have good information for tomorrow.”

Alvaro Bautista – P6

“Sixth is our best result so far this season, but it’s not what we’re aiming for of course. We struggled a lot in this morning’s FP3 and my feeling wasn’t good, especially in braking. We made some changes for the qualifying session, in order to find more stability. We improved a little and although the feeling wasn’t perfect, I could ride more comfortably. It was funny because after having my best lap at Estoril cancelled due to a yellow flag, the exact same thing happened today with my first qualifying tyre, when Gerloff crashed. Luckily, we now have a second tyre available and so I could do a decent lap, trying not to go over the limit. Starting from the third row of the grid was good because we were in a position to stick closer to the front, and our pace was good. But when I’m battling with other riders it’s difficult to change my line and it’s tough to overtake. Anyway, all in all it’s been a positive day. We collected a lot of data and made some changes to the set-up that we must analyse and then see if we can build on this to improve further tomorrow”.

Tom Sykes – P8

“We got a bad start to the race today and it definitely didn’t help our track position. We are very strong in some areas of the track but with our package we still lose in the area where I normally could gain the most on people. I saw that Alvaro Bautista was coming strong in race one and I changed my way of riding while still maintaining a respectable lap time and just kept the door closed as long as I could but eventually he managed to get through and pushed me a little wide. I tried to cut back on him which was not achievable and as a result lost a further spot to Bassani. We didn’t get what we hoped for today, but overall I feel we are improving our race performance and obviously we will go back to the drawing board tonight with a slightly different set up for tomorrow.”

Andrea Locatelli – P9

“Strange race weekend for me so far here in Misano, because the feeling yesterday was not so good – I lost some time yesterday in trying to understand the bike and the best set-up – and today it was better but also not easy. We tried to make the best result, but I am not really happy. We will try to improve for sure for tomorrow on the set-up of the bike, the feeling is already better and I think we can do more. Every race I need a little bit more time to understand the bike and also to take more confidence. In the end we will try to make a good result tomorrow, we will see. Tonight we will take time to look at the data and look at the right direction to take, but I am confident for tomorrow.”

Michael Van der Mark – P10

“I’m not really happy with the result. In this morning’s FP3, we made a good step forward but unfortunately I did not feel as good in qualifying. So it was P13 on the grid. I had an okay start, but I especially struggled with the front. To be honest I was just riding around with a too slow pace. Now we have to sort out some problems; so we have a lot of work to do for tomorrow.”

Garrett Gerloff – P12

“The race was definitely better than qualifying. My Superpole session was indeed quite bad as I crashed and wasn’t able to continue before even setting a lap time. Anyway, it was good to switch into race mode and, even though I had to start from pit lane, it was good to complete all the laps and collect a lot of information for tomorrow. We will use this data to try to set up the bike a bit better. Overall, I am happy that I could keep it on two wheels, make some passes and collect some points, but I am definitely looking for more. I am ready for tomorrow.”

Kohta Nozane – P13

“In the Superpole I could improve my fastest time. I wanted to go even faster but I just couldn’t. The final result is decent, but I feel more and more confident with my riding, with the new bike and with the team compared to the previous races in Aragón and Estoril. In the early stages of the race I could battle with Michael (Van der Mark) but towards the end I dropped back and couldn’t keep up with him. On the other hand, though, I could fight with Haslam – he would overtake me but I could always pass him back. This was a great step forward for me and it is the biggest positive I take away from today. Tomorrow there will be two more races: I will try to aim higher and do my best.”

Leon Haslam – P14

“For me it was a very difficult race. I made a good start but in the second sector of the track I came together with another rider and fell a long way back. I then made a little bit of headway but after a few laps we had an issue with a sensor and after this it was just really tough, as we were losing nearly one second every lap. In the end we finished the race with just two points, which is obviously frustrating, but tomorrow things will hopefully go better, and we will be able to score a better result”.

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WorldSBK Race One

WorldSBK Superpole

WorldSBK Championship Points

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WorldSSP

It was a race full of tension, drama and excitement for the FIM Supersport World Championship at the Misano World Circuit “Marco Simoncelli” as rookie Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) claimed his second victory in as many races and took the Championship lead at the Pirelli Made in Italy Emilia-Romagna Round.

It was Aegerter who stole a march on his rivals at the start as he got a superb launch off the line, with the Swiss rider remaining at the front of the field after he secured pole position in the morning Tissot Superpole session. It was a complete contrast to Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha ParkinGo Team) and Luca Bernardi (CM Racing), who joined Aegerter on the front row, with both losing ground at the start of the race.

Steven Odendaal (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team) jumped up from the second row of the grid to second place and immediately put Estoril Race 2 winner Aegerter under pressure, although the Swiss rider was able to withstand that pressure in the early stages of the race.

Gonzalez found himself being forced wide by Jules Cluzel (GMT94 Yamaha) in the middle stages of the race as the Frenchman looked to move into the podium places, and although he was able to briefly jump up into third place, he found himself shifted down to fourth place by a resurgent Bernardi, who also took advantage of Gonzalez running wide to move up the order.

Once Bernardi passed Cluzel, he set about closing down Odendaal for second place while Aegerter pulled a gap on the South African rider, with Aegerter able to make it back-to-back wins following his success at Race 2, while also claiming Yamaha’s 100th victory in WorldSSP. Bernardi was able to pass Odendaal on Lap 14 in the 18-lap to move into second place, with Aegerter his next target. Odendaal had other ideas, though, and kept the pressure on the Sammarinese rider although Bernardi was able to hold on for second place.

Cluzel had no answer to Bernardi’s pace while he also had to hold back Gonzalez who was looking to move back ahead of Cluzel, with the battle ongoing throughout the second half of the race; Cluzel just about holding on by just 0.031s on a race to the line coming out of the final corner.

Philipp Oettl (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) claimed a sixth place finish ahead of 2019 Champion Randy Krummenacher (EAB Racing Time) as the Swiss rider secured his best result of the 2021 season with seventh place, after working his way through the field and battling with Can Öncü (GMT94 Yamaha) with the Turkish rider taking his best result in 2021.

Finnish rider Niki Tuuli (MV Agusta Corse Clienti) finished in ninth place after battling back from two crashes in Tissot Superpole to secure a top ten finish, ahead of One Event rider Filippo Fuligni (D34G Racing) who rounded out the top ten after a strong one-off weekend for the Italian rider, although Roberto Mercandelli (Team Rosso e Nero) had crossed the line in tenth, he was demoted one place after the chequered flag after he exceeded track limits on the last lap; Mercandelli classified in 11th place.

Kevin Manfredi (Altogo Racing Team); Manfredi the highest place WorldSSP Challenge competitor in the field. Indonesia’s Galang Hendra Pratama (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) finished inside the points with 13th place, ahead of Finland’s Vertti Takala (Kallio Racing) and Leonardo Taccini (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) completing the points; Taccini claiming points in WorldSSP for the first time in his career.

Marc Alcoba (Yamaha MS Racing) had crossed the line in the points but was penalised for irresponsible riding with a four-position drop following a collision with Maria Herrera (Biblion Iberica Yamaha Motoxracing) at the final corner on the final lap; Alcoba classified in 16th place with Herrera forced to retire.

Luigi Montella (Chiodo Moto Racing) came home in 17th place, ahead of One Event rider Luca Ottaviani (RM Racing) in 18th place, while Stephane Frossard (Moto Team Jura Vitesse) and Davide Stirpe (Extreme Racing Service) completed the top 20. Armando Pontone (Bike e Motor Racing Team finished in 21st with Eugene James McManus (WRP Wepol Racing) and Federico Fuligni (VFT Racing) completing the classified runners.

Italian rider Davide Pizzoli (VFT Racing) was the first retirement following a crash at Turn 10 on the opening lap of the race, with Shogo Kawasaki (G.A.P. MOTOZZO Racing by Puccetti) crashing out on Lap 2. Massimo Roccoli (Promodriver Organization) was a retirement on Lap 3 following a crash, after the Italian was forced to start at the back of the grid following a tyre pressure infringement, while Sweden’s Christoffer Bergman (Wojcik Racing Team) retired with a technical issue in the early stages.

Matteo Patacca (Bike e Motor Racing Team) crashed out of the race at Turn 5 on Lap 5, while Raffaele De Rosa was also a retirement following his crash at the Turn 1-2 chicane. Federico Caricasulo’s (GMT94 Yamaha) re-adjustment to WorldSSP continues to be a difficult affair after he crashed out at Turn 3, while Italian veteran Michel Fabrizio (G.A.P. MOTOZOO Racing by Puccetti) also retired.

WorldSSP Race

WorldSSP Standings

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WorldSSP300

The first FIM Supersport 300 World Championship race of the weekend was a thrilling spectacle at the Misano World Circuit “Marco Simoncelli” for the Pirelli Made in Italy Emilia-Romagna Round with Spanish rider Adrian Huertas (MTM Kawasaki) claiming his second victory of the 2021 season in Race 1 at Misano.

Unfortunately young Aussie Harry Khouri broke his hand in the Superpole session and thus took no part in the race. Khouri is expected to undergo surgery early next week.

Bahattin Sofuoglu (Biblion Yamaha Motoxracing) started the race from pole position and initially looked like he’d held on at the start of the race but his race came to an end on Lap 2 when Sofuoglu made contact with Victor Steeman (Freudenberg KTM WorldSSP Team), the Turkish rider retiring from the 15-lap race. Sofuoglu had already lost the lead prior to that incident with both Tom Booth-Amos (Fusport – RT Motorsports by SKM – Kawasaki) and Hugo de Cancellis (Prodina Team WorldSSP300) jumping ahead; the pair battling it out for victory.

Soon, Spanish rider Adrian Huertas (MTM Kawasaki) was fighting for the lead and claimed top spot on Lap 5 of 15, although in typical WorldSSP300 fashion it did not last long when Booth-Amos and De Cancellis were able to overhaul Huertas. The lead group of five riders, featuring de Cancellis, Huertas, Booth-Amos and Steeman as well as Yuta Okaya (MTM Kawasaki), were trying to break away but could not pull away from the chasing Koen Meuffels (MTM Kawasaki).

It meant 14 riders were separated by just two seconds as the ninth lap got underway with Huertas aiming to keep the lead he had re-claimed in the opening few laps of the race. Eventually the top six, now led by De Cancellis, were able to break away from Ton Kawakami (AD78 Team Brasil by MS Racing) in seventh place with six laps to go.

As the lead group fought with each other, the chasing group were able to re-join the lead six with Ana Carrasco (Kawasaki Provec WorldSSP300) now leading the group after battling up from 14th on the grid, sitting behind Italian Mirko Gennai (Team BRcorse) who also had to find his way through the field from 29th on the grid.

It meant Huertas claimed a stunning victory ahead of Booth-Amos and De Cancellis rounding out the podium places, with Huertas moving to the top of the Riders’ Championship. Yuta Okaya (MTM Kawasaki) came home in fourth place, almost two seconds behind the podium trio, with Meikon Kawakami (AD78 Team Brasil by MS Racing) and Gennai completing the top six.

Vicente Perez Selfa (Machado CAME SBK) was in seventh place with Bruno Ieraci (Machado CAME SBK), who was forced to start at the back of the grid, finishing in eighth place ahead of Italian compatriot Filippo Maria Palazzi (ProGP Racing) in ninth and Victor Rodriguez Nuñez (Accolade Smrz Racing) completing the top ten.

Meuffels ended up finishing in 11th place in an epic four-way scrap for eighth place, with Ton Kawakami (AD78 Team Brasil by MS Racing) in 12th place. 2017 Champion Marc Garcia (2R Racing) claimed 13th place with Steeman, who had been in the lead group, in 14th and 2018 Champion Carrasco completing the points-paying positions after she lost positions in the latter stages of the race.

Team-mates Alessandro Zanca (Kawasaki GP Project) and Alejandro Carrion were both penalised with a double Long Lap Penalty following a jump start, while reigning Champion Jeffrey Buis (MTM Kawasaki), Samuel di Sora (Leader Team Flembbo), Jose Luis Perez Gonzalez (Accolade Smrz Racing) and Gabriele Mastroluca (ProGP Racing) were all involved in a four-rider collision at Turn 8; Buis and Di Sora able to re-join but Di Sora retiring later on with a technical issue.

Unai Orradre (Yamaha MS Racing) had a crash at Turn 10 which forced the youngest ever race winner in WorldSSP300 to retire from the race, while Joel Romero (SMW Racing) crashed out at Turn 16 with just a handful of laps to go.

WorldSSP300 Race One

WorldSSP300 Standings

Source: MCNews.com.au