2021 WorldSBK Round Six
Most – Sunday

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Most WorldSBK Superpole Race

Jonathan Rea and Toprak Razgatlioglu both got off to their usual good starts, with Razgatlioglu getting the holeshot ahead of his title rival, whilst Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha with BRIXX WorldSBK) shot up into third ahead of Scott Redding. Tom Sykes held his top five starting slot in fifth whilst Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) was up to sixth. By the start of Lap 2, Redding was into third, passing Locatelli at Turn 1 under braking.

Toprak and Rea had begun to break clear of Redding and Locatelli behind them with a gap of around a second, with Razgatlioglu putting the hammer down and setting the fastest lap on Lap 2. However, Rea was right on his tail and starting to pressure the Turk, both riders laying some serious soft Pirelli stripes around the circuit with some good sideways action even at lean.

At the halfway point, Razgatlioglu continued to relentlessly push and opened a quarter-of a-second over Rea. Further back Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) was once again impressing, as he had pushed his way through into sixth ahead of Alex Lowes and Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team).

With three to go, Jonathan Rea made another mistake at Turn 1, although this was without the consequence of Race 1 on Saturday. He made a mistake under braking and had to take to the Turn 1 run-off, ending his chances of victory but bringing him right into Redding’s vicinity. Redding was now right with the Championship leader and eager to get through as both danced luridly around the Most layout.

Onto the last lap and with Razgatlioglu was out in front by over a second-and-a-half, the battle was on though for second and Redding pounced on Rea at Turn 1, getting the job done and holding station to the flag. Razgatlioglu taking his tenth career victory in his 100th start.

Alex Lowes recovered to sixth in the battle with Axel Bassani, with the Italian coming home a strong seventh. Garrett Gerloff took eighth place whilst Michael Ruben Rinaldi clinched ninth, less than three-tenths ahead of Alvaro Bautista.

Most WorldSBK Superpole Race Results

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Most WorldSBK Two

Toprak Razgatlioglu and Scott Redding were first and second on the grid and on the same tyre combination (standard SC1 front and SCX rear), Jonathan Rea had opted for the SC1 front and SC0 rear. After hitting the front, Redding never looked back and beat Razgatlioglu to the flag, whilst Rea was a distant third.

It was a blinding start from Toprak Razgatlioglu, who grabbed the holeshot from team-mate Andrea Locatelli. Scott Redding didn’t get off the line well but quickly recovered to third, whilst Jonathan Rea was down in fourth with team-mate Alex Lowes knocking right at his door, with Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) in sixth.

There was a Turn 1 pile-up with Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) crashing, taking down Alessandro Delbianco (MIE Racing Honda Team); the incident forced Karel Hanika (IXS-YART Yamaha), Chaz Davies (Team GoEleven) and Isaac Viñales (ORELAC Racing VerdNatura) to go across the gravel. All riders were on their feet and relatively OK.

Prodding and probing all the time, particularly at Turn 1, Scott Redding finally got ahead of Andrea Locatelli on Lap 3 at Turn 20, placing his Ducati in the middle of the two Pata Yamaha riders. Jonathan Rea’s SC0 tyre had now come into its own and he was right with the three ahead of him, as team-mate Lowes started to drop off. Further down the field, it was a bright start from Leon Haslam (Team HRC), who came up through the order into seventh from tenth on the grid.

Lap 5 saw Redding hit the front at Turn 1, passing Razgatlioglu after drawing alongside his rival down the front straight and getting the job finalised in the braking area. Meanwhile, Jonathan Rea wasn’t making the in-roads predicted, he was now eight-tenths behind Andrea Locatelli and slowly slipping back towards Alex Lowes, just half-a second splitting them after seven laps. However, on Lap 8, Locatelli and Lowes both made errors, meaning Rea was now back in the fight for third and got ahead of Locatelli on Lap 9.

It was a tight fight for sixth place as Sykes held position ahead of Leon Haslam, whilst Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) was eighth. Michael van der Mark (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) was up in ninth from 17th on the grid, whilst Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) having a quiet race in tenth place, but his pace began to pick up as the race evolved. Three laps later and it was all change in a first chicane shuffle, with Rinaldi now sixth ahead of Sykes, van der Mark, Gerloff and Haslam, with the ‘Pocket Rocket’ suddenly dropping back into the clutches of team-mate Alvaro Bautista, who eventually got ahead of him with six to go.

Meanwhile, back at the front, Scott Redding was riding the race of his life as he eased clear of Razgatlioglu and broke the Turkish rider’s spirit. With the gap now over three-seconds and Razgatlioglu settling for second, Redding was able to run his own pace.

Behind the top two, Rea was a further seven-seconds behind whilst Locatelli was keeping him honest in fourth. Alex Lowes, also using the SCX tyre, was being caught by Rinaldi, van der Mark and Gerloff and with two laps to go, Lowes had less than a second back to Rinaldi.

Scott Redding rode the perfect race for a first win since Estoril’s Tissot Superpole Race, taking the plaudits of the passionate Czech fans at Most. Razgatlioglu finished second and is now just three-points behind Jonathan Rea in the Championship – Rea himself finishing third.

Locatelli took fourth in another stunning performance, whilst Michael Ruben Rinaldi got fifth on the final lap with a pass on Alex Lowes at Turn 1. Yamaha’s strength’s this weekend mean that they are now three points clear of Kawasaki in the manufacturer standings, with Ducati another three further back.

Lowes held on for sixth as he ran out of tyre life at the end of the race, whilst former team-mate Michael van der Mark was top BMW in seventh. Garrett Gerloff took a solid eighth as his trademark late-race pace saw him come on strong. Ninth went to Tom Sykes, whilst Alvaro Bautista completed the top ten. Leon Haslam was eleventh ahead of Chaz Davies who fought back after Turn 1-Lap 1 drama.

Tito Rabat (Barni Racing Team), Kohta Nozane (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) and Christophe Ponsson (Gil Motor Sport Yamaha) completed the points in Race 2. Behind them, Jonas Folger (Bonovo MGM Racing), Isaac Viñales, Karel Hanika, Marvin Fritz (IXS-YART Yamaha), Loris Cresson (OUTDO TPR Team Pedercini Racing) and teammate Jayson Uribe – after coming into the pits – completed the final results.

Most WorldSBK Race Two Results

WorldSBK Quotes

Scott Redding – P1

“I had a lot of emotions both in my head and in my heart. I only had one goal and that was to win for Jacey, for Brad (Jones), for myself. It was a very positive weekend even though I was a little upset yesterday with how the race ended. But it’s clear that hot reactions can be wrong sometimes. The championship standings? I don’t want to think in those terms. I just want to get the most out of every race. Then we’ll do the math at the end of the season.”

Toprak Razgatlioglu – P2

“I am really happy, for me it has been a very good weekend – my team did an incredible job and we are working really hard. Two wins, one second position – not too bad! In the last race, we tried a little bit different suspension set-up but in the race I did not feel quite as good. I tried to follow Scott, and I tried also to keep the rear tyre, but after some laps I felt some rear chatter and less grip. I say at this point, okay, second position is enough for me because we take such good points for the championship this weekend. It is also very good for Yamaha to be leading the Manufacturer championship, and also very good situation for me – this year is the first time that I am very close with Jonny in the Riders’ Championship. It is different for me and maybe I am feeling also sometimes a bit stressed! But I am focused only on each race, because I am fighting for the win always, this is important. It is not always easy! I am ready for the fight in Navarra, I like the track – we will see!”

Jonathan Rea – P3

“In the Superpole race I was completely on the limit, extracting all the potential from our Ninja ZX-10RR. It was a fun race but I made a small mistake and got sucked in behind Toprak a little bit. In the second race I had opted for the hard rear tyre, the more conservative option, because I never did many laps with the SCX tyre, except in the Superpole race for ten laps. My early rhythm was OK but I got a little bit stuck behind Locatelli, but after I went past him could not close the gap to Scott and Toprak. They had better rhythm today so it was more about third. I did not accept that on the grid but I thought maybe in the second part of the race it would come to me because I had the hard tyre, but I started with less grip and the drop off was the same. We are only halfway through the championship and the twists and turns that have happened already can happen in the second half of the season as well. At least I am at the top with a very small points gap to Toprak but we know who we are fighting and what we are fighting with. We have a lot of experience to lean on from the past, so I feel in a good position.”

Andrea Locatelli – P4

“This has been our best weekend, because we made the podium and two fourth places – we also take some good points and this is important for the championship position because we are in eighth position and not so far from P4, which is not so bad! The feeling with the bike now is coming more and more easy. I can ride and I can push, and for sure we now have a lot of races coming up where I think we can do very well. We had a good test in Navarra, and after we go to Magny-Cours where I had a really good feeling last year, and also Barcelona, Jerez are such good tracks. I think overall I have a little bit more experience compared to the start of the season, and I can fight with the first group. I improve a lot and this weekend we are really happy, we didn’t make any mistakes and the team did a really good job. I’m so happy with the whole team, we work so well together and the relationship is nice, like a small family and we aim to continue this way. Now, we will see for the next race!”

Michael Rinaldi – P5

“It was a positive race overall. Unfortunately, the result of the Superpole Race compromised our chances of fighting for the podium. At the beginning of the race, I didn’t have enough grip to push as hard as I could, but from the middle of the race the feeling improved and I was able to pass Haslam and Sykes to catch Lowes, too. I’m relatively satisfied even though it’s clear that we have to work to be faster. I would like to congratulate Scott for the beautiful victory and for his proposal to Jacey.”

Alex Lowes – P6

“In Race Two for the first few laps I felt quite good and I was able to follow the front group. Then obviously the second half it was not as easy for me. I have some restrictions on myself and I can’t ride like I want. This track is not an easy track, it is physical track, and it was not an easy track for Kawasaki. We could see how hard Johnny was having to push. We could see that today we made some good steps forward with the bike set-up. I was a lot better entering the corner and I was able to flow a lot more. In this track you need to be smooth and flowing. I felt better today with the bike that’s for sure.”

Michael Van Der Mark – P7

“I think the at the end of the weekend it was not too bad. Especially this morning in the Superpole race I had such good pace, I improved over a second compared to yesterday and I was really happy on the bike. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a good start, I was a bit unlucky at T1 and couldn’t gain as many positions as I hoped so for race two I had to start from 17th again. The first run off the line was good and then the bike started to wheelie so we lost a little bit of time. Something happened at T1, but I was quite smart and took a tight line and avoided a lot of people. After that we had good pace and I was catching the guys in front one by one but I just couldn’t get by Rinaldi. Together we passed some people and in the end I tried to grab sixth or fifth. Overall, I think after all the struggles this weekend the team deserved a solid result.”

Tom Sykes – P9

“It is what it is, I’m not entirely happy. In the sprint race I was able to maintain ten laps but in the second race I was struggling to just finish off the turn in the latter stages. There is still work to be done. We made a couple of small changes but we can’t do what our competitors are doing in the last eight laps. We have learnt a lot this weekend and certainly I’ve been close to several bikes, so I know where we are strong and where we need to work on. Overall, it was not the best weekend but there were some positives in Superpole and in the sprint race, so now for the longer race we can look to improve that package and keep working.”

Alvaro Bautista – P10

“Today was a difficult day for us in the sense that this morning, in the warm-up, we tried a slightly different set-up but in the end it didn’t give us the feeling we were hoping for and so we went back to what we had in Race 1. I made a decent start and finished ninth, earning a spot on the third row for Race 2. This afternoon unfortunately I had a bit of bad luck through the first turn because I got caught up in a race incident involving other riders and although I managed not to fall, I slipped a long way down the field. I recovered a little ground after that and was able to lap more or less with the times of the first five or six riders, but not faster than them so I could not close the gap. This is our limit, if we start well, we can stay with them but if we are behind, we never catch up. Having said that, I want to thank both the team and HRC because I know they are working hard and doing their best, but we have to take a big step forward if we want to fight for the positions we are aiming for.”

Leon Haslam – P11

“We didn’t change much on the bike today, but I tried carrying out a few different experiments throughout the race. We made a good start in race 2 and I was in a good battle with Sykes for P6/P7 and felt quite comfortable. But over the last eight or nine laps I had a problem with my shoulder and it was very difficult for me to brake effectively. So not a good situation with this small shoulder injury, and a little disappointing too, because through the first part of the race that was the best I’ve felt all weekend. I felt more at ease and know we had the potential to fight for sixth or seventh, but instead we closed eleventh.”

WorldSBK Championship Standings

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Most WorldSSP Race Two

Race 2 at the Autodrom Most for the FIM Supersport World Championship was another thrilling fight at the front for a 19-lap encounter. After taking a victory in Race 1, Steven Odendaal (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team) was aiming for a double win, but it wouldn’t be easy.

Odendaal and pole-sitter Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha ParkinGO Team) had opted for the harder SC0 compound, whilst second on the grid and Championship leader Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) went for the SCX rear tyre, and it would be these three who went until the final laps in contention for victory. In the end, Aegerter came out on top, with Odendaal and Gonzalez close behind.

It was a messy run into the first chicane, as Jules Cluzel (GMT94 Yamaha) went sideways into the opening turn and went right off track, narrowly avoiding the gravel and re-joining way down field in tenth. He wasn’t the only one to make a mistake though as pole-sitter and Race 1 podium finisher Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha ParkinGO Team) went through the run-off and re-joined at Turn 3.

Philipp Oettl (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) found himself at the front ahead of Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha), with Can Öncü (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) once again in third, ahead of Federico Caricasulo (Biblion Iberica Yamaha Motoxracing) who was fourth from 11th.

Soon, it would be a disaster for Jules Cluzel as he was wiped out at Turn 1 by Kevin Manfredi on Lap 2. A lap later and it would be Steven Odendaal’s turn to take to the Turn 1 run-off, whilst Dominique Aegerter was now the race leader after getting ahead into the first turn, but it was behind where the moves were also being made, as Manuel Gonzalez picked his way through on Luca Bernardi (CM Racing) and Philipp Oettl. Federico Caricasulo was fifth, but not in the lead group of four.

Gonzalez momentarily got into the lead on Lap 6 at the fast, sweeping Turn 4, but Aegerter held on through Turns 5 and 6, with just millimetres between the leading group. All of the battling allowed the leading six riders to concertina together, with Steven Odendaal now beginning to recover from his Turn 1 misdemeanour. He was up to fifth ahead of Caricasulo. Aegerter continued to lead ahead of Gonzalez and now Bernardi, who made a bold move at Turn 2 on Oettl for third.

On Lap 10 and going into Turn 1, Steven Odendaal got into fourth ahead of Oettl whilst Bernardi went wide at Turn 1 and took to the run-off, dropping to fifth place. This then meant that Odendaal was now third, whilst Aegerter and Gonzalez were up ahead of him and slightly spaced out. Odendaal set the fastest lap whilst Caricasulo was now back into the top five a lap later, passing Bernardi at Turn 1 on Lap 11, whilst a technical problem took Randy Krummenacher (EAB Racing Team) out of the race further behind.

As the race entered its final third, Aegerter’s pace at the front began to fluctuate between mid-to-high 1’35s and low 1’36s, bringing Manuel Gonzalez right back into play, whilst closing in like a shark behind them both was Steven Odendaal, with just half a second covering the battle for victory and the leading three riders.

Philipp Oettl was now a distant fourth, whilst Luca Bernardi was back in fifth ahead of Valentin Debise (GMT94 Yamaha). With four to go, Odendaal went into second place at Turn 21, keeping the power on and the bike turned between the final two corners – now, it was down to Odendaal to see if he could get ahead of Aegerter.

It was time to drop the pace at the front in the closing stages, as Dominique Aegerter had enough of a gap, with the Swiss taking a sixth win of the 2021 season and proving that his tyre gamble was the way to go, ahead of Steven Odendaal and Manuel Gonzalez.

The Spaniard backing up his first podium of 2021 from Saturday, despite being desperately close to second again in Race 2. With Aegerter back on top and Odendaal in second, the gap in the Championship is now 37.

Fourth place went to Oettl whilst Bernardi completed the top five ahead of fellow countryman Federico Caricasulo, who returned to the top six. Valentin Debise was a solid seventh ahead of Niki Tuuli (MV Agusta Corse Clienti), whilst it was Can Öncü who once again faded as the race wore on to finish in ninth ahead of fellow Kawasaki rider Raffaele De Rosa.

11th went to Max Enderlein (Kallio Racing) ahead of Marcel Brenner (VFT Racing), Luca Grunwald (HRP Suzuki), Ondrej Vostatek and Sheridan Morais (Wojcik Racing Team) who completed the points. There was a big crash in the closing stages for Croatian Martin Vugrinec (Ferquest – Unior Racing Team) at Turn 17, but he was up on his feet.

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WorldSSP Championship Standings

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Most WorldSSP 300 Two

Victor Steeman (Freudenberg KTM WorldSSP Team) got the holeshot into Turn 1 before Adrian Huertas (MTM Kawasaki) got ahead of the Race 1 winner. There was a pile-up at the first chicane however, with Meikon Kawakami, Perez Gonzalez (Accolade Smrz Racing) and Unai Orradre (Yamaha MS Racing).

As the race settled down towards the end of the opening lap, it was Oliver Konig (Movisio by MIE) who was starting to shine as he took second from Steeman at Turn 20, before leading at Turn 1 of Lap 2. Tom Booth-Amos (Fusport – RT Motorsports by SKM) was now into second too, as the Brit gained places.

The lead swapped and changed throughout the opening laps, with Huertas, Steeman and Booth-Amos hit the front on Lap 4. At the end of the lap, there was drama for Ruben Bijman (Machado CAME SBK) who, having qualified in fourth, was out after tucking the front at Turn 21.

Back at the front, Adrian Huertas was on rails and within a lap, had a half a second lead on Booth-Amos and Konig, whilst Alejandro Carrion (Kawasaki GP Project) was now right in the mix. Boot-Amos put in a stunning Lap 6 to bridge the gap to Huertas and set the fastest lap. Behind the front three, Konig, Bahattin Sofuoglu (Biblion Yamaha Motoxracing) and Steeman were also in contention.

With 7 laps remaining, it was a disaster for Samuel Di Sora (Leader Team Flembbo) who ran off-track before crashing as he re-joined, whilst Kevin Sabatucci (Viñales Racing Team) also went down but was up on his feet. A lap later, Miguel Duarte (Yamaha MS Racing) also retired.

Back at the front of the race, Huertas was defending his lead from Booth-Amos and Carrion, whilst Steeman had got his pace back and was in the mix in fourth ahead of Sofuoglu, who was working his way through the field but with four to go, he slowed up as a mechanical problem took him out.

With two laps to go, Alejandro Carrion got a massive slipstream to briefly lead, before Huertas and Booth-Amos returned to the front. It was a leading group of six as Oliver Konig had now dropped to seventh and became detached from the group.

Turn 1 on the last lap saw it all change as defending Champion Jeffrey Buis (MTM Kawasaki) hit the front whilst his teammate Yuta Okaya almost wiped out Huertas, pushing the Spaniard back to sixth before he recovered to fifth ahead of Konig.

It was all down to a run to the line for the leading four, as Carrion led coming out of the final corner before Booth-Amos slipstreamed into first. However, picking up the biggest slipstream, Jeffrey Buis – who was shuffled back to third at Turn 20 – blasted ahead to take victory by 0.008s ahead of Booth-Amos, whilst Carrion took third ahead of Steeman, with the Spaniard taking back-to-back podiums. Fifth place went to the recovering Huertas, who was robbed of a chance to fight for victory, meaning his lead in the title race is slashed to 11 points.

Sixth place belonged to home-hero Konig who did enjoy a stint at the front in the early stages, whilst it was Mirko Gennai (Team BRcorse) who took seventh, backing up his tenth place from Race 1.

Koen Meuffels (MTM Kawasaki) was in eighth place ahead of Victor Rodriguez Nuñez (Accolade Smrz Racing) and Hugo De Cancellis (Prodina Team WorldSSP300), after running off track in the incident with Samuel Di Sora.

Gabriele Mastroluca (ProGP Racing), Petr Svoboda (Wojcik Racing Team), Oscar Nuñez Roldan (SMW Racing), Ton Kawakami (AD78 Team Brasil by MS Racing) and Harry Khouri (Fusport – RT Motorsports by SKM – Kawasaki) completed the points.

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WorldSSP 300 Championship Standings

Source: MCNews.com.au

2021 WorldSBK Round Six
Tissot Czech Round – Saturday

Most WorldSBK Race One

World Superbike’s first ever race at the Autodrom Most in the Czech Republic fired up on Saturday and proved a thrilling spectacle across the 22 laps of the new circuit. After Rea crashed twice, it was a head-to-head grandstand finish between Razgatlioglu and Redding, with the Turk coming out on top in a final lap thriller.

As the lights went out, Rea and Razgatlioglu got their customary flying starts and into Turn 1, the Turk got the holeshot ahead of Rea, whilst Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) out-braked himself and had to use the escape road. Scott Redding was third whilst Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) blasted up the order into fourth, from eighth on the grid. Sykes rejoined the action in fifth, whilst it was a bright start for Alvaro Bautista (Team HRC), up from 11th and into seventh.

Rea put a stunning pass on Razgatlioglu at Turn 18 on Lap 2 but ran wide, giving Toprak the lead back and allowing Redding to come steaming on through and into second. Redding wasn’t done there though, as he then blasted through on Razgatlioglu on Lap 3 at Turn 1. Razgatlioglu then went wide at Turn 10, with Rea hitting second as the gloves came off.

There was drama down field as Alessandro Delbianco (MIE Racing Honda Team) crashed out at Turn 15 on Lap 3, before Karel Hanika (IXS-YART Yamaha) crashed on Lap 4. The crashes kept coming as American debutant Jayson Uribe (OUTDO TPR Team Pedercini Racing) also went down at Turn 15. Big names were also part of the drama as Lap 5 claimed Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) at Turn 1, before Chaz Davies (Team GoEleven) joined him in a separate incident, both able to rejoin before Davies eventually retired.

On Lap 7, Rea had been closed back in by Razgatlioglu as both were dropped by Redding by 1.8 seconds. Turn 13 saw the Ulsterman make a mistake, allowing Razgatlioglu to pounce at Turn 14 before Rea got him back at Turn 20. Toprak then repaid the favour at Turn 1 on the following lap before he began to edge closer to Redding. Further down the field, it was drama for Jonas Folger (Bonovo MGM Racing) on Lap 8, as he suffered a big engine blow up at Turn 20 but thankfully didn’t leave any fluid on the track. Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha with BRIXX WorldSBK) quietly went about his business and was into fourth ahead of Rinaldi.

On Lap 10, it was close again between Razgatlioglu and Rea with the title battle now being played out between the two, whilst Tito Rabat’s (Barni Racing Team) race was over as he crashed at Turn 1, before Alvaro Bautista tumbled down the order from sixth to 11th after a mistake, promoting Italian rookie sensation into sixth place, placing him as top Independent rider. Further down and having been in the points, Belgian rider Loris Cresson (OUTDO TPR Team Pedercini Racing) added to the Italian team’s tricky Race 1, crashing out at Turn 15.

The gap between Redding and Razgatlioglu was now down to under a second as Lap 13 started, but Lap 14 would see a major moment for the race and an even bigger moment for the Championship. Jonathan Rea, chasing Toprak, tucked the front from third at Turn 1, just as he and Razgatlioglu were edging closer to Redding. Rea remounted in the blink of an eye, circulating in 11th but with eight to go, he had a chance of the top ten.

The tyres were now coming into play in the final six laps, as Razgatlioglu with the SCX tyre was now right with race leader Redding, who in-turn was setting a strong pace. Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team), who was having a quiet race in sixth, also began setting his personal best lap and sector times, also on the SCX tyre. There was also a big battle for fourth, as Axel Bassani was giving Rinaldi something to think about.

With five to go, Rea crashed again, this time heavily at Turn 20 but the Championship leader was up on his feet. Meanwhile, in a titanic fight at the front, Razgatlioglu went around the outside of Redding at Turn 14 with four to go, before Redding blasted back ahead at Turn 1 a lap later. The gloves were off as the passionate Most fans were on their feet, with WorldSBK putting on a stunning spectacle in the first WorldSBK race at the track.

The last lap was upon the leading two and Redding rode a fantastic first half a lap, but Razgatlioglu was relentless in the final two sectors, as he made a bold move at Turn 15 but ran wide. Everyone sat back, thinking Redding had the race done but a stunning run through Turn 16, 17, 18 and 19 brought Razgatlioglu back into contention and he lay it all on the line, putting on a thrilling move at Turn 20, running Redding wide. Redding powered the Ducati to the line out of the last corner and closed right in, but it was too late. Razgatlioglu took one of his finest wins, with Redding in second and Andrea Locatelli taking third, some 13.8 seconds behind.

Most WorldSBK Race One Results

Quotes

Toprak Razgatlıoğlu – P1

“I am really happy because it was a very good race me, but also hard work! I felt the grip was low from the start and so I just tried every lap to have the best possible lap time, to make no mistakes and try to catch Redding. Last lap I just tried my best, when Jonny crashed I knew I needed to take as many points as possible and so I pushed for the win. In the last lap I was fighting with Scott, I try every corner to attack because I need the full 25 points. Thanks to my team, because this weekend they have done an incredible job working, and it is a new track for everybody but Andrea and I both arrive on the podium. Tomorrow we will try again, we will see, but today was a good start!”

Scott Redding – P2

“I can’t be disappointed with this second place because it’s still an important result also for the World Championship standings. If I have to be honest, though, I think Toprak’s maneuver was very aggressive. But these are races, maybe tomorrow I’ll have to be more aggressive too. In any case it was a good race. The feeling with the bike was really good. I’ll try to do better tomorrow”.

Andrea Locatelli – P3

“An amazing podium for us, it’s so good. We started really well this weekend and I feel very strong here. We need to search a little bit for more grip in the rear to try and close the gap to the front group. In the end, my team were able to do a really good job today and I’m really happy. With Toprak, with Yamaha we work so well together and we improve every session which is important and the double podium is really nice for the team. We will try to enjoy this moment a little bit and spend some time tonight working towards tomorrow. For sure, in the Superpole Race will be important to try and stay with the front group for Race 2.”

Michael Rinaldi – P4

“I’m satisfied with this result especially because we were coming from a not easy period. The beginning of this weekend was quite complicated too, but the team has done a great job, facing the difficulties without never giving up; today we made great progress and this is the right direction: now we will work on the data we have collected to try to do better tomorrow”.

Alvaro Bautista – P7

“Mixed feelings today because we could have done more, both in the Superpole and the race. During the qualifying session I had a problem with the rear brake which prevented us from making at least a top-six lap time. It was a shame that happened in qualifying but at least it wasn’t during the race! I was able to make a good start in the race anyway, and entered the first chicane in seventh position, I think. During the first part of the race, I was lacking traction and the rear was sliding around a lot. This is something of a recurring issue for us, and we struggle with turning, which means we’re forced to keep a line through the corners that’s not ideal. Having said that, I was still able to maintain sufficient pace, close to the top five. Unfortunately, maybe midway through the race, I missed a gear at turn 15 and ran off track, dropping back to eleventh or twelfth. I recovered again, lapping not too badly but I’d lost too much time. I’m sorry about that, because with one thing and another today, we missed the opportunity to finish further ahead. Tomorrow we’ll try to do our best, as always, but to really take a step forward we need to improve our package.”

Leon Haslam – P8

“For the first time this year, we made a big improvement on the qualifying tyre during Superpole. I was up nearly three tenths which would have put me in around third place, but then we had a small problem in the final corners. I was a little frustrated because that could perhaps have been our first front row of the season, but we finished just one tenth from the front row anyway, so not bad anyway. The race was tough though, and I honestly felt like I was just managing the situation. The good news is that in running the race together more or less together, me and Alvaro were able to compare and contrast what we were doing and can hopefully learn from this as we prepare for tomorrow’s races.”

Tom Sykes – P9

“The qualifying result for sure was nice. When we put the Q tyre into the BMW M 1000 RR, I am able to ride the bike much more naturally, and the bike does things much better. But unfortunately for the race there was a mix of tyres. We went down the safer route and this certainly did not help us. After the start, going into T1 I was in there and I’ve been happy with my braking all weekend, but the guys had stopped, and I didn’t want to collect anyone, so I took the option to spoil my first lap. Then the second time somebody was up the inside of me and touched my handlebar, so I wasn’t able to make the turn. For tomorrow, we will look to improve the set up, and we will revisit the tyre choice. Overall, I am a little bit disappointed, also disappointed with the final race result but we have learnt a lot today. Tomorrow we will get two more chances.”

 Alex Lowes – P13

“A tough day at a tough track for me. Physically I am not good enough to ride at 100% and this track is really hard in that respect. I had a bad start and I made a little mistake and that first corner is quite hard in general. The pace was what it was after the fall but we got some points on the board. A tough day but we will try to do better tomorrow.”

Jonathan Rea – DNF

“I am perfectly OK after today’s falls. In the first crash going into the chicane I was just about on line but it was very strange because I crashed early on the bumps. It seems like a similar crash to the one I had in Donington. The bike was quite bent but I could see after I had picked it up I was in 11th place – so in a points scoring position, I was just riding around. Honestly, I do not know what happened in the penultimate corner. I was concentrating on what I was doing, not pushing super-hard and I just crashed. I was doing everything OK and then I was in the gravel. I am just frustrated with the outcome. In Superpole I had lost a bit of time early in my best lap and I knew I really had to put the last two sectors together. That last sector has been a strong point for us all weekend so I knew if I was calm and hit my points on the track it would be good enough for the front row, but maybe not pole.”

Michael van der Mark – DNF

“It was a really disappointing day, to be honest. In Superpole, I had bad traffic on both outings on the Q tyre, which was such bad luck. It’s a shame as I felt we could really make a step forward, so it was not easy starting from P17 on the grid. Anyway, in the race I got a good start and had good pace. I was fighting my way towards the front and was feeling good with the bike but unfortunately when I was sat in P8 I lost the front going into T20. I was trying hard so it’s a shame because we lost some valuable points. It was a difficult day overall, but we can be happy with the pace we had in race one.”

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WorldSBK Championship Standings

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Most WorldSSP Race One

The 2021 FIM Supersport World Championship took to Autodrom Most in Race 1 on Saturday afternoon, and it was building to be a thrilling finish before a Red Flag was waved. A hair-raising opening few laps eventually settled down and it was Steven Odendaal (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team) who took victory as the Red Flag came out, denying Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha ParkinGO Team) and Philipp Oettl (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing).

It was a lightening start from Jules Cluzel (GMT94 Yamaha) from fourth on the grid, as he grabbed the holeshot, whilst Philipp Oettl was second and ahead of fast-starting teammate Can Öncü Kawasaki Puccetti Racing). Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) was right in the mix, with pole-sitter Manuel Gonzalez going backwards and Steven Odendaal. Danny Webb (WRP Wepol Racing) was an early crasher at Turn 8, whilst Valentin Debise (GMT94 Yamaha) also failed to complete the first lap.

Before long, both Oettl and Öncü worked their way to the front and got ahead of Cluzel, before Öncü hit the front at the start of Lap 3 but it would be swapping and changing in what was an epic opening to WorldSSP Race 1. At the start of Lap 4, it was Steven Odendaal who went from fourth to first in the braking area at Turn 1, before Philipp Oettl got through on teammate Öncü into Turn 15. The Turk fought back at Turn 16 but clipped his teammate, being relegated to sixth whilst Odendaal now had a small gap beginning to appear. A lap later and pole-sitter Gonzalez had a huge moment at Turn 17, somehow staying upright.

There was a big crash on Lap 8 as Marc Alcoba (Yamaha MS Racing) crashed heavily at Turn 13. He was holding his wrist as he got onto his feet. At the front, Odendaal’s lead was hovering around the half a second mark, with Oettl and Gonzalez chasing him down. However, Dominique Aegerter was now starting to pick his way through the field and was in fourth. At the half-race distance, Federico Caricasulo (Biblion Iberica Yamaha Motoxracing) was up into fifth after passing Luca Bernardi (CM Racing).

On Lap 11, Gonzalez set the fastest lap of the race and then got ahead of Oettl at Turn 1 on Lap 12. Having crashed earlier in the race, Leonardo Taccini (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) was now being lapped by the leading three, costing Odendaal time and bringing Gonzalez and Oettl back into contention. Odendaal, having managed his lead previously, was now defending it, whilst title rival Aegerter was zeroing in all the time from fourth.

Just as the race was reaching its climax, the Red Flag was displayed as the race had just tipped into two-thirds race distance, meaning the race would not be restarted and full points were on offer. Odendaal took his fourth win of the year, ahead of Manuel Gonzalez who took his first WorldSSP podium. Philipp Oettl took third behind the Yamahas, with Odendaal giving Yamaha a 104th win in WorldSSP, meaning they equal Honda’s record at the top in terms of manufacturers’ wins in WorldSSP.

Dominique Aegerter took fourth place ahead of Federico Caricasulo and Luca Bernardi, whilst early race leader Jules Cluzel dropped to seventh. Another early leader, Can Öncü, was eighth as he dropped back through the race, ahead of Niki Tuuli (MV Agusta Corse Clienti) and Peter Sebestyen (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team). Randy Krummenacher (EAB Racing Team) was 11th, ahead of Raffaele De Rosa (Orelac Racing VerdNatura), Kevin Manfredi (Altogo Racing Team), Galang Hendra Pratama (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) and Federico Fuligni (VFT Racing) completing the points.

Most WorldSSP Race One Results

WorldSSP Championship Standings

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Most WorldSSP 300 Race One

The 2021 FIM Supersport 300 World Championship inaugurated WorldSBK paddock racing action at the Autodrom Most and there was drama right from the start. Second-placed rider in the Championship Tom Booth-Amos (Fusport – RT Motorsports by SKM – Kawasaki) missed the start to the race after a technical issue on the grid. Come the end of the 14-lap encounter, it was Victor Steeman (Freudenberg KTM WorldSSP Team) who mastered Most by putting a superb ride to break away at the front of the field and dominate the race.

As the race ignited, there was all kinds of drama at the tight Turn 1, as Jeffrey Buis (MTM Kawasaki) got it all crossed up and narrowly avoided the rear wheel of poleman Victor Steeman. Behind them, several riders ran through the gravel but somehow, everyone stayed upright through the first chicane. Going into Turn 20, three riders crashed: Ton Kawakami (AD78 Team Brasil by MS Racing), Vicente Perez (Machado CAME SBK) and Victor Rodriguez Nuñez (Accolade Smrz Racing) out at Turn 20 on the opening lap.

Soon enough, there was an established leading group with Victor Steeman, Adrian Huertas (MTM Kawasaki), Bahattin Sofuoglu (Biblion Yamaha Motoxracing), Oliver Konig (Movisio by MIE) and Alejandro Carrion (Kawasaki GP Project) were right there, with Huertas taking the lead at Turn 1. However, as soon as he hit the front, he tucked the front end of his Kawasaki and crashed out. He banged the bars into place and remounted, soon enough lapping around two seconds quicker than the race leaders, making for a thrilling prospect ahead. Home-hero Matthias Cervenka (AC Racing) was another crasher but remounted.

Steeman wasted no time in getting the hammer down and after four laps, had a gap of over a second. Now in what was battle for second, Samuel Di Sora (Leader Team Flembbo) had made great progress, whilst the crowd had the airhorns in full use as home-hero Oliver Konig was right amongst the podium fight. Further behind, Tom Booth-Amos had now hit the points just before the half-race distance point, whilst title rival Adrian Huertas was chasing Booth-Amos down, 15th and 16th respectively with the title battle being played out down field. The crashes kept coming, with Oscar Nuñez (SMW Racing) was on the floor at Turn 1 and then, Nuñez’s teammate Joel Romero hit the back of Niccolo Lisci (Machado CAME SBK) on the exit of Turn 10, falling off the side of his bike, whilst Lisci stayed upright.

With five laps to go, the battle for second went from second to 12th, as Hugo De Cancellis (Prodina Team WorldSSP300), Koen Mueffels (MTM Kawasaki), Mirko Gennai (Team BRcorse), Jeffrey Buis, Ruben Bijman (Machado CAME SBK), Yuta Okaya (MTM Kawasaki) and Jose Luis Perez Gonzalez (Accolade Smrz Racing) joined the duel. Two laps later and Adrian Huertas was more-or-less with them, as he came to within half a second of the rear of the group, making for a thrilling spectacle as the Championship battle now crept through the field. Tom Booth-Amos was right with his title rival too, both of them setting the fastest lap of the race on Lap 12.

Into the final lap and Huertas was now into seventh with Booth-Amos a place behind, whilst Di Sora was under serious pressure from Konig. With the home crowd going crazy, Konig took second going into the final two corners, whilst it was a first podium and thus a first race win for Victor Steeman, who dominated the first ever WorldSSP300 race at Most. Konig took second on the road but was dropped to third for exceeding track limits on the last lap after a post-race penalty, nonetheless the first podium for the Czech Republic in WorldSSP300. Whilst Samuel Di Sora crossed the line in third, he too exceeded track limits on the final lap and was dropped one place, meaning he was fourth behind whilst Alejandro Carrion picked up the pieces of the two ahead of him to finish in second.

Bahattin Sofuoglu completed the top five ahead of a stunning Huertas who came back in fine form, ahead of Jeffrey Buis who stayed upright for seventh, ahead of Booth-Amos, De Cancellis, Gennai, Okaya, Perez Gonzalez, Bijman, Meuffels and Christian Stange. 2018 World Champion Ana Carrasco finished in 24th, as she struggled in the Czech Republic. Huertas in sixth and Booth-Amos in eighth means the Spaniard extends his Championship lead by two points over the Brit, now standing at 20.

Australian youngster Harry Khouri missed out on scoring points after crossing the line in P22.

Most WorldSSP 300 Race One Results

WorldSSP 300 Championship Standings

2021 Czech Schedule (AEST)

Source: MCNews.com.au