2021 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship
Round Ten Jerez – Sunday Report

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After a sad Saturady at Jerez, where WorldSSP300 rider 15 year old Spaniard, Dean Berta Viñales passed away in a multi-rider crash in the opening race for the category, Saturday’s ontrack activity in the 2021 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship was cancelled.

Sunday saw WorldSBK race one and two scheduled, but the Tissot Superpole sprint cancelled. Toprak Razgatlioglu was victorious in both races, creating a 20-point buffer over defending champion Jonathan Rea in the championship chase. Rea finished with a 2nd and 5th place from Sunday racing; with other podium spots filled by Scott Redding and Alvaro Bautista.

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WorldSBK Race One

Pole man Toprak Razgatlioglu made a great start but was immediately put to the test by Jonathan Rea, who managed to snatch the race lead by the end of the first lap, demonstrating superior corner speed on the ZX-10RR. Behind Razgatlioglu was his team-mate, Andrea Locatelli followed by Ducati riders Scott Redding and Michael Ruben Rinaldi who, however, crashed during the fifth lap and was forced to retire.

At the mid-race point, the riders in the leading quartet, which included three different manufacturers, were all within less than one second of each other with Razgatlioglu consistently on Rea’s pipes, looking for the best opportunity to attack for the win. The opportunity arrived at the first turn of the thirteenth lap, where the Turkish rider managed to gain the upper hand over Rea, then progressively pulled away to create a safe gap of about one second.

During the final lap, Redding became increasingly threatening to rookie Locatelli and managed to overtake him to finish on the podium behind Jonathan Rea and Toprak Razgatlioglu.

Andrea Locatelli took home a well-deserved fourth place and fifth went to Álvaro Bautista who, for the fifth consecutive race, finished in the top five on the Honda.

WorldSBK Race One Results

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WorldSBK Race Two

Razgatlioglu again got a great start to lead into turn one from Jonathan Rea and, while Rea was able to challenge into turn six on that opening lap, the Turkish star then broke away and two Ducatis pushed Rea back to fourth.

While Razgatlioglu was able to hold his lead, both Michael Ruben Rinaldi, and Scott Redding were closing in. On lap six, Rinaldi ran wide at turn six which almost allowed Redding through, but Rinaldi was able to hold on to second place until turn 13, when Redding made the successful move for second.

While Redding was putting pressure on, Razgatlioglu held on until lap 17 when the Brit passed Razgatlioglu for the lead but just one lap later Razgatlioglu responded, making a move at turn 13 to take control.

Redding kept the pressure on Razgatlioglu throughout the final two laps, but the Turkish star held on to claim his second victory of the day in Jerez, and his tenth of the season, while Redding claimed his 30th WorldSBK podium.

With Razgatlioglu, Redding and Rinaldi in front, Rea found himself losing ground and having to defend from Andrea Locatelli, Alvaro Bautista and Axel Bassani to try and hold on to fourth place. On lap 7, Locatelli passed Rea at the final corner to move into fourth place.

Just a lap later, Bautista passed Rea while Italian rookie Bassani tried to follow him through but made contact with Rea, with both able to resume the race without losing time or positions. While Bautista was able to pull away, Bassani kept the pressure on Rea as he looked to pass the six-time champion. Eventually Rea was able to pull away from Bassani and soon found himself back into fifth place after passing Rinaldi.

Bautista was able to make a move on Locatelli for third after passing Rinaldi as he claimed his second podium in four races and his fourth consecutive top-five finish, the first time he has managed that feat since joining Honda.

Locatelli came home in fourth place, a very familiar position for the Italian rookie, over a second clear of Rea. With Razgatlioglu taking victory and Rea finishing fifth, the championship lead now stands at 20-points in Razgatlioglu’s favour.

The top six were clear of Rinaldi at the end of the race with Bassani claiming sixth place as the Italian continues his strong rookie season, finishing ahead of the factory Ducati of Rinaldi. Michael van der Mark (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) finished in eighth place and closed in on Rinaldi in the closing stages with just a second behind Rinaldi.

Loris Baz’s WorldSBK continued with another top-nine finish, just two-tenths away from van der Mark.

American star Garrett Gerloff claimed another tenth place finish ahead of Eugene Laverty claimed 11th place in his first round back for three months, holding off Leon Haslam by just 0.042s at the end of the race.

Jonas Folger finished in 13th place, half-a-second back from Haslam. Samuele Cavalieri claimed more points following his return to the Barni Racing outfit while Leandro Mercado claimed the final points place despite a crash on the second lap.

Wildcard Marvin Fritz was in 16th place after his second wildcard appearance of the season despite a crash on lap 7 while Andrea Mantovani was in 17th place rounded out the riders on the lead lap. Like in Race 1, Lachlan Epis finished three laps down after spending a substantial amount of time in the pits.

Alex Lowes was declared unfit following the conclusion of race one with a right hand and wrist functional impairment. Isaac Viñales did not take part in Sunday’s action. Christophe Ponsson pulled into the pitlane at the end of the warm-up lap and did not take to the start of the race. Kohta Nozane was having a strong race before a lap four crash which forced the Japanese rookie out of the race. On lap 5, Belgian Loris Cresson crashed out of the race.

WorldSBK Race Two Results

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Rider Quotes

Toprak Razgatlıoğlu – P1 in Championship – 449 points

“This day, normally would be great but it is too difficult to feel happy because of yesterday. I feel only sad whenever I think about this. We improve the bike for Race 1 and I am fighting a little bit with Johnny. For the second race we try to improve the bike again but not such a good feeling because of the hot conditions. I think this is for every rider, the bike is sliding. I am fighting with Scott this time, and also he was very strong in the last laps but I tried my best and I could win again. I say again, every race I am not looking at the championship. I just focus on every race and I try to win, also in Portimão I will try to win. But, maybe on the last race weekend in Indonesia I start to look at the championship…! I know Johnny is very strong and he is also fast in Portimão but again I hope we are fighting for the win. Normally I like Portimão and also the new asphalt now, also the Yamaha is much better this year – we will see!” 

Jonathan Rea – P2 in Championship – 429 points

“It was quite hard work today, especially in Race Two, but I think I can stand back tonight and actually be quite satisfied with our day’s work. I didn’t expect to be so strong in Race One here in Jerez. From the first session on Friday I felt quite good with the bike and the tyres, and I could fight until the last laps with Toprak in race one; it was very close. That was a positive for me. In Race Two the temperature had risen and of course it was like in Barcelona, I experienced the same type of problems with the soft tyre. There was little grip and it was very hard to stop the bike and go into the corner, and this was the difference. Normally we would put in a soft tyre in the weekend and the difference in lap time would be much faster. But today we didn’t have it. We need to check why.”

Scott Redding – P3 in Championship – 375 points

“These are very difficult moments and I would like to send a thought to the Vinales family who asked us to race for Dean. Race-1 was better for me than I expected, especially after a really bad warm-up. In Race 2 the feeling was even better: I felt I could catch Toprak and take the win but he proved to be really strong under braking. Anyway, I’m happy to have reached the podium twice on this difficult day”.

Michael Ruben Rinaldi – P4 In Championship – 227 points

“It’s been a very tough weekend from a human point of view. We encountered a lot of difficulties today and the results were much below our expectations. However, I think that in times like these races take a back seat. I just want to turn  page and think about Portimao”.

Andrea Locatelli – P5 in Championship – 227 points

“So in the end it’s another good weekend for us, I’m a little bit frustrated because we lost the possibility for two podiums today but in the end we can be happy because when we arrived here on Friday it was not so easy for me to take a feeling with the bike. Then, yesterday we lost the opportunity to make a race but it was the correct decision to cancel the racing. Today we just missed the podium but we improved to become stronger and also faster during the race. I want to try and stay with the first group and in Race 1, we did not do so badly. In Race 2, I lose a little bit the feeling and I can’t stay with the front group but in any case it’s a positive performance and for sure we will continue in this way. Now, my experience is coming better and we will see in Portimão, but I want to say thanks to the guys because we work very well and they make an amazing job. Most importantly, I want to say that I am so sorry to the friends and family of Dean Berta Viñales.”

Alex Lowes – P6 in Championship – 199 points

“It was obviously disappointing not to be able to have a better performance in the first race. In practice I had been riding and adjusting my style to the strength I have in my hand. In Race One when I was around the other bikes at the start I just could not brake as late as I wanted. It was easy for people to attack and pass me. In the middle of the race, when I was by myself and just taking the lines that I wanted to take, the pace was OK. But to battle and fight hard at the front, which is our target, it was not possible. There was a short turnaround for us today for the second race and with some information from the first race, we decided that the best thing to do was get a week’s rest before the next round in Portimao.”

Michael van der Mark – P7 in Championship – 189 points

“It was a difficult weekend for the WorldSBK paddock. I want to express my condolences to Dean’s family and friends. Today we raced for him. Our results haven’t been bad when you see where we came from. Yesterday, I had no confidence to go faster so I was a bit disappointing. After a lot of studying the data the guys changed a lot on the bike and already this morning in warm-up I felt a big improvement. Also in both of today’s races I felt a massive step forward. And if you look at our lap times, the consistency and also the gap to the winner and the podium guys, I think we made a solid step. That gives me a lot of confidence and that is what we need. We have tried some things that will for sure be helping in the future.”

Garrett Gerloff – P8 in Championship – 170 points

“Everybody at the GRT Yamaha team feels horrible about what happened yesterday in the WorldSSP300 race. Our thoughts go out to Dean Berta Viñales’ family and we hope they will find healing through this. The fact that they wanted us to race today speaks volumes about their racing spirit and our day was a tribute to him. Our races were a bit tricky. I didn’t have the best first lap in either of them, I had to fight my way through on both occasions and by the time I had clear air the guys I was aiming to compete with were long gone. It was a disappointing day, but we have another round in just one week, and we will get back on the Yamaha R1 and try to improve”

Alvaro Bautista – P9 in Championship – 169 points

“In light of yesterday, it was difficult to remain focused today. Even if we are professionals, it is not easy. I did my best to concentrate on my bike and on the track action. In Race 1, I made a good start but in the opening laps I couldn’t fully exploit the tyres, something we have been struggling with for a while. So a gap opened between me and the riders ahead and I was unable to catch them. It was a physically demanding race as, with a lot of grip, the bike was a bit aggressive and I had to fight to control it. Anyway, our pace was very similar to that of the leaders and another top five finish was really good after Catalunya, on a quite different track. I was expecting to struggle even more in Race 2 but with the warmer temperatures, the bike actually became easier and smoother to ride right from the start. Particularly from mid-race onwards, I was able to lap fast and consistently. I started to catch the riders ahead and then pass them. I enjoyed passing the other riders on the brakes and battling with them. In the end, we scored another podium and I’m happy because I felt so much better on the bike even if the conditions were worse than they had been this morning. We are all working so hard on the bike, never giving up, and so this progress and results are a reward for us all.”

Leon Haslam – P13 in Championship – 104 poiints

“Both of today’s races were disappointing in the end. Our pace earlier in the weekend meant that we should have been in line for a top five finish here, we’d worked hard on the tyres and were looking more consistent. But in race 1 I really struggled and had issues relating to both traction control and the engine brake. In the second race, we made a big change, and although this brought positives and negatives, the result was more or less the same as in race 1. So I’m frustrated as I really thought we’d be stronger. We need to understand how to improve this and now look ahead to Portimao.”

Kohta Nozane – P14 in Championship – 46 points

“It was a very difficult Saturday and Sunday for everyone because of yesterday’s events, but we know this sport is dangerous and we continued racing in Dean Berta Viñales’ memory. Race 1 began with a bad start and it was difficult to overtake many riders on the first lap. That said, my pace was not bad, I could stay consistently in the 1’41s, but overtaking Laverty turned out to be more difficult than I expected. At one point I made it through, but then I immediately made a mistake and he passed me back. On the last lap I tried again, but I went wide and couldn’t complete the pass. Still, it felt good to fight with him. In Race 2 things were looking better, my start was good, my pace was better and I was involved in a great battle in the first three laps, but then I made a mistake and I tucked the front at Turn 6. The result was disappointing, but it was still good experience for next year. Overall, it was a positive weekend, but the next round will be at Portimão, a new track for me, so it might not be as easy. We will take it step by step, I am happy about my pace in the last two rounds and I hope to build on it.”

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World Superbike Championship Standings

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WorldSSP

Any FIM Supersport World Championship rustiness for Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) after missing the Catalunya Round was soon shaken off as he claimed victory in the sole WorldSSP race for the Motul Spanish Round, finishing almost ten seconds clear of his rivals at the Circuito de Jerez – Angel Nieto while Yamaha wrapped up the Manufacturers’ Championship for the fifth consecutive campaign.

As the lights went out, Championship leader Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) got the jump from second on the grid to take the lead of the race while Italian debutant Stefano Manzi (GMT94 Yamaha) made progress off the line and moved into the top five for his first WorldSSP start. From there, Aegerter was unchallenged for race victory went on to win by over ten-seconds, with his winning enough to wrap up the Manufacturers’ Championship for Yamaha for the fifth time in a row. Aegerter joins Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) as the only two riders who have taken ten victories in a single WorldSSP campaign, while he now has 12 podiums and sits just one behind Kenan Sofuoglu for the all-time record.

Aegerter was able to break away from the chasing pack by posting a lap record to extend his lead over Philipp Oettl (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) to more than a second by the third lap. The win for Aegerter means he extends his Championship lead to 62-points over title rival Steven Odendaal (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team), with the South African rider finishing eighth; Odendaal making a mistake on Lap 2 at Turn 13 and dropping down the order.

The battle for the podium raged on throughout the 17-lap encounter with Oettl being hounded by Spanish sensation Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha ParkinGo Team) chasing the German down throughout the race. Gonzalez was unable to make his move in the first half of the race which allowed finish rider Niki Tuuli (MV Agusta Corse Clienti) to close in, applying the pressure to Gonzalez as he chased another podium finish. Tuuli made the move at Turn 13 on Lap 9 to move into third and soon set his sights on Oettl after the battle with Gonzalez allowed the German to break away. Oettl claimed second place ahead of Tuuli in third place, with Gonzalez unable to respond and finished fourth; Oettl’s podium the 150th podium placement for Kawasaki in WorldSSP.

Federico Caricasulo (Biblion Iberica Yamaha Motoxracing) battled back from a poor start and falling down to tenth to finish in fifth place after resisting a response from Turkish star Can Öncü (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) with Öncü claiming sixth place after another strong showing for the 18-year-old. Italian rider Raffaele De Rosa (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) claimed seventh place.

The battle for eighth was a three-way affair between Odendaal, Manzi and Randy Krummenacher (CM Racing) with each rider having their moments of leading the race. Krummenacher crashed out at Turn 6 as he looked to pass Mazni, taking him out of the race, with Odendaal finishing in eighth and Manzi ninth. Manzi’s teammate, Jules Cluzel, rounded out the top ten.

Marcel Brenner (VFT Racing) scored more points as his impressive form continued with 11th place, ahead of Estonian Hannes Soomer (Kallio Racing) as his recovery from injury continued with 12th place. Hungarian rider Peter Sebestyen (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team) was 13th as he added to his points total ahead of Federico Fuligni (VFT Racing) and Christoffer Bergman (Wojcik Racing Team) rounding out the top five and securing points in Jerez.

David Sanchis Martinez (WRP Wepol Racing) was around eight seconds back from a top 15 finish as he finished in 16th, with Kevin Manfredi (Altogo Racing Team) taking 17th place as the highest placed WorldSSP Challenge rider as he finished just three tenths clear of rival Maria Herrera (Biblion Iberica Yamaha Motoxracing). Leonardo Taccini (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) claimed 19th place ahead of Stephane Frossard (Moto Team Jura Vitesse) in 20th after he had a back-of-the-grid start for a tyre pressure infringement on the grid. Ondrej Vostatek (IXS-YART Yamaha) finished in 22nd with Shogo Kawasaki (G.A.P. MOTOZOO Racing by Puccetti) the last of the classified runners in 22nd.

Following the tragic events of Saturday in Jerez, Michel Fabrizio (G.A.P. MOTOZOO Racing by Puccetti and Marc Alcoba (Yamaha MS Racing) decided not to take part in the WorldSSP race.

Australian Billy van Eerde (IXS-YART Yamaha) was declared unfit ahead of the race with a right shoulder contusion and functional impairment.

Croatian Martin Vugrinec (Ferquest- Unior Racing Team) was the first retirement of the race after he had an opening lap crash at Turn 6, while rookie Unai Orradre (Yamaha MS Racing) retired after a technical issue early in the race. Finnish rider Vertti Takala (Kallio Racing) had a crash at Turn 11 on Lap 4 which forced him out of the race. Glenn van Straalen (EAB Racing Team) had a high-speed crash at Turn 12 on the seventh lap of the race which put him out of the race as his return to the Championship continued. Galang Hendra Pratama (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) crashed at Turn 6 on Lap 10 of the 17-lap encounter. Luigi Montella (Chiodo Moto Racing) had two during the race, at Turn 12 first and then Turn 2, eventually retiring from the race.

WSSP Race Results

WSSP Championship Standings

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WorldSSP300

The FIM Supersport 300 World Champion race on Sunday at the Circuito de Jerez – Angel Nieto with a race that could have huge Championship implications and twists as Bahattin Sofuoglu (Biblion Yamaha Motoxracing) took a commanding victory for Race 2 of the Motul Spanish Round while Championship leader Adrian Huertas (MTM Kawasaki) crashed out and saw his Championship lead cut.

Huertas got the jump at the start to take the lead as he looked to wrap up the Championship in Race 2 but the Spanish rider ran wide at Turn 6 and dropped from the lead group down into around 14th before he started fighting his way back through the field, before the same issue happened again a couple of laps later and dropped him down to 19th, before Huertas was involved in an incident with Samuel Di Sora (Leader Team Flembbo) at Turn 6 which forced the Championship leader out of the race; the incident to be investigated after the race by the FIM WorldSBK Stewards.

The first incident allowed Turkish star Bahattin Sofuoglu (Biblion Yamaha Motoxracing) to take the lead of the race and at around the halfway stage of the race, he tried to open up the gap at the front of the field so he could claim his second victory of the season, which he duly did so ahead of Iñigo Iglesias (SMW Racing) in second place, who gained who crossed the line in fourth place but gained two positions when Yuta Okaya (MTM Kawasaki) and Jeffrey Buis (MTM Kawasaki) were demoted one place for exceeding track limits on the final lap.

Okaya claimed third place ahead of team-mate Buis, whose fourth place coupled with Huertas’ non-score means the title battle will continue into the season finale in Portimao in just one week, with the gap just 36-points in favour of Huertas.

Australian youngster Harry Khouri was declared unfit to race by the stewards after being caught up in Saturday’s fatal accident.

WorldSSP300 Race Two Results

WorldSSP300 Championship Standing

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2021 WorldSBK Calendar

Source: MCNews.com.au