Philipp Oettl made his return to FIM Supersport World Championship action at the Circuito de Jerez – Angel Nieto when he linked up with the Feel Racing WorldSSP Team for the first time. The German rider spent two years in WorldSSP in 2020 and 2021 before competing in three WorldSBK campaigns but is now returning to the World Supersport. He’ll ride the team’s Ducati Panigale V2, which was taken to the title in 2023 by Nicolo Bulega and 2024 by Adrian Huertas.

After two seasons with the Panigale V4 R and a year with the Yamaha R1 in WorldSBK, Oettl will race the Panigale V2 in 2025 as he makes a step to WorldSSP, linking up with the squad that has won the last two titles when competing under the Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team banner. Having already claimed podiums in the class on the Kawasaki ZX-6R, Oettl will be hoping the combination of bike, team, and rider will allow him to fight for wins and the Championship.

Talking about re-adapting to World Supersport machinery, the German said: “It’s very difficult because the speeds on a WorldSBK machine are really different. You have no traction control. In the beginning, it was really difficult but with time, you adapt a little bit better. I think we did a good job. We tried two different bikes, basically to make myself a little bit more comfortable: rider position, rear brake on the handlebar. Very simple adaptations then tried the different tyres to see how the bike reacts. In the afternoon, we tried a few different setup things on the bike. We tried to keep it simple.”

During the test, Oettl completed 64 laps on Day 1 and 62 on Day 2 to total 126 at the Spanish circuit. He was one of three WorldSSP riders on track and although he finished second behind Tom Booth-Amos (PTR Triumph) on both days, his pace improved by around half-a-second between the two days. His fastest time on Tuesday was a 1’43.057s before he set a 1’42.523s on Wednesday.

Explaining his test programme, Oettl said: “It was really exciting because, after such a difficult year in WorldSBK, it was good to make some fast laps on the WorldSSP bike. I think adaptation was a big thing in these two days, but I got used to it quite well. It takes a little bit more time than two days. I think we found the basics and what I need, what I want. We had two bikes, and it was good to test a few different things and for the next test at Jerez in January, we’re well prepared. I’ll do some winter training and everything should be alright.”

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Source: WorldSBK.com