Toprak tops tragic Saturday at Jerez

2021 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship
Round Ten Jerez

The 2021 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship’s tenth round of the season at the Circuito de Jerez – Angel Nieto saw Toprak Razgatlioglu claim pole for Sunday racing at the MOTUL Spanish round.

After the sad passing of Dean Berta Viñales following an accident in the FIM Supersport 300 World Championship race one on Saturday, all Saturday track activity was cancelled. Sunday will now feature WorldSBK race one at 11am (local time) and race two at 2pm, while the Tissot Superpole Sprint Race has been cancelled. There will also be races for WorldSSP and WorldSSP300.

Having been knocked off his pole position perch last time out at Catalunya, Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) was eager to get back to the head of the field. However, it wouldn’t happen as Turkish delight was on order; Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) took a first pole of the year and a second of his career, as he powered to the head of the field. Razgatlioglu has not taken a pole since Estoril 2020.

With the WorldSBK field taking to the track under the beautiful Andalusian sunshine, the first laps came in with some riders going straight to the Q tyre for their first attack on pole. Both title contenders Toprak Razgatlioglu and Jonathan Rea on the Q tyres, as well as Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK), who shadowed team-mate Toprak on the first run.

However, it was formation flying as Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK), who is far from 100% fit as he nurses a right-hand injury, hit the front ahead of teammate Rea, both on the Q tyre, ahead of Locatelli, following the first flurry of action, both being the first riders into the sub-39 brackets with 1’38.7s, separated by just 0.005s. After the first run, Razgatlioglu was only tenth whilst there were surprises in the top ten, with Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) and Isaac Viñales (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) in seventh and eighth, both just behind an in-form Alvaro Bautista (Team HRC), who was fifth having not used the Q tyre straight away, whilst Leandro Mercado (MIE Racing Honda Team) was also impressive, in and around the top ten.

Leaving it later to go out on track for a first run, Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) was already up inside the top three, popping up to third after his first flying lap. Soon, he would be bumped back by teammate Michael Ruben Rinaldi, who set his first flying lap on the Q tyre after initially going out on race tyre rubber; Rinaldi went third and was, like the two Kawasaki ahead of him, in the 1’38s bracket. With further changes down the order, Razgatlioglu was down in 13th place.

The final two minutes set the grid as Alex Lowes improved further, dropping the time down to a 1’38.539, just two tenths outside of Jonathan Rea’s 2019 pole record. However, after being more than two tenths of a second down after three sectors, Toprak Razgatlioglu pulled out the final sector of his life, blasting to the line and storming to his first pole position of the season by just 0.027s. More than a tenth of a second faster in the final sector than his rivals, Razgatlioglu was on fire to deliver Yamaha’s first pole of 2021, beating Lowes who starts second, whilst Jonathan Rea couldn’t take it to the two ahead of him and for a second round running, finishes third. The pole for Yamaha is the 40th in their WorldSBK history, the first since Estoril in 2020, also by Razgatlioglu.

Fourth place went to the first Ducati rider, Scott Redding, who was able to hold off a late charge from teammate Michael Ruben Rinaldi, with the Italian completing the top five. Rinaldi has looked like he’s been fast with race pace too, so a top five starting position could well see him come to the fore in the race. Andrea Locatelli completes the second row, just more than half a second from his teammate’s top time.

ROW THREE SURPRISES: a shock in store?

Heading up the third row of the grid in seventh place is super-sub Loris Baz (Team GoEleven), who was top Independent at the end of Superpole. The Frenchman gave Team GoEleven a return to the top ten, whilst in the middle of the third row, Leon Haslam (Team HRC) took top Honda honours, ahead of his in-form teammate Alvaro Bautista, who takes a first top nine since Misano, which is encouraging given his ability to charge through the field and pull a result out. Completing the top ten, Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) held off a late challenge from a sensational Leandro Mercado, who takes his best Superpole result since Losail 2019.

THE REST OF THE FIELD: a comeback from behind?

Other riders further down the order included Axel Bassani who was 12th whilst it was another tricky Superpole session for BMW, with Michael van der Mark (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) heading up an all-BMW top five, with substitute teammate Eugene Laverty in 15th, both split by Jonas Folger (Bonovo MGM Racing). Isaac Viñales ended up 16th ahead of Kohta Nozane (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team), whilst Samuele Cavalieri (Barni Racing Team) was 18th. Marvin Fritz (IXS-YART Yamaha) was 19th, ahead of Andrea Mantovani (Vince64), Christophe Ponsson (Gil Motor Sport Yamaha), Loris Cresson (OUTDO TPR Team Pedercini Racing) and team-mate Lachlan Epis.

2021 Jerez WSBK Superpole

WorldSSP600

The Tissot Superpole session for the FIM Supersport World Championship was a tightly-contested affair at the Circuito de Jerez – Angel Nieto as Philipp Oettl (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) claimed his first WorldSSP pole position at the venue he took his first Moto3 win at in 2018 for the Motul Spanish Round as he edged out Championship leader Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha)

Oettl was quick on Friday in Jerez and he continued that into Saturday’s Superpole session as he posted a 1’41.798s to claim the first German pole position in WorldSSP since Sandro Cortese at Brno in 2018, his lap only just shy of the all-time lap record set by Federico Caricasulo (Biblion Iberica Yamaha Motoxracing). Aegerter claimed second position in Jerez on his return to WorldSSP after missing the Catalunya Round, while Caricasulo took his second front row of the season and his best result in Superpole since his pole position at Estoril.

Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha ParkinGo Team) will lead the front row off for both races after taking fourth place, 0.248s away from Oettl, while Randy Krummenacher (CM Racing) will line up fifth, missing out on fourth place by just 0.013s. Finnish rider Niki Tuuli (MV Agusta Corse Clienti) will complete the sixth row after a strong showing as the sole MV Agusta rider in Jerez.

Championship contender Steven Odendaal (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team) will lead away the third row with seventh place, hoping he can strike back against Aegerter in the races and close the Championship gap, while Raffaele De Rosa (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) will start eighth and Can Öncü (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) in ninth despite a Turn 6 crash late on in the session. Debutant Stefano Manzi (GMT94 Yamaha) took a top ten spot in his first WorldSSP Superpole session, with teammate Jules Cluzel in 12th.

Glenn van Straalen (EAB Racing Team) just missed out on a top ten starting spot with 11th on just his second round since returning to the Championship ahead of Cluzel and Federico Fuligni (VFT Racing) in 13th, while Kevin Manfredi (Altogo Racing Team) was the highest-placed WorldSSP Challenge rider in 14th place. Estonian Hannes Soomer (Kallio Racing) rounded out the top 15 as his recovery from injury continues.

Glenn van Straalen (EAB Racing Team) just missed out on a top ten starting spot with 11th on just his second round since returning to the Championship ahead of Cluzel and Federico Fuligni (VFT Racing) in 13th, while Kevin Manfredi (Altogo Racing Team) was the highest-placed WorldSSP Challenge rider in 14th place. Estonian Hannes Soomer (Kallio Racing) rounded out the top 15 as his recovery from injury continues.

Unai Orradre (Yamaha MS Racing) managed to set one flying lap during the session but crashed at Turn 1 in the early stages, forcing the Spanish rider to take stock before he re-joined the session to bring his Yamaha machine back to the pits; eventually securing 18th place. Martin Vugrinec (Ferquest – Unior Racing Team) crashed with around three minutes left in the session left, qualifying in 25th, while Öncü crashed at the same corner shortly after. Galang Hendra Pratama (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) was forced out of the session after the Indonesian rider crashed at Turn 10, eventually qualifying in 24th. Following the crash, Pratama was declared unfit for the Saturday’s action with suspected concussion. He will undergo further checks and assessments during the day.

Young Aussie Billy van Eerde (IXS-YART Yamaha) crashed at Turn 12 in the closing stages of the session, and will start from 27th on the grid.

2021 Jerez WSSP600 Superpole

WorldSSP300

Race 1 for the FIM Supersport was a dramatic affair with the title on the line but it was Jeffrey Buis (MTM Kawasaki) claiming victory at the Circuito de Jerez – Angel Nieto for the Motul Spanish Round, ensuring the title battle would go on until at least Race 2 tomorrow with teammate Adrian finishing in seventh place in the Red-Flagged race, with the race stopped on Lap 11.

As the 13-lap encounter got underway, Championship leader Adrian Huertas (MTM Kawasaki) kept the lead as he looked to wrap up the Championship in Race 1 with the Spanish rider facing pressure from his rivals throughout the race in a typically frantic WorldSSP300 race.

As the race progressed, Jeffrey Buis (MTM Kawasaki) battled his way up tp the lead group after starting from 12th place, claiming the victory by 0.113s ahead of Inigo Iglesias (SMW Racing) who claimed his first WorldSSP300 with second place, ahead of Bahattin Sofuoglu (Biblion Yamaha Motoxracing) in third; the first time he has taken three consecutive podiums in his WorldSSP300.

Brazilian rider Meikon Kawakami (AD78 Team Brasil by MS Racing) claimed fourth place in the shortened race, with Alvaro Diaz Cebrian (Acro-Motor University Team) in fifth place after another impressive race for the Spanish rider. Huertas was seventh which meant he did not win the title on Saturday, with teammate Yuta Okaya (MTM Kawasaki) just a tenth behind in eighth place.

Marc Garcia (Prodina Team WorldSSP300) was in ninth place as he held off the challenge from Oliver König (Movisio by MIE) as the Czech rider completed the top ten, with Victor Steeman (Freudenberg KTM WorldSSP Team) in 11th place. The returning Bruno Ieraci (Prodina Team WorldSSP300) scored points on his return to the Championship with Alessandro Zanca (Kawasaki GP Project) in 13th place. Dutch rider Koen Meuffels (MTM Kawasaki) was in 14th with Victor Rodriguez Nuñez (Machado CAME SBK) rounding out the points.

Mirko Gennai (Team BRcorse) finished in 16th place, Alex Millan Gomez (2R Racing) missed out on points by less than a second as he finished in 17th place with South African rider Dorren Louriero (Fusport – RT Motorsports by SKM – Kawasaki) in 18th. Uraguyan rider Facundo Llambias (Machado CAME SBK) was classified in 19th place with Ana Carrasco (Kawasaki Provec WorldSSP300) and Johan Gimbert (OUTDO TPR Team Pedercini Racing) rounding out the top 21.

Ton Kawakami (AD78 Team Brasil by MS Racing) was the first retirement from the race when he crashed at Turn 6, before a collision between Kevin Sabatucci (Kawasaki GP Project) and Jose Luis Perez Gonzalez (Accolade Smrz Racing) at Turn 9, with the incident to be investigated after the race by the FIM WorldSBK Stewards. Sabatucci did re-join the race but brought his bike back to the pits following the incident.

Gabriele Mastroluca (ProGP Racing) had a spectacular highside during the race which forced the Italian out of the race, while Ruben Bijman (Machado CAME SBK) was another retirement after a Turn 1 crash. Although he could re-join, he suffered a technical issue later on which put him out of the race. Yeray Ruiz (Yamaha MS Racing) crashed at Turn 9 on lap 9 but was able to re-join the race.

The race was Red Flagged after a crash at Turn 2 at the start of Lap 11 involving Dean Berta Viñales (Viñales Racing Team), Harry Khouri (Fusport – RT Motorsports by SKM – Kawasaki), Daniel Mogeda (Team#109 Kawasaki) and Alejandro Carrion (Kawasaki GP Project). Following great efforts by medical staff at Circuito de Jerez – Angel Nieto, Dean Berta Viñales sadly succumbed to injuries.

2021 Jerez SSP300  Race One

Motul Spanish WorldSBK Round schedule

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2021 WorldSBK Calendar