2021 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship
Round 12 – Circuito San Juan Villicum, San Juan
Superpole Race
The 10-lap Tissot Superpole Race was decided by a drag race to the finish line at the Circuito San Juan Villicum with Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) and Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) dicing it out for Superpole Race honours.
Toprak Razgatlioglu claimed the lead of the race into turn one after leap-frogging pole-sitter Scott Redding while Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) was straight into podium contention from fifth on the grid and immediately battling with Razgatlioglu and Redding.
At the end of lap three, Redding lost ground to Razgatlioglu after running wide at the final corner, allowing Rea to put pressure on the Ducati rider while the Turkish star was able to extend his lead at the front of the field.
Redding was able to spend a few laps recovering the time to Razgatlioglu before putting pressure on the race leader and taking the battle up to him all the way to the line; Redding looking to make a move into turn six and seven but Razgatlioglu responded to hold on to the line by just 0.046s.
RAZGATLIOGLU Toprak TUR PATA YAMAHA with BRIXX WorldSBK 16’20.713
REDDING Scott GBR ARUBA Racing – Ducati 0.046
REA Jonathan GBR Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK 3.419
As in Saturday’s race one, Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) lost ground at the start of the race but was able to fight back to claim fourth place, his best dry-weather result, in the Superpole Race after passing Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) in lap three; Lowes would drop back to ninth in the closing stages of the race.
Michael van der Mark (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) and Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) once again battled it out on track with the Dutchman coming out on top to claim fifth place, with Italian rookie Locatelli in sixth and one second back from van der Mark.
After topping warm-ip on Sunday morning, Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) claimed seventh place after making progress from his starting spot, with Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) in eighth place; the Italian had battled his way up the order before losing a couple of spots in the latter stages of the race. Lowes will complete the third row after finishing ninth.
World Superbike Superpole Race Results
- RAZGATLIOGLU Toprak TUR PATA YAMAHA with BRIXX WorldSBK 16’20.713
- REDDING Scott GBR ARUBA Racing – Ducati 0.046
- REA Jonathan GBR Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK 3.419
- BASSANI Alex ITA Motocorsa Racing 5.407
- VAN DER MARK Michael NDL BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team 8.556
- LOCATELLI Andrea ITA PATA YAMAHA with BRIXX WorldSBK 9.608
- GERLOFF Garrett USA GRT Yamaha WorldSBK 9.821
- RINALDI Michael Ruben ITA ARUBA Racing – Ducati 10.415
- LOWES Alex GBR Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK 12.063
- HASLAM Leon GBR Team HRC 15.170
- BAUTISTA Alvaro SPA Team HRC 15.685
- RABAT Tito SPA Kawasaki Puccetti Racing 18.017
- DAVIES Chaz GBR Team GOELEVEN 18.470
- NOZANE Kohta JPN GRT Yamaha WorldSBK 20.327
- LAVERTY Eugene IRE BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team 20.341
- MERCADO Leandro ARG MIE Racing HONDA Team 21.262
- VINALES Isaac SPA ORELAC Racing VERDNATURA 21.534
- CAVALIERI Samuele ITA TPR Team Pedercini Racing 26.152
- PONSSON Christophe FRA Alstare Yamaha 27.693
- RIBODINO Luciano ARG OUTDO Kawasaki TPR 47.417
- SOLORZA Marco ARG OUTDO Kawasaki TPR 51.079
Race Two
Argentinian action in WorldSBK race two at the San Juan circuit saw the championship top three engaged in a hard-fought 21-lap battle with Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) coming out on top, Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) second and Toprak Razgatlioglu third (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK). In earlier weekend racing, Razgatlioglu won Saturday’s race one and the Sprint, while Rea took two podiums – a second in race one and a third in Sunday’s quick dash.
The Turk now holds a 30 point lead over Rea (531 to 501 points) with Redding back in third on 465 points, with the title-decider in the 2021 Motul FIM Superbike World Championship going down to the wire and to be decided at the final round, a month away at Indonesia’s Mandalika International Street Circuit on November 19-21.
Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) got a good start from third on the grid while Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) led from pole position. The pair battled through the first three laps, with Redding joining the fray, and Rea taking the lead briefly before being pushed down to third on the fourth lap of 21.
On lap five, the Ducati star moved up to second with a pass on Rea before passing Razgatlioglu, while Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) continued his strong form as he battled the championship’s top three for a podium position.
Rea was able to respond to move into second and looked to take the lead, but the Turkish star was able to resist the challenge on lap six. At the start of lap nine, Redding made a move on Rea into turn one to move up into second place, with Razgatlioglu still out in front, although Redding did make a move into turn eight, with Razgatlioglu responding instantly.
On lap ten at turn seven, Redding overtook Razgatlioglu to capture the lead, with Rea almost able to pass the Turkish star into Turn 8 but Razgatlioglu responded to keep second place. The move allowed Redding to escape the thrilling battles, with the fight between Razgatlioglu, Rea and Bassani continuing.
Rea cut back under Razgatlioglu into turn seven to briefly move into second place on lap 14 but Razgatlioglu regained the position under braking into turn eight. On Lap 16, Rea made the crucial overtake to move into turn one but Razgatlioglu fought back until turn five with the pair side-by-side throughout the sequence. After this, Rea was able to break away to claim second place ahead of Razgatlioglu, with Redding claiming his first victory since Catalunya.
Bassani dropped away from the lead trio in the closing stages but still recorded fourth place after another excellent race for the Italian rookie as he withstood a late challenge from Ducati stablemate Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) by just half-a-second at the end of the 21-lap race. With the top four battling it out in the early stages, Michael van der Mark (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) was running in the lead group with fifth place before he was passed by Rinaldi, eventually coming home in sixth place.
Yamaha stablemates Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) and Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) finished in seventh and eighth respectively with American star Gerloff missing out in seventh spot by just three tenths at the end of the race. Despite missing out on seventh place, Gerloff’s points, coupled with teammate Kohta Nozane finishing in 14th place, was enough for GRT Yamaha to claim the Best Independent Teams’ title in 2021.
Chaz Davies (Team GoEleven) and Alvaro Bautista (Team HRC) battled it out for ninth place in the closing stages of the race with just eight tenths separating the duo as they crossed the line. Bautista, a race winner at San Juan for Ducati but making his first appearance on Honda machinery in Argentina, battled back from 15th place after missing out on a top-nine spot in the morning Tissot Superpole Race.
Bautista’s Team HRC team-mate, Leon Haslam, was 11th with both Team HRC riders taking points for the team’s first appearance at San Juan. Tito Rabat (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) claimed 12th place ahead of Spanish compatriot Isaac Viñales (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) in 13th with Viñales showing strong pace throughout the weekend. Nozane took 14th place with home hero Leandro ‘Tati’ Mercado 15th (MIE Racing Honda Team) – coming home with points despite running wide at turn one late on in the race.
Irish rider Eugene Laverty (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team), still standing in for Tom Sykes, finishing in 16th place and half-a-second clear of Christophe Ponsson (Gil Motor Sport-Yamaha) in 17th and Samuele Cavalieri (Barni Racing Team) in 18th. Two Argentinean riders finished in 19th and 20th with OUTDO TPR Team Pedercini Racing duo Luciano Ribodino and Marco Solorza rounding out the field.
World Superbike Race Two Results
- REDDING Scott GBR ARUBA Racing – Ducati
- REA Jonathan GBR Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK
- RAZGATLIOGLU Toprak TUR PATA YAMAHA with BRIXX WorldSBK
- BASSANI Alex ITA Motocorsa Racing
- RINALDI Michael Ruben ITA ARUBA Racing – Ducati
- VAN DER MARK Michael NDL BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team
- LOCATELLI Andrea ITA PATA YAMAHA with BRIXX WorldSBK
- GERLOFF Garrett USA GRT Yamaha WorldSBK
- DAVIES Chaz GBR Team GOELEVEN
- BAUTISTA Alvaro SPA Team HRC
- HASLAM Leon GBR Team HRC
- RABAT Tito SPA Kawasaki Puccetti Racing
- VINALES Isaac SPA ORELAC Racing VERDNATURA
- NOZANE Kohta JPN GRT Yamaha WorldSBK
- MERCADO Leandro ARG MIE Racing HONDA Team
- LAVERTY Eugene IRE BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team
- PONSSON Christophe FRA Alstare Yamaha
- CAVALIERI Samuele ITA TPR Team Pedercini Racing
- RIBODINO Luciano ARG OUTDO Kawasaki TPR
- SOLORZA Marco ARG OUTDO Kawasaki TPR
Rider Quotes
Scott Redding
“The thing is I didn’t feel that great and, in the beginning, there was a lot of fighting and then Bassani came past. I didn’t want to go back more, I tried to come back. I got quite aggressive, I said I would show my aggressive side if that’s what it needs to be. I got to the front and gave it all back. I started to get the rhythm again, I saw they were fighting again and then I didn’t make a mistake. I knew once I got through the first two sectors, I was safe with my pace. I just got a really good rhythm, corner after corner, and that was it and the rest was history.”
Toprak Razgatlioglu
“I am, again, very close to a triple win but I tried my best in the race. In the last three laps, I tried every lap, feeling the limit. Also, I tried for second position but after I settled for third position. I said this morning it wouldn’t be an easy Race 2 because everybody was very strong. I am happy. I am again on the podium.”
Jonathan Rea
“I was really happy with how I felt on the bike, and more so in Race Two. We did something really strange with the bike set-up that you wouldn’t consider and it transformed the bike, especially the grip level I had from the beginning. I have been struggling all weekend to make the tyres work – and then I had it. The combination of SC2 front and SCX rear tyre really worked. Today I had traction and feeling and I could play with the bike. In Race Two I just lost a bit of time behind Toprak and Scott was able to really go. I really want thank my team today, especially Pere because he never gave up investigating my problems. In this weekend, in this race, we could find something good. We won’t give up and we will keep working really hard. I enjoyed the race and I enjoyed being here in Argentina, so thank you to all the fans who came out to see us. It was really nice to see them. I am really looking forward to Indonesia.”
Alex Lowes
“The weekend started off well and I felt a good step in my performance, compared to the last few rounds, with my hand. The first race was really good with fourth place finish but then on Sunday when I woke up after the effort we put in yesterday I was in a lot of pain. We tried to ride in the Superpole race but I just didn’t have enough power. So we had to make the decision to stop the weekend early. The good thing is that this is another track, on another weekend, where we have shown our speed. Obviously it is disappointing given all the effort it has taken to be here not to compete in all three races but we have to look at the positive points and focus on going forward.”
Michael van der Mark
“It has been a good Sunday. This morning in warm-up, we tried something different with the bike but in the end we weren’t really sure so we went back to yesterday’s set-up. In the Superpole race, I had a good race, I had fun and enjoyed it a lot. I had some good battles and was pretty fast, faster than yesterday. It was nice to start from fifth on the grid for race two. I had an okay start and was in the group fighting for the podium. To be honest, in the beginning I was struggling a bit with the full fuel tank. Towards the end of the race I was alone but I was riding a good pace and it was nice to see what we can do. I think that it has been an overall good weekend. We take some good points home and it was nice to be able to fight with the guys for the podium today in race two but for sure we need to be a little bit faster.”
Garrett Gerloff
“It was nice to start the day with a very good pace and the Yamaha R1 felt great. Unfortunately, I had a really difficult time at the beginning of both races, which prevented us from getting much better results. I was able to make progress, but not as much as I would have wanted. It’s frustrating because I know our potential is way better than this, we just need to put the pieces together so we can use the pace that we have and try to move up the leaderboard.”
Eugene Laverty,
“Altogether, from my side, it has been a very tough weekend. I struggled to make progress. We changed the bike to improve my feeling and we never made any major breakthrough. Also in the last race to finish outside the points after giving my everything over the entire race was a bitter pill to swallow so I am disappointed with my performance. All the guys in the team deserved a better result but unfortunately I wasn’t able to deliver it. Thanks for this great opportunity to be in the team for these three rounds. I am just disappointed with myself that I could not do more.”
Alvaro Bautista
“Today we tried to improve our feeling with respect to yesterday because I’ve been struggling all weekend here to be honest. By making some adjustments to the electronics, we took a small step forward and my pace improved a little bit in the Superpole race as a result. Then in Race 2 we made another small step in terms of feeling, and I was able to maintain a more consistent pace, almost one second faster than I had been up until that point. Let’s say that we have progressed during the weekend but unfortunately not enough to run closer to the front. We’ve struggled at this track, yes, but I think that the work completed and the information gathered will be useful to the technicians in the future. I thank HRC as always because they continue to work really hard. Now we have time to rest up after so many weeks and races in a row. It’s almost a month until the last round in Indonesia, at a track that is new for everyone, so we will see; it’s always interesting to discover a new track.”
Leon Haslam
“To be honest, the result was essentially what we expected. I struggled over the last six laps or so in race 2, as we had a similar brake problem as in the previous race, but generally the bike was quite stable and Alvaro and me were together for a good part of the race. I finished all three races in tenth or eleventh place, which is more or less where we thought we’d be here; we did what we could. On Wednesday I will be in Barcelona for a minor surgery on my bicep tendon (right arm), something we’ve been managing during recent rounds, and then, if the recovery is as quick as it should be, I’ll be fit for Indonesia where I hope to finish the season strong.”
World Superbike Championship Standings
- Toprak Razgatlioglu 531
- Jonathan Rea 501
- Scott Redding 465
- Michael Rinaldi 278
- Andrea Locatelli 270
- Michael Van der Mark 236
- Alex Lowes 213
- Garrett Gerloff 213
- Axel Bassani 199
- Alvaro Bautista 180
- Tom Sykes 167
- Leon Haslam 134
- Chaz Davies 131
- Kohta Nozane 54
- Loris Baz 53
Supersport Race Two
Frenchman Jules Cluzel (GMT94 Yamaha / Yamaha YZF R6), after taking pole position on Saturday, started well and maintained the lead from flag to flag in the final Supersport race of the weekend.
On the first corner, an accident forced Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha ParkinGo Team / Yamaha YZF R6) and Steven Odendaal (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team / Yamaha YZF R6) – the latter in the running for the championship title – to re-join the race in last place.
Can Oncu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing / Kawasaki ZX-6R), lying second, challenged the race leader throughout, never letting him pull away, whereas behind him in third position was Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha / Yamaha YZF R6), leader in the overall championship standings.
Due to a crash six laps from the end, any hope Steven Odendaal may have been holding out for the world title slipped away in Argentina and he handed the 2021 WorldSSP World Champion title to Aegerter. In the early part of the race, Jules Cluzel set a new record before finishing first ahead of Oncu and Aegerter.
P1 Jules Cluzel (GMT94 Yamaha)
“Amazing! It’s a perfect weekend, I’ve never done that. It’s crazy, I’m so happy. As I say every time, I’m racing to enjoy and this weekend I enjoyed it so much. Let’s enjoy this moment, keep the mood like this for the last race. It was a crazy race, I really pushed hard from the beginning to the end. I did a really fast lap time at the end to try to make a gap to Öncü, but he was really strong today. Congratulations to him, congratulations to Aegerter to be World Champion. I want to wish a happy birthday to my grandmother because she is 80 today.”
J. Cluzel (GMT94 Yamaha / Yamaha YZF R6)
C. Oncu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing / Kawasaki ZX-6R)
D. Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha / Yamaha YZF R6)
P2 Can Öncü (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing)
“This weekend, we worked very hard. From Friday, we were strong and on Saturday we were trying to push, and we finished third because the other two guys were a little bit faster. This morning, Kenan told me that we needed to do a low 1m42 every lap, so we did it and we finished second. I’m really happy. I tried to just follow Cluzel and I had a really good feeling. I’m very happy and will try to do it again in Indonesia.”
P3 Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha)
“It’s fantastic to finish with the World Championship early… I don’t know what to say, I’m a little lost for words! It’s nice to be on the podium and to be World Champion. Just to say a big thanks to the Ten Kate team, they did a fantastic job. Today, the bike was better than yesterday. We were a little bit lucky at the first corner. We had a fantastic season, we had ten wins, many podiums and it’s just an amazing season. In my rookie season, to finish first is very nice. I hope tonight I can celebrate with some Argentinean fans, with my team and, for sure, we will have a big party tonight with some espresso!”
Supersport Race Two Results
- J. Cluzel (GMT94 Yamaha / Yamaha YZF R6)
- C. Oncu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing / Kawasaki ZX-6R)
- D. Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha / Yamaha YZF R6)
- H. Soomer (Kallio Racing / Yamaha YZF R6)
- P. Sebestyen (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team / Yamaha YZF R6)
- V. Debise (GMT94 Yamaha / Yamaha YZF R6)
- V. Takala (Kallio Racing / Yamaha YZF R6)
- G. van Straalen (EAB Racing Team / Yamaha YZF R6)
- M. Brenner (VFT Racing / Yamaha YZF R6)
- M. Gonzalez (Yamaha ParkinGo Team / Yamaha YZF R6)
- L. Taccini (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha / Yamaha YZF R6)
- P. Oettl (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing / Kawasaki ZX-6R)
- S. Morais (Wójcik Racing Team / Yamaha YZF R6)
- U. Orradre (Yamaha MS Racing / Yamaha YZF R6)
- J. Buis (G.A.P. MOTOZOO Racing by Puccetti / Kawasaki ZX-6R)
- M. Petratti (Yamaha MS Racing / Yamaha YZF R6)
Rt. S. Odendaal (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team / Yamaha YZF R6)
Rt. N. Tuuli (MV Agusta Corse Clienti / MV Agusta F3 675)
Rt. A. Gonzalez (VFT Racing / Yamaha YZF R6)
Rt. R. De Rosa (Orelac Racing VerdNatura / Kawasaki ZX-6R)
Dominique Aegerter
2021 World Supersport Champion
Ten Kate Yamaha WorldSSP Supported Team’s Dominique Aegerter was crowned the 2021 FIM Supersport World Champion at San Juan. Aegerter headed into this weekend with a 54-point lead in the championship, but could only manage fifth in Race 1, finishing just behind title rival Odendaal. The Swiss rider now needed to outscore Odendaal by two points on Sunday, and after the South African fell at Turn 1, it all-but guaranteed that the 2021 rookie would be crowned champion. He fought to a third-place finish, his 14th podium of the season, and became Yamaha’s ninth and the team’s 10th WorldSSP champion.
Dominique Aegerter – World Supersport Champion
“The first world title is amazing to get. It’s difficult to analyse right now, I can’t wait to celebrate with the team. I’ve waited at least 25 years to be world champion, now I am. It wasn’t easy, I’ve been working hard but I’m so happy to have achieved this goal. I didn’t feel the pressure, I was focused and pushing every lap in the second race just to get the best result I could. I lost many places at the start but my goal was to fight for the podium. I had the information that P4 was OK, but for me it wasn’t OK, so I built a gap. The last lap was an emotional lap and when I go over the line, I am world champion. I knew the title would be possible from the moment I signed the contract with the Ten Kate Yamaha team. They are very successful, the Yamaha R6 is very successful, and I could see how much the whole crew, both at the track and back in the workshop, were working towards the championship. Thank you to everyone, I am just super happy.”
Andrea Dosoli – Yamaha Motor Europe Road Racing Manager
“Congratulations to Dominique and Ten Kate Yamaha for the first title with us. Dominique has been impressive, he won 10 races and has dominated the championship to the point where he has won the title with one event to go, despite missing two race in Barcelona. He was able to manage the championship and stay calm, which shows how strong he is mentally and highlights his commitment. Our sport is about working as a team, and without a strong team it’s impossible to achieve good results. Ten Kate Yamaha are an important partner for us and have done an amazing job.”
World Supersport Championship Standings
- Dominique Aegerter 381
- Steven Odendaal 313
- Manuel Gonzalez 275
- Jules Cluzel 241
- Phillipp Oettl 241
- Can Oncu 163
- Luca Bernardi 161
- Federico Caricasulo 142
- Randy Krummenacher 140
- Raffaele De Rosa 137
