WorldSBK riders reflect on Jerez R1 + WorldSSP/300/WCR reports/results

WorldSBK 2024 – Round 12
Jerez – Saturday

WorldSBK Rider Quotes

Nicolò Bulega – P1

“I’m really happy because we have taken another win. It was the maximum I could do today. Congratulations to Toprak and BMW for a fantastic season. They’ve been very strong in every race. I started this weekend very fast from the beginning, and I had a really good feeling from the first lap. I was able to push the way I wanted, and that was the key. The most important thing for me is when I can ride the bike the way I want. I’m able to ride with my natural riding style. That’s when I can be faster, and that’s what happened today. I hope tomorrow we can have another great race and finish the championship on a high note. Winning the last race of the season is important for the mentality going into next year.”

Toprak Razgatlioglu – P2

“It hasn’t been an easy season for me. When I signed with BMW, some people said that my career was over but now we are World Champion. Everyone now understands my potential on the bike and that the BMW is a winning bike. I’m really happy. I want to say thanks to my team who have worked so hard every weekend! We are World Champions!”

Andrea Locatelli – P3

“I can be really, really happy with this performance! I think also for me and for Yamaha, we deserve this podium because we never stop believing and we never stop pushing hard for it. In the end, today is a good result for us. We need to keep working in this direction because, if we use our full potential every corner and every lap, we can be on the podium and I believe we can do it again. We were unlucky in Estoril because we were also close there, but it looks like now at the end of the season we have come back and we can show our potential. It is important to complete the season in the best way, to be more relaxed to work on the winter test programme and prepare well for next year. We have two more races tomorrow, so I am looking forward to fighting again for the podium before we finish.”

Alex Lowes – P4

“Today was a lot better than yesterday. Even on the used tyres in FP3 this morning I was quite fast and we had grip on the bike. With more grip on the bike in Superpole I set my best ever lap of Jerez. I am getting older but still getting faster. That is positive and it was good to start from the front row, because WorldSBK is so tight now there are fifteen or sixteen guys who think that with a good start they could get on the podium – myself included. You need a bit of luck on the first lap. In the race itself, I felt great in the middle part, but towards the end I lost a bit of grip and drive off the corner. I thought maybe I would have a chance to attack Andrea, but he kept his pace and I lost some grip, so we will try to see if we can improve that for tomorrow.”

Iker Lecuona – P5

“Overall, I’m quite happy, honestly, starting with the qualifying session, which was my best this year. I set my lap time on my own without relying on others’ references and managed to put in a really good lap on my first tyre. I think I could have gone a bit faster, but I didn’t have the same feeling with the second tyre and lost some time in the last sector due to a lack of grip. Still, P5 was good enough and we were right there. In the race, I made a very good start, only losing a couple of positions, which I quickly regained over the first lap. I felt fast and passed Alex, but then suddenly lost the front at turn five. I saw myself on the ground already, but incredibly, I managed to save it. Then, two laps later, I nearly crashed again at turn eleven, with the front sliding and very little grip. At that point, I lost contact with Alex and Locatelli. Since they weren’t battling, I couldn’t catch up, and I figured that after two strong warnings, I had to be cautious. I couldn’t carry my usual corner speed, so I just focused on braking late, stopping the bike, turning, and basically surviving to bring home this top five result, which isn’t bad at all. Of course, with the podium within reach, it leaves us hungry for more, but we need to be happy with today and focus on improving the front feeling for tomorrow, especially on the right side. It’s something we need to analyze carefully.”

Michael van der Mark P6

Xavi Vierge – P7

“Overall, I’m happy with today. Yesterday we couldn’t gauge our real level, but after this morning’s FP3, we realized we were stronger than yesterday’s results suggested. In qualifying, I felt great on the bike and put in a strong lap, probably one of the fastest I’ve ever made here on this bike. Iker also did a brilliant job, showing we could reach the front. It was a real shame about the three-place grid penalty, which I don’t fully understand. On that lap, I was only a tenth slower through that sector than on my previous lap, and I don’t think I could have done anything different to enter the pits. I understand Loca was very close, but I don’t believe it was my fault that he aborted his lap, which wasn’t his best one anyway. Nevertheless, we accepted the penalty and just focused on making a good start. We overtook some riders but lost contact with the group ahead, and since we were lapping at a similar pace, it wasn’t possible to close the gap. Still, finishing in the top seven, close to the group fighting for a podium, was a positive way to start the weekend here in Jerez. Let’s see if we can find a little more tomorrow; we’ll also be able to start the Superpole race based on our actual qualifying result.”

Axel Bassani – P8

“The race was fun despite starting from P14. During my first lap of Superpole I found Jonathan Rea, who had crashed, in the middle of the track, so we lost that opportunity to set a faster lap. From the start of the race I lost some positions. Then the pace was good but I was struggling a lot with the front tyre from the beginning. Then I started to manage that and then the rear started to drop a little bit, but that is normal. We finished in eighth position, which a good result, and we were really near to a top five. We will work to try to find more for tomorrow.”

Dominique Aegerter – P9

“That was a decent Saturday for sure and to finish inside the top 10 is good, considering it was one of my targets. In qualifying it wasn’t easy to achieve a good starting grid position, we were close to the others in front and every thousandth of a second could make the difference. Then, in Race 1, I had a very good race pace, matching podium finisher Locatelli’s rhythm, which is promising for the remainder of the weekend.”

Garrett Gerloff – P10

Jonathan Rea – P11

“I got an “ok” start and found myself in a better track position than P16 in Turn 1, but from there it was honestly really tough. The temperature went up quite a bit from what we have had the rest of the weekend and everything felt a bit out of balance, both in the front and rear and I couldn’t find traction. A lot of things to work on and while I felt like I was miles away, overall it doesn’t take too much of an improvement just to put us back in the big group fighting for fifth. We will get our heads down overnight and try to understand my feeling to work on where we can improve.”

Andrea Iannone – P12

“Today was not a positive day for us, after Friday’s practice I expected to be able to fight in other positions, but we struggled a lot with traction and rear grip. I scored some points, but we need to analyze the data well and find a solution for tomorrow, we hope to do better in Race 2 and finish the championship in the best possible way.”

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Tetsuta Nagashima – P15

“I really enjoyed this first race at Jerez with the full WorldSBK field. At first, I struggled a bit with rear grip, especially through the tighter corners, but as the race went on, I learned a lot riding alongside the regulars. This helped me to improve lap by lap as I figured out how to manage the tyres better. This experience will be even more valuable for our future work because I now have a clearer idea of where we need to improve the bike so as to take another step forward. Iker and Xavi are putting in strong performances, but there’s still room for improvement in certain areas where we still have limitations. Maybe I can help work on these areas going forward, so this wildcard entry has been a great opportunity in every way. Tomorrow, we’ll try to make a few small changes in order to gather more data for the test team.”

Alessandro Delbianco – P19

“It was a productive Saturday overall. In the qualifying, I was able to improve considerably my lap time and go under 1’40, which is good for the rest of the weekend as well. Then, in Race 1 I tried to make my best and overall we showed consistent speed, gaining useful data for tomorrow. We’ll now check the data and look for further improvements for the final races of the weekend.”

Ivo Lopes P20

“I felt that FP3 was useful as I was able to understand more about the bike, so definitely a constructive session. Superpole was more difficult because the bike stopped on lap one and then we only had time to make one fast lap at the end. I was pushing but could only do so much. In the race I was short on grip, and this made it difficult for me to stick with those ahead. I did my best and completed the race but now I want to work with the team to see if we can improve the setting for tomorrow races. I understand the bike more now that I’ve done a few races in a row, but we need to find another half a second a lap at least to be more competitive.”

Alvaro Bautista – P23

“It certainly wasn’t the best Saturday in my career. But we must always learn from our mistakes and use the difficulties to grow. We’ll try again tomorrow to close this season in the best way”.

Tarran Mackenzie P24

“Qualifying went a bit better this morning, I’d say. As for the race, I made a good start and was quick through the first couple of corners but then I got caught up in a bit of a melee and went down on lap one. I was able to pick the bike back up and then just rode for the rest of the race as well as I could. The handlebar was a bit bent, but I decided to stay out and clock up some more miles and understanding ahead of tomorrow’s race and next week’s test. So not the best race but at least we can carry something forward into tomorrow’s races.”

Danilo Petrucci – DNF

“I prefer not to comment on today’s race, mainly because there’s not much to say… At turn three, a very aggressive move by Lowes pushed me wide, and I ended up in the middle of the group. At turn five, I just felt the contact, and I found myself in the gravel. To avoid hitting the wall, I threw myself to the ground.”

WorldSBK Race One Report

Dry and sunny conditions set the stage for a memorable opening race at Jerez on Saturday. Bulega took the holeshot ahead of Razgatlioglu. Locatelli was third ahead of Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK), Iker Lecuona (Team HRC) and BMW’s Michael van der Mark (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team).

British riders Tarran Mackenzie (PETRONAS MIE Racing Honda) and Thomas Bridewell (Honda Racing UK) crashed out of contention at turn 6 on the opening lap. Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) also retired after a crash on lap one, whilst 2023 World Champion Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) was another one to hit the gravel. Bautista recovered and rejoined the race at the back of the field, before crashing once again with just three laps of race distance remaining.

Back at the front, it was clear Razgatlioglu could not match the strong race pace demonstrated by Bulega. Likewise Locatelli was unable to hunt down a consistent Razgatlioglu in second.

Kawasaki’s Lowes was closely matched with Lecuona just outside of the rostrum rankings, with Toprak’s stablemate, van Der Mark riding in sixth.

The positions stayed much the same throughout Race 1, and dismissing any rider mistakes, it was clear the Spanish spectators were going to witness the 2024 World Champion claiming his crown on Saturday afternoon.

As the riders entered into the final lap of the race, the BMW garage prepared for what would be an historic day for them, as Toprak rode across the line in second place to seal his World Championship title in the first race of the Spanish round.

The 28-year-old Turkish rider builds on his success in 2021, adding another World Superbike Championship to his name and achieving BMW’s first ever Championship win in the class.

WorldSBK Race One Results

WorldSBK Superpole Results

WorldSBK Championship Points

WorldSSP Race One

Stefano Manzi (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing) was keen to take the Championship decider to Sunday, and despite an outstanding ride where he dominated the field in first position throughout, he was unable to hold off the consistent Huertas. The Italian rider was strong from lights out, as he led Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) and Triumph’s Thomas Booth-Amos (PTR Triumph) in the first lap.

Chasing down a rostrum finish, was Ducati’s Jorge Navarro (Orelac Racing VerdNatura), who was ahead of the Championship leader in fifth, with 14 laps remaining. His race was cut short however, as he was taken out of contention at Turn 13 by Can Oncu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing), with Oncu given a double Long Lap Penalty for the crash. Huertas moved up to fourth as a result, closely followed by Germany’s Marcel Schroetter (MV Agusta Reparto Corse).

As the laps passed, the 2020 WorldSSP300 Champion found some late race pace, moving into third and attempting to chase down Montella. As the race progressed further, Huertas opted to sit behind Montella and even dropped a couple of seconds behind as he brought home his podium finish to take the 2024 crown and become the first rider to win both the WorldSSP and WorldSSP300 titles.

Britain’s Booth-Amos was unable to maintain his early pace, falling out of podium contention. Marcel Schroetter led Lucas Mahias (GMT94 Yamaha) over the line to finish in fourth and fifth, whilst Booth-Amos and Dutchman Bo Bendsneyder (MV Agusta F3 800 RR MV Agusta Reparto Corse) claimed sixth and seventh.

A positive weekend for John McPhee (WRP by SKM-Triumph) saw the Scottish rider go over the chequered flag in eighth, ahead of Niccolo Antonelli (Ecosantagata Althea Racing Team) and Lorenzo Baldassarri (WRP by SKM-Triumph) who completed the top ten.

Huertas becomes the youngest ever WorldSSP Champion at 21 years old and stood on the podium for the eighteenth time this season following his third-place result. The young Spaniard will be leaving the paddock however, as he moves to the Moto2 World Championship in 2025. All riders are now focusing their attention on the final race of the 2024 season on Sunday afternoon with second place in the championship standings yet to be decided between Italians, Manzi and Montella.

Adrian Huertas – 2024 WorldSSP Champion

“This is a dream come true for me. From the very first day with this team, I thought I could be in a position to achieve an important result. I am pleased, and I would like to share this feeling with everyone close to me. I thank my family, my staff, my fans. And I would like to address a special thought to those who gave me this opportunity. I will always be grateful to Aruba and Feel Racing. But I want to stay focused and think about tomorrow to give everyone another satisfaction.”

Oli Bayliss suffered with front end grip problems and eventually crashed at turn two after losing the front. Tom Edwards the first Australian across the line in 19th, one position ahead of countryman Luke Power.

WorldSSP Race One Results

WorldSSP Championship Points

WorldSSP300 Race One

As ever in WorldSSP300, the race went down to the wire with Salvador resisting Julio Garcia’s run to the line to claim victory by just 0.003s ahead of the Kove machine, with the #48 once again denied victory right at the end of the race. Championship leader Aldi Mahendra (Team BrCorse) completed the podium, but he didn’t claim the title, although he takes a 22-point lead into Sunday’s Race 2 as he looks to become Indonesia’s first World Champion. The 0.003s margin is the second-closest in WorldSSP300 history, while Mahendra’s podium was Yamaha’s 100th in the Championship; Salvador’s victory was their 99th.

Antonio Torres (ProDina Kawasaki Racing) was a consistent presence at the front of the field and came home in fourth ahead of Loris Veneman (MTM Kawasaki) at the line, but he was demoted by one position for irresponsible riding at the finish line. That meant he was classified in sixth, with Marco Gaggi (Team BrCorse) promoted into fifth. The top six were separated by just 0.820s, while Veneman has to overturn a 23-point deficit if he’s to claim the 2024 title.

2017 Champion Marc Garcia (KOVE Racing Team) secured seventh as both Kove’s finished in the top ten, ahead of Galang Hendra Pratama (ProGP NitiRacing) in eighth with the Indonesian rider 0.909s back from victory, the final rider within a second of the win.

Carter Thompson (Fusport-RT Motorsport by SKM-Kawasaki) was ninth after starting from pole position. The Australian had to take evasive action to avoid an early melee which demoted him all the way down to 16th. Thompson regrouped and made his all the way up to lead the race at one stage before being pushed wide which again shuffled him down the field, eventually crossing the line in ninth, only a second behind the race winner.

WorldSSP300 Race One Results

WorldSSP300 Championship Points

WorldWCR Race One

Title contender Maria Herrera (Klint Forward Factory Team) achieved what she set out to do on Saturday, storming to victory in the penultimate WorldWCR race of the season and leaving everything to play for in Sunday’s finale.

With the bit firmly between her teeth as the race got underway, Herrera took an early lead ahead of championship leader Ana Carrasco (Evan Bros Racing Yamaha Team), Beatriz Neila (Ampito / Pata Prometeon Yamaha) and Sara Sanchez (511 Terra&Vita Racing Team). Separated by half a second at most, this quarter took turns out front in the early stages of this 11-lap thriller.

It was Sanchez who very much took charge over the second half of the race, setting the pace out front and doing a very effective job of preventing either Herrera or Carrasco from passing her.

A chaotic final lap brought an unfortunate crash for race leader Sanchez, who was thus denied a likely top three finish. While Herrera profited from the situation to move into the lead and snatch the win, Carrasco and Neila battled it out to the line, with Ana just pipping Beatriz to the post by 0.021 of a second.

With championship leader Carrasco banking another 20 points today, the Spaniard now holds a 13-point lead over Herrera with another 25 up for grabs tomorrow. The inaugural WorldWCR title will be awarded to one of these two riders tomorrow.

Now out of the running for the title, Sanchez continues to hold third in the general standings, a position she will be looking to defend in Race 2. Not least because Neila lies just 14 points behind thanks to her third-place finish today.

Fourth across the line, a consistently strong Roberta Ponziani (Yamaha Motoxracing WCR Team) secured her eighth top five finish of the 2024 season and maintains fifth place in the general standings.

Pakita Ruiz (PS Racing Team 46+1) and wildcard entry Chloe Jones (GR Motorsport) fought long and hard for fifth position, a battle ultimately won by the Spaniard. The Brit nevertheless put in a very strong debut performance, finishing her first WorldWCR race just 0.2 of a second outside the top five.

Finishing P7, Tayla Ralph (TAYCO Motorsport) scored more solid points ahead of Jessica Howden (Team Trasimeno), Mallory Dobbs (Sekhmet Motorcycle Racing Team) and Isis Carreno (AD78 FIM Latinoamerica by Team GP3), with this trio of riders crossing the line within a second of each other.

Having set the fastest time in the opening race, Sanchez will be in pole position for the final race of the 2024 season, just ahead of Herrera, Neila and Carrasco.

The latter stages of the race unfortunately brought crashes for wildcard Sonia Lloyd, Emily Bondi (YART Zelos Black Knights Team) and Adela Ourednickova (DaftMotoracing by Smrz), although the riders were fortunately unhurt.

P1 | Maria Herrera | Klint Forward Factory Team

“I didn’t know if I’d be able to win today but knew I had strong pace and good corner speed. I followed Sara for the best part of the race, but I knew that if I wanted to close the points gap to Ana, I needed to try to win rather than settle for third. To be honest, I feel that the bike is still slow along the straight, and we need to try to find something there for Race 2. In any case, the strategy for tomorrow will be to attack through every corner. And if Sara is there between me and Ana then even better! I’ll start from the front row, which is good, now we just have to see what we can do.”

P2 | Ana Carrasco | Evan Bros Racing Yamaha Team

“I knew the race would involve four or five riders out front and I was right. I tried to push early on to see if we could reduce the size of the group, but it was almost impossible with the wind. I saw that Sara was pushing and so I chose to sit in third and wait until the last lap to avoid being caught up in a battle. I felt really good on the bike and knew I had strong pace. On the last lap, I tried to make a pass through turn 6 but I was a bit wide, and Maria got past me. I recovered fast from that but then another small mistake meant that Beatriz also passed me. From there, I just pushed to try and recover second position, and we were able to do that. Yes, it’s true that I wanted to win today, but in terms of the championship, I have to be happy with second.”

P3 | Beatriz Neila | Ampito / Pata Prometeon Yamaha

“I’m racing here at home at Jerez and so I really wanted to be able to do something special here this weekend. I had no idea how the race would go, but in the end, we were able to cross the line third, which is something incredible for me. I was fighting so hard and am so pleased with the result today. I was also aware of the championship situation and didn’t want to create any problems for Maria or Ana, running a clean race, which we did. I want to thank everybody, the team of course, and my family, who are here with me. I think we have the potential to do it again tomorrow; I’ll try my best!”

WorldWCR Race One Results

WorldWCR Championship Standings