Aegerter leads WorldSSP Test | Khouri on track with 300s

Catalunya World Supersport Test 2021 – Day 1

Swiss rider Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) has dominated the first day of the Catalunya test, demonstrating why he had been signed by Ten Kate Racing for the upcoming season as he made it a clean sweep of fastest times on Monday. That included posting a time that was faster than Andrea Locatelli’s pole lap from 2020, albeit on a slightly revised layout.

Aegerter had topped the morning session by half-a-second from Federico Caricasulo (GMT94 Yamaha) but the times were a lot closer come the afternoon, with Caricasulo and Aegerter trading fastest laps as the afternoon session came to an end. Eventually, the Moto2 race winner edged out Caricasulo by nearly three tenths of a second. Caricasulo, returning from a season of competing in WorldSBK, was immediately ahead of teammate Jules Cluzel, with the Italian half-a-second clear after day one.

South African rider Steven Odendaal (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team) finished the day in fourth place but suffered a crash in the afternoon session at Turn 2 with Odendaal going to Granollers Hospital for further assessments following the crash.

Christoffer Bergman (Wojick Racing Team) continued his impressive form from the morning session with fifth place, just holding off the challenge of Raffaele De Rosa (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) by a tenth of a second. De Rosa’s Orelac Racing teammate, Leonardo Taccini, finished the day in 24th place as he gets ready for a WorldSSP Challenge campaign.

Yamaha MS Racing’s Marc Alcoba finished in seventh place for the day as the rookie showed strong pace from the start of the day while teammate Pawel Szkopek was 22nd for the day as the duo work together for the first time. Manuel Gonzalez’s (Yamaha ParkinGo Team) adaptation from Kawasaki to Yamaha machinery continued at a strong rate as he posted the eighth best time of the day.

WorldSSP Challenge competitor Maria Herrera (Biblion Iberica Yamaha Motoxracing) also had a strong day as she finished in ninth place, beating Estonian rider Hannes Soomer (Kallio Racing) by just a few hundredths of a second.

Soomer’s Kallio Racing teammate, Vertti Takala, was just one of three riders from WorldSSP who did not improve their time in the afternoon session, with Takala’s best time coming in the morning session despite an incident in the latter stages of the session.

2019 Champion Randy Krummenacher (EAB Racing Team) was 11th for the day on his return to the Championship after he missed most of the 2020 campaign. CM Racing’s Luca Bernardi finished the day in 12th place as he prepares for his rookie WorldSSP season. Fellow Italian Luigi Montella, who was fifth in the morning session, finished in 13th place on a strong day for the Italian, just ahead of Finnish rider Niki Tuuli (MV Agusta Corse Clienti).

Britain’s Danny Webb (WRP Wepol Racing) was in 15th place despite not taking part in the afternoon session following a crash between Turns 5 and 6. Federico Fuligni (VFT Racing) was 17th as he made his debut for his new team with Ten Kate Racing’s Galang Hendra Pratama in 18th.

Fuligni’s teammate at VFT Racing, Davide Pizolli, was 19th with the returning Michel Fabrizio (Motozoo Racing by Puccetti) and teammate Shogo Kawasaki in 20th and 23rd place respectively; the latter competing in the WorldSSP Challenge in 2021. His rival for that competition, Stephane Frossard (Moto Team Jura Vitesse), was 21st.

Catalunya Test 2021 – World Supersport Day 1 Results

World Supersport 300

Bahattin Sofuoglu (Biblion Yamaha Motoxracing) topping the timesheets for the opening day at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in the World Supersport 300 class; a day that was disrupted by several Red Flag periods and interrupted running and reduced the running time from the originally planned four hours on Monday.

Turkish rider Bahattin Sofuoglu (Biblion Yamaha Motoxracing) claimed first place for the day as he continued to show his prowess in WorldSSP300 with a time that was faster than any time set last year throughout the only Catalan Round to date, albeit with a slightly revised layout at the Turn 10 left-hander. Sofuoglu’s teammate, Italian rider Marco Gaggi, finished the day in 13th place after he made the switch to Biblion Yamaha Motoxracing for the 2021 campaign as the duo enjoyed a fruitful day in the Catalunya sunshine.

Spanish rider Huertas finished the disrupted day as the second fastest rider after posting a 1’55.378s in the afternoon session as he got to know his new team following his switch to MTM Kawasaki for 2021. He lined up at the test alongside two of his three teammates with Koen Meuffels in 11th, despite a crash in the final part of the lap, and reigning World Champion Jeffrey Buis in 14th; the Dutchman running the #1 plate in 2021 following his Championship success.

In third was Ton Kawakami (AD78 Team Brasil by MS Racing) as the Brazilian rider, alongside brother Meikon, continued to show their impressive speed. Ton had topped the morning session and continued his strong pace with Meikon finishing the day in 17th place. Also in the MS Racing outfit, Unai Orradre (Yamaha MS Racing) finished the day in sixth place despite the Spaniard crashing at Turn 10 in the afternoon session to lose out on some valuable track time. Orradre’s teammate, Miguel Santiago Duarte finished the day in 40th place.

Samuel di Sora (Flemmbo Team Leader) finished in fourth place, almost a second down on Sofuoglu’s best time, which was set with around one minute left to go in the session, while teammate Sylvain Markarian had a crash in the morning session at the newly-revised Turn 10 left-hander but was able to recover ground in the afternoon window to finish the day 15th fastest.

Dorren Loureiro (Fusport – RT Motorsports by SKM – Kawasaki) was the lead rider for the RT Motorsports by SKM outfit despite two crashes throughout the day. In the morning session, he crashed at Turn 2 while in the afternoon he crashed in the second sector; both times able to continue riding. He finished in seventh place ahead of teammates Tom Booth-Amos and Harry Khouri, who finished 13th and 31st respectively. Victor Steeman (Freudenberg KTM WorldSSP Team), the sole rider competing on KTM machinery in 2021, finished the day in eighth place after a strong showing.

Spanish rider Alejandro Carrion (Kawasaki GP Project) had a good day out on track as he finished the day in tenth place and the fastest rider from his team, with Alessandro Zanca in 27th place and Alejandro Diez in 30th. 2018 WorldSSP300 Champion Ana Carrasco (Kawasaki Provec WorldSSP300) was back on track following her rapid recovery from a back injury and finished the day in 12th place.

Czech Petr Svoboda (WRP Wepol Racing) was another who fell twice throughout the day, okay on both occasions, as he took a fall in both the morning and afternoon sessions. He was able to respond to go 34th quickest after the two sessions of WorldSSP300 action had come to a close.

Filippo Palazzi (ProGP Racing) came off his bike at Turn 5 in the afternoon session but was okay and finished the day in 25th, with his teammate Gabriele Mastroluca in 16th place, while Antonio Frappola (Chiodo Moto Racing) also crashed in the morning session at Turn 2; the Italian able to continue on throughout the day. It was also a decent start for the all-new Viñales Racing Team with Dean Berta Viñales and Kevin Sabatucci both finishing inside the top 20.

Catalunya Test 2021 – World Supersport 300 Day 1 Results