Rennie Scaysbrook | September 27, 2021
Sunday
WorldSBK Race Two
Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team) ended up with a new rival to beat to take his second race win of the day as he held off the determined Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) to win by just 0.113 seconds.
Redding had got past him but the Turkish rider moved ahead again and held enough pace going into the infamous final corner at Jerez to not let Redding make a final attack.
Razgatlioglu only just held on for the win over Redding.
In third place Alvaro Bautista (HRC Honda) scored a popular home podium after also taking a top three finish at the previous round in Barcelona. Bautista had overalled expected podium rider Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team) late on and give the entire HRC operation in WorldSBK another morale-boosting top three result at an important time of the season.
With Locatelli fourth, early challenger Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) was fifth, having to fight off the challenge of privateer Ducati rider Axel Bassani (MotoCorsa Racing Ducati) for much of the race, as well as re-passing eventual seventh placed rider Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati), who slowed considerably at the end.
Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team) did not make the second race grid as he was withdrawn on medial grounds after his race one exertions.
Michael van der Mark (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) was eighth in Race Two, Loris Baz (Team GoEleven Ducati) ninth. Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha) was tenth.
Eugene Laverty (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) and Leon Haslam (HRC Honda) were 11th and 12th respectively.
In the championship standings, Razgatlioglu now leads Rea by 20 points, 449 to 429, while Redding is third with 375 and Rinaldi fourth with 227, equal on points with fifth-placed Locatelli.
2021 Jerez WorldSBK Results—Race Two
| 1 |
Toprak Razgatlioglu |
(Yam) |
|
| 2 |
Scott Redding |
(Duc) |
+ 0.113s |
| 3 |
Alvaro Bautista |
(Hon) |
+ 4.247s |
| 4 |
Andrea Locatelli |
(Yam) |
+ 5.172s |
| 5 |
Jonathan Rea |
(Kaw) |
+ 6.339s |
WorldSSP Race One
Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) won the only Jerez WorldSSP race by almost ten seconds after a start-to-finish display of pace and determination that saw him run 62 points clear in the World Championship.
Superpole winner Philipp Öttl (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) was second, 0.6 seconds ahead of Niki Tuuli (MV Agusta Corse Clienti).
The first off-podium rider proved to be Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha ParkinGo Team) having a solo ride at the end.
Dominique Aegerter did it easy in WorldSSP.
Federico Caricasulo (Biblion Iberian Yamaha Motoxracing) placed fifth, ahead of an all Kawasaki battle between Can Öncü (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) and Raffaele De Rosa (Orelac Racing VerdNatura Kawasaki).
Second place championship rider Steven Odendaal (BARDAHL Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha) was only eighth today, with stand-in rider Stefano Manzi (GMT94 Yamaha) ninth.
The top ten was completed by comeback rider after a recent head injury, Jules Cluzel (GMT94 Yamaha).
Randy Krummenacher (CM Racing Yamaha) crashed out the race at the end, as he tussled with Manzi.
2021 Jerez WorldSSP Results—Race One
| 1 |
Dominique Aegerter |
(Yam) |
|
| 2 |
Phillip Oettl |
(Kaw) |
+ 9.609s |
| 3 |
Nikki Tuuli |
(MVA) |
+ 10.251s |
| 4 |
Manuel Gonzalez |
(Yam) |
+11.861s |
| 5 |
Federico Caricasulo |
(Yam) |
+13.153s |
WorldSBK Race One
Top championship contenders Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team) and Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) fought out the first race win on Sunday at Jerez.
In the absence of the usual ten lap Superpole Race today, Saturday’s cancelled Race One became Sunday’s full distance 20-lap Race One.
Razgatlioglu fended off Rea’s challenge to take the race one win.
Rea took the lead and tried to shake Razgatlioglu but it was not to be and after one unsuccessful attempted overtake Razgatlioglu got the job done second time around to ease out a lead and win by just over 1.2 seconds.
In third place Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) played a waiting game behind long-time third place rider Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team) and scored another confident podium, with ‘Loka’ fourth – by miles the top rookie again.
Alvaro Bautista (HRC Honda) had a strong ride to fifth, albeit over eight seconds down on Razgatlioglu.
A great welcome back to the WorldSBK paddock for Loris Baz (Team GoEleven Ducati) saw him fight hard in the early laps but use all his previous WorldSBK experience well to finish sixth, as a stand-in rider for Chaz Davies. Loris was just over ten seconds from the win.
Top BMW rider was Michael van der Mark (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) in seventh place, with Axel Bassani (MotoCorsa Racing Ducati) his shadow over the line in eighth.
Second place qualifier, despite his fractured right hand, Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team) finished ninth, with Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha) tenth.
2021 Jerez WorldSBK Results—Race One
| 1 |
Toprak Razgatlioglu |
(Yam) |
|
| 2 |
Jonathan Rea |
(Kaw) |
+ 1.225s |
| 3 |
Scott Redding |
(Duc) |
+ 2.791s |
| 4 |
Andrea Locatelli |
(Yam) |
+ 3.227s |
| 5 |
Alvaro Bautista |
(Hon) |
+ 8.652s |
Saturday
WorldSBK
Just as Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team) was about to take the pole prize for the first time in Kawasaki colours Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team) swept in to win only his second career Tissot-Superpole award, outpacing Lowes by 0.027 seconds.
The Race One and Superpole Race front row is completed by Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) who still holds the outright Superpole record despite being third fastest today.
Toprak Razgatlioglu took pole position at Jerez.
Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) placed fourth, with his team-mate Michael Ruben Rinaldi next and the top six was completed by Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team).
The prospects for tough races are underlined by the fact that the top six riders in the championship were all covered by just 0.544 in Superpole; the top four by just 0.149 seconds.
Loris Baz (Team GoEleven Ducati) posted a strong seventh place finish in his debut 2021 WorldSBK ride in place of Chaz Davies, if 0.3 seconds back from Locatelli.
The HRC Honda duo of Leon Haslam and Alvaro Bautista were eighth and ninth in Superpole, as Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha) completed the top ten. The top BMW rider was Michael van der Mark (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) was 13th, with Jonas Folger (Bonovo Action by MGM Racing BMW) 14th and Eugene Laverty (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) 15th.
2021 Jerez WorldSBK Results—Superpole
| 1 |
Toprak Razgatlioglu |
(Yam) |
1:38.512s |
| 2 |
Alex Lowes |
(Kaw) |
+ 0.027s |
| 3 |
Jonathan Rea |
(Kaw) |
+ 0.102s |
| 4 |
Scott Redding |
(Duc) |
+ 0.149s |
| 5 |
M. Ruben Rinaldi |
(Duc) |
+ 0.348s |
Friday
WorldSBK
Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) topped the first day of WorldSBK practice times at Jerez in overcast conditions, with a 1:39.671 making him comfortably the fastest rider.
Second overall was Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) and third, thanks to his fastest morning time, was Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team).
Jonathan Rea topped the Friday action at Jerez.
Leon Haslam (HRC Honda) put the first of the Fireblades in fourth place overall after going third quickest in the afternoon. A four bike spread over the first four places on day one bodes well for the rest of the Jerez weekend.
Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) was fifth and late faller at high speed, Alvaro Bautista (HRC Honda), overall sixth.
Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team) was not just cleared as fit to ride on day one but he finished seventh fastest despite fractures on his right hand from a crash in Catalunya.
Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team) placed eighth, Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha) ninth and Michael van der Mark (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) tenth. All the top riders bar Razgatlioglu and van der Mark took their best times in the afternoon session.
2021 Jerez WorldSBK Results—Friday
| 1 |
Jonathan Rea |
(Kaw) |
1:39.671 |
| 2 |
M. Ruben Rinaldi |
(Duc) |
+ 0.399s |
| 3 |
Toprak Razgatlioglu |
(Yam) |
+ 0.403s |
| 4 |
Leon Haslam |
(Hon) |
+ 0.657s |
| 5 |
Scott Redding |
(Duc) |
+ 0.671s |
WorldSSP
Philipp Öttl (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) taking a Kawasaki ZX-6R to the top of the timesheets in any session when Yamaha R6 riders generally dominate WorldSSP sessions would normally be the story of the day but it was another Kawasaki rider who stole the headlines for many.
Kenan Sofuoglu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) may only be riding for today, as a kind of wave goodbye to the current WorldSSP era that he so dominated, but midfield respectability in FP1 gave way to an overall seventh place at the end of Friday seventh.
Philipp Oettl came through for the fastest Friday WorldSSP time.
Sofuoglu ‘races’ Toprak Razgatlioglu and all the other young Turkish stars that he helps train at his private track back home even now, but seventh was still more than even his team expected from what was mostly a PR stunt.
Sofuoglu was not much over 0.5 seconds from overnight leader Öttl, even at 37 years of age, on a bike built from bits of other bikes and spares.
Sofuoglu said, “I had a lot of fun and I was pleased to see that many people were happy to see me back on track. I am genuinely amazed that I was so fast and my final seventh position, because I stopped racing over three years ago and have not been on a racing bike since. This morning I started calmly to find the feeling with the bike and the track, and in the afternoon I improved and I’m really satisfied. I want to thank the Puccetti team because it is always a pleasure to work with them. I love this team and without them I would not have returned to the track.”
Back to real racing for the World Championship in 2021, points leader Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) came back after his enforced MotoE absence last time out and took his R6 to second place, faster in FP2 than FP1.
Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha ParkinGo Team) placed third on Friday in Spain, with Steven Odendaal (BARDAHL Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha) fourth.
A resurgent Niki Tuuli (MV Agusta Corse Clienti) put his three cylinder F3 into fifth place.
Former World Champion Randy Krummenacher (CM Racing Yamaha) saved his blushes by finishing just in front of Sofuoglu, but two top Kawasaki riders, Raffaele De Rosa (Orelac Racing VerdNatura Kawasaki) and Can Öncü (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) were eighth and ninth fastest, with new WorldSSP rider Stefano Manzi (GMT94 Yamaha) rounding out the top ten.
Jules Cluzel (GMT94 Yamaha) made a steady comeback from a heavy Magny Cours crash in 12th.
2021 Jerez WorldSSP Results—Friday
| 1 |
Philipp Oettl |
(Kaw) |
1:42.249s |
| 2 |
Dominique Aegerter |
(Yam) |
+ 0.206s |
| 3 |
Manuel Gonzalez |
(Yam) |
+ 0.432s |
| 4 |
Steven Odendaal |
(Yam) |
+ 0.493s |
| 5 |
Niki Tuuli |
(MVA) |
+ 0.525s |
For more WorldSBK news and results, click here.
