Razgatliglu Takes a Double Victory in Jerez

Dean Berta Viñales passes away

Following a serious incident during Race 1 of the Motul Spanish Round of the FIM Supersport 300 World Championship at the Circuito de Jerez-Angel Nieto, it is with great sadness that we report the passing of rider Dean Berta Viñales (Viñales Racing Team).

Berta Viñales was involved in a multi-rider incident at Turn 1, with the race immediately Red Flagged.

The rider suffered severe head and thoracic injuries. Medical vehicles arrived at the site immediately and the rider was attended to on track, in the ambulance and at the circuit Medical Centre.

Despite the best efforts of the circuit medical staff, the Medical Centre has announced that Berta Viñales has sadly succumbed to his injuries.

The FIM, Dorna and the Circuito de Jerez-Angel Nieto pass on our deepest condolences to Berta Viñales’ family, friends, team and loved ones.

Following the incident, the remainder of Saturday’s action was cancelled.

WorldSBK Superpole: Razgatlioglu stuns for heroic Jerez pole, Rea third

Having not taken a pole since Estoril 2020, Toprak Razgatlioglu pulled out the lap of his life to set the fastest time of the weekend

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.

THE OPENING PHASES: straight down to business

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 teammate 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.

SETTING THE GRID: Toprak takes charge with stunning final sector surge

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.

ROW TWO: Italian themed

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 teammate Lachlan Epis.

WorldSBK Tissot Superpole Results

Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) 1’38.512s
Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) +0.027s
Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) +0.102s

WorldSBK Race 1: razgatlioglu takes victory over rea

The top two in the Championship battled it out throughout the 20-lap race with Toprak Razgatlioglu coming out on top in Jerez

A fierce battle for race one of the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship at the Circuito de Jerez – Angel Nieto with Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) claiming a hard-fought victory against Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) in the Spanish round after a difference in tyre strategies between the pair.

THE BATTLE FOR VICTORY
Razgatlioglu got the jump at the start to maintain his lead from pole position but soon found himself having to fend off the challenge from Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) on the opening lap, first at turn six before Rea made the move for the lead at turn eight with both riders on different rear tyres; Razgatlioglu on the SCX development solution and Rea on the SC0 development solution.
On the opening lap, Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) went deep into turn six and lost places to both Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) and teammate Scott Redding, while Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) also went wide. On lap five, Rinaldi crashed out of the race.

Out in front, Rea was leading from Razgatlioglu but unable to pull out a gap as the Turkish rider consistently kept within half-a-second of Rea before closing the gap to around two tenths on lap six.
On lap seven, Razgatlioglu attempted to outbrake Rea into the turn six hairpin with the pair making contact and running wide, allowing Locatelli and Redding to close the gap even further although both riders were able to continue and keep their positions. The leading pair pulled away as Razgatlioglu set his sights on Rea once again. On lap 14, Razgatlioglu made a move for the lead with a late braking move into turn one to take the lead, before Rea tried to respond with the Turk holding on. Razgatlioglu was able to hold on for the final few laps of the 20-lap race to claim his first victory in Jerez, ahead of Rea.

LOCATELLI VS REDDING FOR THIRD
As the closing stages of the 20-lap race approached, Redding started closing in on Locatelli in the battle with the fight raging on to the final lap of the race, Redding making a move into turn five with Locatelli unable to respond into the turn six left-hand hairpin to claim third place ahead of Locatelli.
Alvaro Bautista (Team HRC) claimed another top five finish for Honda after a strong result for the Spanish rider, although he was five seconds down on Locatelli. Loris Baz (Team GoEleven) was sixth after an impressive return for the Frenchman, with Baz replacing the recovery Chaz Davies in Jerez, claiming the top Independent rider spot in Race 1. Baz had a battle with Dutch rider Michael van der Mark (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) for sixth place, with van der Mark finishing seventh.
In the closing stages, van der Mark had to withstand pressure from rookie Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) with the Italian rider looking to make moves on the final lap. Lowes ended the race in ninth place after a battling race as he nursed his injured wrist, taking home a top ten finish despite the injury. American star Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) claimed tenth place after starting from the same position.

SCORING POINTS
Leon Haslam (Team HRC) fell back during the race and ended up 11th, losing a position in the top ten late on in the race to Gerloff. Eugene Laverty (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) took points from his first start since the UK Round at Donington Park with 12th place, as he stands in for Tom Sykes. Laverty had a battle throughout the race with Japanese rookie Kohta Nozane (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) with experience paying dividends in the final results.
German rider Jonas Folger (Bonovo MGM Action) claimed points with 14th place, less than a second clear of Frenchman Christophe Ponsson (Gil Motor Sport-Yamaha) who took 15th. Marvin Fritz (IXS-YART Yamaha) missed out on points on his slightly modified endurance-specification Yamaha R1 with 16th place, ahead of Loris Cresson (OUTDO TPR Team Pedercini Racing) and wildcard Andrea Mantovani (Vince64) who rounded out the riders on the lead lap.

TO NOTE
Samuele Cavalieri’s (Barni Racing Team) crashed out on lap five, while Lachlan Epis (OUTDO TPR Team Pedercini Racing) brought his Kawasaki ZX-10RR machine into the pits in the first half of the race, although he did return to the track after a few minutes in the box. Leandro ‘Tati’ Mercado (MIE Racing Honda Team) had a technical issue in the final third of the race, forcing the Argentinean rider out of the race, eventually classified four laps down. Isaac Viñales (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) opted to not take part in Sunday’s action following Saturday’s tragic events in WorldSSP300.

WorldSBK Race 1 Podium

Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK)
Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) +1.225s
Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +2.791s

WorldSBK Race 2: Ragatlioglu does the double in Jerez and leaves with a 20 point buffer over Rea

The battle for victory in Race 2 at Jerez went down to the wire between Toprak Razgatlioglu and Scott Redding

A familiar story to race one, with the same outcome but a different opponent for Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) as he claimed his second MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship victory of the day at the Circuito de Jerez – Angel Nieto for the Motul Spanish Round after a late-race battle with Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati).

LIGHTS OUT

Repeating his start from race tone, Razgatlioglu got a good start to lead into turn one from Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) and, while Rea was able to challenge into turn six on the opener, the Turkish star was away and found himself with Ducatis in pursuit.
While Razgatlioglu was able to hold his lead, both Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati), and Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) were closing in. On lap six, Rinaldi ran wide at turn six which almost allowed Redding through, but Rinaldi was able to hold on to second place until turn 13, when Redding made the move for second.

While Redding was putting pressure on, Razgatlioglu held on until lap 17 when Redding passed Razgatlioglu for the lead but just one lap later Razgatlioglu responded, making a move at turn 13 to take control. Redding kept the pressure on Razgatlioglu throughout the final two laps, but the Turkish star held on to claim his second victory of the day in Jerez, and his tenth of the season while Redding claimed his 30th WorldSBK podium.

RAZGATLIOGLU EXTENDS HIS CHAMPIONSHIP LEAD

With Razgatlioglu, Redding and Rinaldi in front, Rea found himself losing ground and having to defend from Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK), Alvaro Bautista (Team HRC) and Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) to defend fourth place. On lap 7, Locatelli passed Rea at the final corner to move into fourth place.
Just a lap later, Bautista passed Rea while Italian rookie Bassani tried to follow him through but made contact with Rea, with both able to resume the race without losing time or positions. While Bautista was able to pull away, Bassani kept the pressure on Rea as he looked to pass the six-time champion. Eventually Rea was able to pull away from Bassani and soon found himself back into fifth place after passing Rinaldi.
Bautista was able to make a move on Locatelli for third after passing Rinaldi as he claimed his second podium in four races and his fourth consecutive top-five finish, the first time he has managed that feat since joining Honda. Locatelli came home in fourth place, a very familiar position for the Italian rookie, over a second clear of Rea. With Razgatlioglu taking victory and Rea finishing fifth, the championship lead now stands at 20 points in Razgatlioglu’s favour.

SCORING POINTS

The top six were clear of Rinaldi at the end of the race with Bassani claiming sixth place as the Italian continues his strong rookie season, finishing ahead of the factory Ducati of Rinaldi. Michael van der Mark (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) finished in eighth place and closed in on Rinaldi in the closing stages with just a second behind Rinaldi.

Loris Baz’s (Team GoEleven) WorldSBK continued with another top-nine finish as the Frenchman finished in ninth place, just two tenths away from van der Mark. American star Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) claimed another tenth place finish ahead of Eugene Laverty (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) claimed 11th place in his first round back for three months, holding off Leon Haslam (Team HRC) by just 0.042s at the end of the race.
Jonas Folger (Bonovo MGM Action) finished in 13th place, half-a-second back from Haslam. Samuele Cavalieri (Barni Racing Team) claimed more points following his return to the Barni Racing outfit while Leandro Mercado (MIE Racing Honda Team) claimed the final points place despite a crash on the second lap.
Wildcard Marvin Fritz (IXS-YART Yamaha) was in 16th place after his second wildcard appearance of the season despite a crash on lap 7 while Andrea Mantovani (Vince64) was in 17th place rounded out the riders on the lead lap. Like in Race 1, Lachlan Epis (OUTDO TPR Team Pedercini Racing) finished three laps down after spending a substantial amount of time in the pits.

TO NOTE

Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) was declared unfit following the conclusion of race one with a right hand and wrist functional impairment. Isaac Viñales (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) did not take part in Sunday’s action. Christophe Ponsson (Gil Motor Sport-Yamaha) pulled into the pitlane at the end of the warm-up lap and did not take to the start of the race. Kohta Nozane (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) was having a strong race before a lap four crash which forced the Japanese rookie out of the race. On lap 5, Belgian Loris Cresson (OUTDO TPR Team Pedercini Racing) crashed out of the race.

WorldSBK Race 2 Podium

Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK)
Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +0.113
Alvaro Bautista (Team HRC) +4.247

Toprak Razgatlioglu: “This day is a good day because we improve the bike and also, we have a good battle with Jonny, and I won. In Race 2, we battled with Scott, and we have a high temperatures, so the front end is sliding. Scott was very strong in the last laps.”

“I say every time that I am not looking in the Championship side of things; now, I learn that it is 20 points. I am just focused in every race and I try to win. I will try for the win in Portimao, and maybe in the last weekend, I will start to think about the Championship. I know that Jonny is very strong, and he will be coming back very strong at Portimao, but we will keep fighting for the win.”

WorldSBK Championship Standings After Round 10

Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) 449 points
Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) 429 points
Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) 375 points

WorldSSP Race: Perfect 10 in the beautiful south: Aegerter wins with Jerez masterclass

Aegerter’s return to WorldSSP came with a dominant victory as Yamaha secured their fifth consecutive Manufacturers’ Championship

Any FIM Supersport World Championship rustiness for Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) after missing the Catalunya Round was soon shaken off as he claimed victory in the sole WorldSSP race for the Motul Spanish Round, finishing almost ten seconds clear of his rivals at the Circuito de Jerez – Angel Nieto while Yamaha wrapped up the Manufacturers’ Championship for the fifth consecutive campaign.

AEGERTER GETS THE HOLESHOT

As the lights went out, Championship leader Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) got the jump from second on the grid to take the lead of the race while Italian debutant Stefano Manzi (GMT94 Yamaha) made progress off the line as he moved into the top five for his first WorldSSP start. From there, he was unchallenged for race victory went on to win by over ten seconds, with his winning enough to wrap up the Manufacturers’ Championship for Yamaha for the fifth time in a row. Aegerter joins Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) as the only two riders who have taken ten victories in a single WorldSSP campaign, while he now has 12 podiums and sits just one behind Kenan Sofuoglu for the all-time record.

Aegerter was able to break away from the chasing pack by posting a lap record of 1’45.525s on the second lap before lowering it to 1’42.329s a few laps later, extending his lead to Philipp Oettl (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) by over a second by the third lap. The win for Aegerter means he extends his Championship lead to 62 points over title rival Steven Odendaal (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team), with the South African rider finishing eighth; Odendaal making a mistake on Lap 2 at Turn 13 and dropping down the order.

The battle for the podium raged on throughout the 17-lap encounter with Oettl being hounded by Spanish sensation Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha ParkinGo Team) chasing the German down throughout the race. Gonzalez was unable to make his move in the first half of the race which allowed finish rider Niki Tuuli (MV Agusta Corse Clienti) to close in, applying the pressure to Gonzalez as he chased another podium finish. Tuuli made the move at Turn 13 on Lap 9 to move into third and soon set his sights on Oettl after the battle with Gonzalez allowed the German to break away. Oettl claimed second place ahead of Tuuli in third place, with Gonzalez unable to respond and finished fourth; Oettl’s podium the 150th podium placement for Kawasaki in WorldSSP.

COMPLETING THE TOP TEN

Federico Caricasulo (Biblion Iberica Yamaha Motoxracing) battled back from a poor start and falling down to tenth to finish in fifth place after resisting a response from Turkish star Can Öncü (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) with Öncü claiming sixth place after another strong showing for the 18-year-old. Italian rider Raffaele De Rosa (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) claimed seventh place.

The battle for eighth was a three-way affair between Odendaal, Manzi and Randy Krummenacher (CM Racing) with each rider having their moments of leading the race. Krummenacher crashed out at Turn 6 as he looked to pass Mazni, taking him out of the race, with Odendaal finishing in eighth and Manzi ninth. Manzi’s teammate, Jules Cluzel, rounded out the top ten.

SCORING POINTS

Marcel Brenner (VFT Racing) scored more points as his impressive form continued with 11th place, ahead of Estonian Hannes Soomer (Kallio Racing) as his recovery from injury continued with 12th place. Hungarian rider Peter Sebestyen (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team) was 13th as he added to his points total ahead of Federico Fuligni (VFT Racing) and Christoffer Bergman (Wojcik Racing Team) rounding out the top five and securing points in Jerez.

David Sanchis Martinez (WRP Wepol Racing) was around eight seconds back from a top 15 finish as he finished in 16th, with Kevin Manfredi (Altogo Racing Team) taking 17th place as the highest placed WorldSSP Challenge rider as he finished just three tenths clear of rival Maria Herrera (Biblion Iberica Yamaha Motoxracing). Leonardo Taccini (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) claimed 19th place ahead of Stephane Frossard (Moto Team Jura Vitesse) in 20th after he had a back-of-the-grid start for a tyre pressure infringement on the grid. Ondrej Vostatek (IXS-YART Yamaha) finished in 22nd with Shogo Kawasaki (G.A.P. MOTOZOO Racing by Puccetti) the last of the classified runners in 22nd.

TO NOTE

Following the tragic events of Saturday in Jerez, Michel Fabrizio (G.A.P. MOTOZOO Racing by Puccetti and Marc Alcoba (Yamaha MS Racing) decided not to take part in the WorldSSP race. Australian Billy van Eerde (IXS-YART Yamaha) was declared unfit ahead of the race with a right shoulder contusion and functional impairment.

Croatian Martin Vugrinec (Ferquest- Unior Racing Team) was the first retirement of the race after he had an opening lap crash at Turn 6, while rookie Unai Orradre (Yamaha MS Racing) retired after a technical issue early in the race. Finnish rider Vertti Takala (Kallio Racing) had a crash at Turn 11 on Lap 4 which forced him out of the race. Glenn van Straalen (EAB Racing Team) had a high-speed crash at Turn 12 on the seventh lap of the race which put him out of the race as his return to the Championship continued. Galang Hendra Pratama (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) crashed at Turn 6 on Lap 10 of the 17-lap encounter. Luigi Montella (Chiodo Moto Racing) had two during the race, at Turn 12 first and then Turn 2, eventually retiring from the race.