2021 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship
Round Nine Catalunya Friday Report

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Toprak Razgatlioglu was on the pace from the start when WorldSBK action got underway at Catalunya on Friday. The Turk was second in the morning session before topping the afternoon’s FP2, putting in a strong run at the end which saw him dip into the low 1’42s.

Toprak Razgatlıoğlu – P1

“Today, I’m really happy because early this year at the test, on the second day I was Covid-positive and after it was not possible to ride my bike at this track. But today we worked well, because first session was not easy, also I try a better bike set-up for me and second feeling in FP2 much better. I try a race simulation, which was not bad – okay, last laps I was feeling too much sliding in the rear. This is not so much a problem for me, this is a problem for all riders, and everyone is searching for grip. But I try my best and so we will see tomorrow.”

His team-mate Andrea Locatelli was also showing his strengths, having been fifth in FP1 before leading FP2’s opening half of the session. Working together with slightly different tyres before swapping over, showcasing Yamaha’s strengths to have both riders help each other to make the ultimate race package. Within the final ten minutes, Locatelli crashed at the final corner, the bike tumbled through the gravel. He was OK and, on his feet, finishing fifth overall.

Andrea Locatelli – P5

“I’m really happy about today, because we make a really good job this morning and also this afternoon. But in the long run, I crashed in the last corner because I try to push – this is an important way to understand if the bike is in a good set-up, but the feeling is not so bad! Also we need to understand the tyre in these conditions, we tried different compounds to understand which is the best and maybe we need to change something in the front but I think the bike is already okay. The set-up is not bad and I already have a good feeling. The rhythm is excellent for me and we will see for tomorrow. Even with the crash, when we couldn’t finish the long run, we understand a lot and for sure for tomorrow we will improve a little bit more.”

Leading the way in FP1, Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) gave his team something to cheer about at their home round. The Ulsterman did an impressive run during the middle part of the session and was running second for most of it, holding it on the overall timesheets but only fourth in FP2, suffering a Turn 10 run-off too on his final cool-down lap.

Jonathan Rea – P2

“We found different grip levels from the ones we had in the Catalunya test. The grip level is quite low and even with a lot of tyre rubber down on the track in FP2, it was still quite low today. Step-by-step we are trying to understand what we are doing with the bike. I made a longer race simulation – not over full race distance – and the tyre grip started to drop. After that I wanted to try the SC0 option tyre, the harder one, but we did not have enough time and I wasn’t really fast with that. I know my race tyre set-up for tomorrow already, but we just need to be a little bit faster at the end. So the key, with the drop of the tyre, is going to be the last five or six laps. Tomorrow we will focus on making the life of the rear tyre better and see where we are.”

Team-mate Alex Lowes was also showing well, up finishing seventh in FP2 and in sixth overall.

Alex Lowes – P6

“Today was not too bad because Catalunya last year was quite tough for me. This morning we stayed on the same tyre for the whole session. This afternoon I tried to do a bit of a long run and also tried some different tyre combinations that Pirelli brought. I struggled after 12-13 laps with front grip, but I had tried a tyre that I had not really used before. We know this track and if we look at last year I think this was the track where the lap times dropped the most during the race. We need a bike that, if it is dry, we can use to compete right to the end. That is what we will be working on tomorrow on used tyres. On new tyres, I feel like I can go quite fast.”

Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) was formidable in the afternoon, running second for almost the entirety of the session. Having been top Ducati in the morning, Rinaldi’s pace translated into FP2 and as the chequered flag dropped on Friday, he concluded it in third and was once more, top Ducati.

Michael Ruben Rinaldi – P3

“It was a pretty positive day during which we worked a lot on the bike gathering important information. We were pretty fast, especially in the afternoon, and this gives us confidence. Without a doubt, this is not an easy track, especially for the tires, so it will be very important to make the right choice but also to manage the tyre wear during the race in order to be competitive in the final laps”.

Having struggled away in the opening session, team-mate Scott Redding was back inside the top five for the first part of FP2. Redding’s first session saw him down in 13th but bouncing back and setting his fastest time of the weekend in the afternoon almost immediately, finishing eighth.

Scott Redding – P9

“If I have to be honest, especially in the afternoon, I felt pretty good with the bike. Unfortunately I had two tyres that didn’t work in the best way and that didn’t allow us to find continuity. In FP2 I had the chance to do a few laps together with Rea and I must admit that the feeling in terms of race pace was very positive. Unfortunately, just like last year, we lose a lot in turns 3 and 4. We will have to work on this tomorrow morning.”

It was a mixed day for BMW and Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team), with the British rider third in FP1 before crashing in the opening phase of the afternoon’s FP2. Tucking the front at Turn 5 and with the bike bouncing through the gravel, Sykes returned to the track in the final ten minutes and almost immediately, was on the pace he demonstrated in the morning session.

Tom Sykes – P4

“We started this morning to just to understand some base things and the different tyre options from Pirelli, so I was surprised with our pace. In FP2 we went back to a tyre combination and set-up we ran here at the test and straight away it was giving some slightly different feedback and unfortunately on my second flying lap I crashed at T5 with no warning. Taking a positive from this we now understand a certain tyre combination and the guys did an incredible job again in getting me back out on track. The bike took a long time in getting back to the box but in terms of them boys getting it fixed it was pretty impressive. We went back out and immediately improved our afternoon session time and again in that top 5. We did want to have a look at the geometry settings but with the crash we didn’t get time to do this but overall, all things considered we have had a good Friday and we are ready for tomorrow with whatever weather conditions we face.”

Team-mate Michael van der Mark was having a consistent day, lapping within a second of the leading riders but remained in eighth going into Saturday, whilst Sykes was fourth overall.

Michael van der Mark – P8

“Today wasn’t too bad to be honest. We have been trying to find more turning and more grip on the exit of the turn which had been our issue quite often. This morning I had an okay feeling with the bike and this afternoon we tried to improve it in the hotter conditions and in my final outing I felt like we did however on used tyres. I am confident we had found something for tomorrow, but we still need to find a couple of tenths to be where we want to be.”

Flying the Honda flag, Leon Haslam (Team HRC) finished in eighth place with a hot lap right at the end of the afternoon’s session, putting him seventh overall. Haslam, having been sixth in the morning, is a firm fixture inside the top ten.

Leon Haslam – P7

“This morning was good. We completed a test here some weeks ago, but conditions are completely different now and the track is very slippery, so we had to make some adjustments. This afternoon, temperatures were higher and we didn’t really get into a good rhythm as we had this morning. We didn’t go any faster and if conditions remain the same, we’ll need to make some changes, especially with the electronics. Our lap times are not far off anyway, but if tomorrow is dry we’ll be looking to make another a step.”

It was a mixed day for Alvaro Bautista (Team HRC) with the Spanish rider popping into the top ten in the afternoon session, before crashing at the final corner in the closing stages. Tucking the front early on in the corner, Bautista barreled through the gravel before hobbling to the barriers. He was ninth come the end of FP2, but eleventh on the combined times.

Alvaro Bautista – P11

“Today was a very difficult day because we struggled to find good grip with the rear tyre, both in braking and also on exiting the corners. I struggled a lot in trying to push. We’ve tried to work on the set-up in order to have better contact with the asphalt, but we haven’t seen much progress as yet, although we were able to improve our lap time in the afternoon. Then at the end of the second session we tried a front tyre with a harder specification, something that, on other occasions, has helped us to improve stability and feeling with the front. But instead I unexpectedly crashed through the last corner; I just couldn’t save it. Luckily I’m okay, so we’ll try again tomorrow.”

On a rare day where the Independent riders didn’t make as big an impact as other rounds, Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) was the best in tenth, whilst Isaac Viñales (ORELAC Racing VerdNatura) was a surprise name next up in 12th, having been tenth at the end of FP1.

Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) took 13th but was the third-fastest rider through the opening sector in FP2, whilst Chaz Davies (Team GoEleven) was 14th, one place ahead of Lucas Mahias (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing). Kohta Nozane (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) concluded day one in 16th, ahead of Jonas Folger (Bonovo MGM Racing) in 17th.

Despite an FP2 technical issue, Leandro Mercado (MIE Racing Honda Team) was 18th, whilst Samuele Cavalieri (Barni Racing Team), Christophe Ponsson (Gil Motor Sport Yamaha), Loris Cresson (OUTDO TPR Team Pedercini Racing) and his new team-mate Lachlan Epis completed the running.

WorldSBK Combined Friday Times

WorldSBK Championship Points

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WorldSSP

The Hyundai N Catalunya Round got underway for the FIM Supersport World Championship at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya with Raffaele De Rosa (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) taking top honours despite a crash in the early stages of Free Practice 2 as he topped the times ahead of 2019 Champion Randy Krummenacher (CM Racing) by less than a tenth of a second.

De Rosa left it late to move to the top of the times but posted a 1’45.687s to claim top spot after two 45-minute practice sessions to get the weekend underway, with De Rosa fending off the challenge from Krummenacher by just 0.067s. Krummenacher had a strong debut with his new team despite a crash at Turn 10 in FP2, finishing second in both sessions as well as the combined classification.  Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha ParkinGo Team) had looked like he was going to take top spot but a flurry of late laps moved him down to third place, a tenth behind De Rosa.

South African rider Steven Odendaal (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team), who is looking to close the gap in the Championship with Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) absent this weekend due to a clash, was fourth. Philipp Oettl (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) claimed fifth place in the combined standings but was fastest in the morning session, the first rider who did not improve his time in the afternoon. Finnish rider Niki Tuuli (MV Agusta Corse Clienti) claimed sixth spot, ensuring all three manufacturers on track were represented in the top six.

Just two weeks after his first podium finish last time out, Can Öncü (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) was seventh after another strong performance despite a crash at Turn 10, while One Event rider Patrick Hobelsberger (Bonovo MGM Racing) was eighth as he returned to the Championship for the second time this season.

Andy Verdoïa (GMT94 Yamaha) was ninth as he returned to the scene of his dramatic win in 2020, and drama seems to follow the French rider around after a coming together with teammate Ludovic Cauchi at the end of the session going through Turn 10; both riders up on their feet following the collision. Cauchi finishes his debut in 30th place. Federico Caricasulo (Biblion Iberica Yamaha Motoxracing) rounded out the top ten with Christoffer Bergman (Wojcik Racing Team) in 11th; the top 11 riders separated by just one second.

Peter Sebestyen (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team) was 12th place as he continued his return to WorldSSP action, with Hannes Soomer (Kallio Racing) in 13th place. Kevin Manfredi (Altogo Racing Team) was the highest-placed WorldSSP Challenge rider in 14th place, beating Marcel Brenner (VFT Racing) by just 0.008s.

Unai Orradre’s (Yamaha MS Racing) adjustment to WorldSSP continued with 17th place, just ahead of Glenn van Straalen (EAB Racing Team) as he returned to the Championship in place of Krummenacher following his switch to CM Racing. Luigi Montella (Chiodo Moto Racing) was in 28th place after a high-speed crash at Turn 14 in the closing stages of FP2 with the Italian was able to walk away from the incident.

Free Practice 1 was Red Flagged following an incident after Marc Alcoba (Yamaha MS Racing) crashed at Turn 2, with Ondrej Vostatek (IXS-YART Yamaha) crashing at the same corner despite yellow flags being waved. Following the conclusion of FP1, Vostatek was sanctioned by the FIM WorldSBK Stewards for a yellow flag infringement and he has been disqualified from Race 1 and will start Race 2 from the pitlane.

WorldSSP Combined Friday Times

WorldSSP Championship Points

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WSSP300

Friday at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya belonged to Bahattin Sofuoglu (Biblion Yamaha Motoxracing) in the FIM Supersport 300 World Championship as the Turkish star topped both Free Practice 1 and Free Practice 2 for the Hyundai N Catalunya Round with the morning session proving to be the fastest session for most of the grid.

Sofuoglu made sure his speed was known to his rivals by topping both sessions with his time of 1’55.815s in the opening 30-minute session enough to top the times for Friday’s action, ahead of Dutch rider Victor Steeman (Freudenberg KTM WorldSSP Team) with just a tenth separating the pair at the front of the field.

Tom Booth-Amos (Fusport – RT Motorsports by SKM – Kawasaki) claimed third place despite a crash in Free Practice 2, where he was 26th, after he came together with Sylvain Markarian (Leader Team Flembbo) at Turn 4 trying to pass the French rider. Booth-Amos was third in the combined standings thanks to his FP1 time of 1’56.205s

16 riders were separated by just one second in the combined classification with Samuel Di Sora (Leader Team Flembbo) in fourth place, less than half-a-second behind Sofuoglu, while wildcard rider Alvaro Diaz Cebrian (Arco-Motor University Team) claimed fifth place in a strong showing on his first appearance in 2021. Reigning Champion Jeffrey Buis (MTM Kawasaki) claimed sixth place, 0.058s away from Diaz Cebrian.

Italian rider Gabriele Mastroluca (ProGP Racing) claimed seventh place in a strong showing for Mastroluca, with Inigo Iglesias (SMW Racing) inside the top ten with eighth on home soil. Mirko Gennai (Team BRcorse) was ninth while Dutch rider Koen Meuffels (MTM Kawasaki) rounded out the top ten.

Yeray Ruiz (Yamaha MS Racing) was just 0.024s away from securing a top ten finish as he finished in 11th place, ahead of Dorren Louriero (Fusport – RT Motorsports by SKM – Kawasaki) in 12th. Championship leader Adrian Huertas (MTM Kawasaki) endured a difficult day following a Free Practice 1 crash with Ana Carrasco (Kawasaki Provec WorldSSP300) and some niggling problems in Free Practice 2, with the Spaniard eventually finishing 13th in the classification ahead of Alejandro Carrion (Kawasaki GP Project) and Daniel Mogeda (Team#109 Kawasaki) who rounded out the top 15. Carrasco was only able to set a lap time in Free Practice 1 and was classified in 29th place.

Hugo De Cancellis (Prodina Team WorldSSP300) was declared unfit with a fracture to his right posterior malleolus following a crash in Free Practice 1 at Turn 5, therefore ruling him out for the rest of the weekend. Sara Sanchez Tamayo (Machado CAME SBK) also had a crash at Turn 4 in Free Practice 2 and was unable to re-join the session.

WorldSSP300 Friday Combined Times

WorldSSP300 Championship Points

2021 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship
Round Nine Catalunya

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Motul French WorldSBK Round schedule

Source: MCNews.com.au