2021 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship
Round 13 Indonesia, Mandalika

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Heavy rain on Saturday afternoon at the Mandalika circuit in Indonesia forced the postponement of World Superbike Race One until Sunday, and the subsequent cancellation of the Sunday Tissot Superpole Race.

The extreme weather has added further complexities to the title-deciding final round of the 2021 Motul FIM Superbike World Championship, between Yamaha’s Toprak Razgatlioglu and Kawasaki’s six-time world champion, Jonathan Rea. Razgatlioglu leads Rea by 30-points going into the last battle, and the cancellation of the Superpole Race means that there are now only 50-points up for grab, rather than 62.

The scenario sits as this: If Razgatlioglu loses fewer than five points to Rea in Race 1, he will be crowned Champion in Race 1. If Razgatlioglu loses more than five points to Rea, the battle will go down to the final race of the final round.

Starting grid positions for WorldSBK Race 1 and Race 2 will be as per the results of Saturday’s WorldSBK Tissot Superpole.

WorldSBK Executive Director Gregorio Lavilla

“The heavy rain arrived, and we had to, at that moment, stop the activity. We were checking if we could restart the programme later on. We waited as much as we could, we did some inspections on track. Unfortunately, the rain never stopped even if it wasn’t such a heavy quantity at the end. The areas that were more critical were not actually the track, so it was outside of the track. In case of an accident, this could have big problems for the riders so unfortunately, we had to postpone the race until tomorrow.”

New Sunday Schedule, all times are in Eastern Daylight Savings Time, a 21-lap Race One at 1400, Race Two at 1800.

Pirelli Indonesian Round 13 Schedule (AEDT)

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Razgatlioglu and Rea explain their approach to title-deciding Sunday at Mandalika

Explaining his approach to a Sunday that will feature Race 1 and Race 2, a scenario that has occurred in 2021 with Razgatlioglu winning both races at Jerez, Razgatlioglu said: “I am not really happy for this because, not just for my side but also for Jonathan’s side. We are fighting in every race. Tomorrow, there will be two long races. It’s probably going to be a little bit easier but also I try my best in the race because I try to fight for the win. We don’t know the weather conditions for tomorrow. We will see tomorrow because it’s been a strange season in WorldSBK and tomorrow everybody will see which rider is Champion.”

With the 30-point deficit and 50-points available, rather than the usual 62, Rea has seen one of his three potential opportunities to take points away from his title rival disappear. The six-time Champion was left looking ahead to Sunday’s two races as he hopes to make it seven consecutive Championships in a row but admitted he was at “more of a disadvantage” after losing one of the three opportunities to chip away at Razgatlioglu’s lead.

Giving his thoughts on the title battle, Rea said: “Not good news because that takes one opportunity away. Two more opportunities but, of course, we’re at more of a disadvantage now. When the rain started on my out lap, I thought this was my chance to take some points. I felt quite confident in those conditions. But the conditions get treacherous, a lot of standing water on the track. We don’t know how the track was all around the track because none of us riders saw it, but the decision’s been made, and we start again tomorrow. I look forward to the races because, step by step this weekend after a tough FP1, we’ve come back strong and I feel competitive and I feel ready for battle.”

WorldSBK Superpole Times

WorldSBK Championship Points

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World Supersport

In a WorldSSP race caught off guard by momentary rain showers, Italian rider Raffaele De Rosa (Orelac Racing VerdNatura / Kawasaki ZX-6R) triumphed ahead of newly crowned world champion Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha / Yamaha YZF R6) and Federico Caricasulo (VFT Racing / Yamaha YZF R6), who took the first win of his career in the medium engine size category.

In the early laps of the race, the best pace was set by Can Oncu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing / Kawasaki ZX-6R), who did the first best time, and Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha ParkinGo Team / Yamaha YZF R6) who took the race lead before being surprised by a sudden but brief rain shower. This convinced two riders to pit and put on rain tyres, whereas the rest of the grid stayed on slicks, slowing their pace until the track could dry out.

It was a battle between Caricasulo, Manuel Gonzalez and Raffaele de Rosa (Orelac Racing VerdNatura / Kawasaki ZX-6R) for first place. The Italian Kawasaki rider gained the upper hand, managing to hold onto the lead for most of the second half of the race.

A few laps from the end, newly crowned world champion Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha / Yamaha YZF R6) demonstrated a brilliant pace, doing the Pirelli best lap and launching an offensive against de Rosa. A thrilling battle ensued between the two riders on the final lap, but the Italian defended well, taking his first win in the Supersport category ahead of Aegerter (second) and Caricasulo (third).

Raffaele De Rosa – P1

“I felt the pressure from Aegerter in the final laps but I did it! I am really happy because we are near the end of the season and we were fast. My race pace was good. I wanted to win to say thanks to my team, my family and my sponsors and tomorrow we will try to win.”

WorldSSP Race Results

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WorldSSP Championship Points

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Source: MCNews.com.au