2021 WorldSBK Round Seven
Navarra (Spain)

The 2021 Motul FIM Superbike World Championship heads into the second half of the season as the Pirelli Navarra Round beckons at the Circuito de Navarra. The facility is the second consecutive new venue for WorldSBK whilst also being the fifth consecutive that wasn’t on the 2020 calendar. With one of the fastest turns on the calendar and intricate sectors, Navarra is ready to welcome the intense Championship battle between Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) and Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with BRIXX WorldSBK), with both separated by just three-points after 18 races.

The Circuit of Navarra is located near Los Arcos, a town in the Spanish region of Navarra, from which the name derives, and was inaugurated on 19th June 2010. The 3,933 kilometres of track develop through fifteen turns, of which nine right and six left turns. The layout of the circuit has a faster first section, characterised by several high-speed turns, both on the right and left side. In this first section, some surface imperfections could put the front tyre to the test, which must be able to guarantee directional stability and a good feeling to the rider. The second part of the circuit is instead characterised by multiple slow hairpins to be tackled in first and second gear, where agility and ease of steering will be crucial from the tyre point of view, to allow the rider to turn quickly in such tight corners.

The Championship battle is the closest it has been after 18 races since 2004 and there’s absolutely no shortage of vintage action in 2021. Toprak Razgatlioglu took 34 points out of Jonathan Rea’s lead at the last round at Most, meaning he is just three behind. Heading to Navarra where he was fast in testing, Razgatlioglu knows that he’s within striking distance of the Championship lead, even though he is focused on the race in hand and not the standings. He has a strong teammate for support too, with Andrea Locatelli not out of the top five in the last six races – of which he took two podiums, one at Assen in Race 2 and the other at Most in Race 1. The level playing field of Navarra may bring Locatelli further into contention as he aims for a first win, whilst also aims to pack out the places between Toprak and his Championship rivals.

Toprak Razgatlıoğlu

“We had a good weekend in Most, and now I still only focus on the next races. Always, I want to win and this is what we work towards. If I think about the championship I feel stressed! So this is the best way. I like the track in Navarra – it is different with some fast and slow parts which suits my style. We had a good test there two months ago and I felt good with the R1. We will see on Friday, in practice we will focus on making a good set-up for the races.”

Andrea Locatelli

“I feel like I can now start to fight with the first group on track – in Most this was really nice and it was a new track for almost everyone. We have a good base setting from the test in Navarra, so I hope we can continue in the same way. The feeling with the R1 is coming more and more easy for me and I enjoy riding it very much. The goal is to keep improving step by step and be able to push in every round to compete at the front. I am looking forward to seeing my team again this weekend and working to continue this way!”

Jonathan Rea’s disastrous Most is now behind him as he hit the reset button with a small break and then a return to testing duties at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Taking 23 points from three races in the Czech Republic, his second lowest amount for a round tally after Estoril’s 20 last year, Rea has got to hit the ground running at Navarra if he is to remain in the Championship lead. Taking a triple win at Assen and then enduring Most’s difficulties, the WorldSBK pendulum swings wildly from round to round, adding to the excitement and unpredictability of 2021.

Jonathan Rea

“It is nice to go to Navarra, another new circuit for us. Unlike Most we have actually had a test there, a couple of months ago. I enjoyed the track but it seemed quite bumpy then. Now it seems the circuit have addressed some of the problems we faced. My rhythm and pace was pretty good there so I am quite curious to see, with everybody on track, how competitive everyone will be. I feel that with our Ninja ZX-10RR we can be strong. The idea is to start on Friday with a base set-up but also factoring in some ideas we tried at a previous test at Barcelona. I am excited for that and the aim is to have a really good race weekend.”

Team-mate Alex Lowes was racing with physical restrictions at Most and had three crashes in one day at Navarra during testing, so he’ll hope that those two aspects of his form aren’t indicative of the weekend ahead.

Alex Lowes

“Navarra is a new track for the championship but I think most people have tested there at some point. It’s a completely different track to Most because it’s quite slow. There’s a lot of first-gear corners. I think the racing is going to be good so I’m looking forward to it. Navarra is a technical track and lots of the corners lead onto the next one. It’s important to be patient and precise. At the test we did there we were fast and I had a good feeling with the bike. I believe there will be some good passing places and the racing is going to be really close. My target is to get back on the podium after a tough few races. I’m ready for the challenge!”

One of the main stories coming out of the Czech Republic was that Ducati and Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) are back, with the British star taking a long-awaited victory at Most. After getting his knee down in another way on the podium by proposing to his girlfriend, Redding’s mindset coming to Navarra is in a good place as he seeks to close the gap down further from 50, having taken it down from 81 last time out. Teammate Michael Ruben Rinaldi will also look to get back on the rostrum after his comebacks in Race 1 and Race 2 at Most, with the Italian storming through from eighth and 11th respectively. Can Ducati utilise their recent form and get their Panigale V4 R in the perfect operating window in Los Arcos?

BMW had a mixed weekend at Most, as Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) took a sturdy fifth place in Race 1, whilst teammate Michael van der Mark’s comeback from 17th to 7th in Race 2 also gave the German manufacturer something to shout about. However, they’re still yet to cement their place in the constant fight for the podium. With Navarra closing in, this could be the round where they really come on strong; Sykes has consistently hailed the progress that the team made with the bike at the Navarra test in July, citing that as one of the turning points of the 2021 season and the M 1000 RR project. Both he and van der Mark were quick and there’s a feeling that if both can have a clean run through Free Practice, they could be contenders come racing.

Tom Sykes

“I’m looking forward to keeping the momentum going, with the races now coming quite fast. So we aim to build on what we understood when we were testing in Navarra some weeks ago – and also recently on the back of a test at Barcelona which was in very hot conditions. Obviously, it looks like Navarra will be warm. It’s a new circuit again for everybody so it will be interesting to see how the weekend goes, but ultimately the plan is to continue working with what we found in testing with the BMW M 1000 RR and hopefully we can transfer that kind of set-up into the hot track at Navarra and keep improving our results all of the time. I also want to take this opportunity to say massive congratulations to Michael and Nadieh on their fabulous new addition to the family, their little baby boy. That’s a massive achievement in life and I wish them all the best.”

Michael van der Mark

“It has been an exciting time since I returned from Most. On Thursday evening after the race weekend, Mason was born and it is great be able to spend some days with the family before heading to the next round. Now we will race at Navarra, and it is always good to have a new track on the calendar. We have been testing there and it is quite different compared to other tracks. It is really narrow and overtaking can be hard. It’s good that we have done a test there, even if our bike has changed quite a lot since then, so I am curious to find out how it will work. The first goal for the weekend is to qualify a little bit better. In Most I was a bit unlucky in qualifying with some traffic, I must say, but we’ve seen that for example on Saturday and Sunday we made a huge improvement on lap times and also pace-wise so it seems that we really found a good way with the set-up of the bike. Hopefully we will find that right set-up at Navarra pretty soon so we are right at the point from the start.”

Alvaro Bautista (Team HRC) showed strength at the Autodrom Most last time out as the Honda rider recovered from a Race 1 error to finish sixth, whilst he fought back after a slow start in Race 2. In his second ‘home event’ of the season, Bautista will hope the recent test in Barcelona can propel him and Honda forwards after electronic issues have plagued them continuously throughout the first six rounds of the season.

Alvaro Bautista

“It’s a new track for everyone so we’ll see how it goes. When we tested at Navarra a couple of months ago, we saw how small and narrow it is, with a lot of hard braking and potholes. Having said that, with the work we completed during that test combined with the modifications we’ve made over the last race weekends, I am confident we can take a step forward in the upcoming races. I hope I can do well at what is a home track for me, not least because we’ll have spectators there to support us, which will be great as we’ve missed them.”

Teamate Leon Haslam will hope the level playing field can bring him further into play and especially after a strong Barcelona test, as HRC seek to return to the leading positions.

Leon Haslam

“We didn’t get much track time when we tested at Navarra, so we’ll need to work to find a good solution for this circuit, but I’m looking forward to the challenge. I had a good feeling while there anyway, so that’s a good start, although I realise that some other teams have had more test time at the track than us. The layout is quite unique, in that it’s bumpy and has many first-gear corners, so you need to be sure you can stop and turn the bike. This is a priority and an area where we’ve been working, so it will be a good test for the Honda. We’ll see what we can do.”

The Independent battle is starting to see new names come into the picture; Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) enjoyed a calm Most weekend and was on top of testing after day one at Navarra back in July. However, it was Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) who took his best ever result at Most with a first top five in Race 1, finishing fifth. Bassani’s potential is high, and he’s growing in stature with each race – could he be a surprise towards the front of the field this weekend? Making a return to action will be Lucas Mahias (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing), whilst Tito Rabat (Barni Racing Team) will hope he can progress forward at his second home round of the year.

Kohta Nozane (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) is 16th in the Championship and returns to the track where he crashed at during testing, resulting in a broken finger. Isaac Viñales (ORELAC Racing VerdNatura) aims to continue knocking on the door of the top ten, whilst Eugene Laverty’s (RC Squadra Corse) attendance is to be confirmed. Jonas Folger (Bonovo MGM Racing), Christophe Ponsson (Gil Motor Sport Yamaha) and Leandro Mercado (MIE Racing Honda Team) are next up, with Mercado returning after a positive COVID-19 test ruled him out of Most. Loris Cresson (OUTDO TPR Team Pedercini Racing) and teammate Jayson Uribe complete the full-time entrants, whilst Suzuki return to the WorldSBK grid with Spanish Superbike rider Naomichi Uramoto wildcarding, meaning there’re six manufacturers on the grid.

WorldSBK Championship Points

WorldSSP

Two weeks on from the FIM Supersport World Championship’s first visit to the Autodrom Most, another new venue presents more challenges for the paddock as the Circuito de Navarra prepares to host WorldSSP for the first-ever time with the Pirelli Navarra Round making its debut on the calendar. New tracks have the potential to spice things up and with the Championship gap being cut last time out, the Navarra Round is set up to be a thrilling encounter.

Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) continues to lead the standings after five rounds but found his gap at the top of the Championship to 37 points, down from 44 before the Czech Round, after Steven Odendaal (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team) was able to return to the top of the rostrum in Race 1 at the Autodrom Most with Aegerter in fourth; although Aegerter responded in Race 2 to win ahead of Odendaal. A new venue could spice this Championship battle even more. Will Aegerter extend his lead at the top of the standings or will Odendaal close the gap even further?

German rider Philipp Oettl (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) lies third in the Championship after taking yet another podium finish last time out, but is still chasing his first win in the class. Oettl is only 33 points behind Odendaal as he searches to finish as high up the Championship as possible. Oettl will be looking over his shoulder though with Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha ParkinGo Team) only 17 points behind.

The 19-year-old Spanish rider claimed his first WorldSSP podiums at the Autodrom Most and narrowly missed out on a potential first victory as he closed down Odendaal in Race 1; the duo separated by four tenths when Red Flags were shown. Gonzalez will be hoping he can go one better at the Navarra Round and claim his first victory.

The fight for third is a close affair with Sammarinese rider Luca Bernardi (CM Racing) two points behind Gonzalez after a stunning debut campaign in WorldSSP, although he is currently on a four-race podium drought; claiming three top-six finishes across the Dutch and Czech Rounds. Bernardi will be hoping he can return to the podium at the Navarra Round.

Jules Cluzel’s (GMT94 Yamaha) campaign so far has been marred with challenges and bad luck, including last time out when he was collected by Kevin Manfredi (Altogo Racing Team) at Turn 1 on the second lap of the race. Despite this, Cluzel sits sixth in the standings on 100 points with three podiums to his name so far: MotorLand Aragon, Circuito Estoril and Misano World Circuit “Marco Simoncelli”. Cluzel will be hoping he is able to make it a fourth podium visit at a fourth circuit in the 2021 campaign.

Danish rider Simon Jespersen will make his WorldSSP debut with Kallio Racing in place of the injured Hannes Soomer, becoming the fourth rider from Denmark to compete in WorldSSP. Jespersen currently competes in the FIM CEV Superstock 600 championship in Spain, lying 13th in the Championship with one points-scoring result so far; a fourth place in Valencia.

Danny Webb announced his split with the WRP Wepol Racing outfit, and he will be replaced by David Sanchis Martinez at the team, who will also make his WorldSSP debut at Navarra. The Spanish rider has competed in endurance racing in 2021 and made his debut on a superstock bike at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

WorldSSP Challenge competitor Maria Herrera (Biblion Iberica Yamaha Motoxracing) will be hoping to return to action but will need to undergo a medical check before she is cleared to ride. The team ran with Federico Caricasulo last time out at the Autodrom Most and he will return as a one event rider for the same team. Marc Alcoba (Yamaha MS Racing), Shogo Kawasaki (G.A.P. MOTOZOO Racing by Puccetti), Galang Hendra Pratama (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) and Christoffer Bergman (Wojcik Racing Team) will also all need to undergo medical checks before racing at Navarra.

WorldSSP Championship Points

2021 Prosecco DOC Dutch Round Schedule

Source: MCNews.com.au