Toprak Razgatlioglu shatters any hope of a Ducati hat trick, tying Jonathan Rea in the overall championship standings at 311 points. The rear A0557 SCX development solution is confirmed by most of the riders in Race 2 as well
Navarra (Spain), 22 August 2021 – The WorldSBK Pirelli Navarra Round has just ended, the seventh round of the 2021 MOTUL FIM World Superbike Championship season, during which spectators witnessed a blue storm cloud shatter any hopes of a Redding hat trick on the Basque circuit and tie up the overall championship standings, placing Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with BRIXX WorldSBK / Yamaha YZF R1) and Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR) neck in neck with 311 points each, not to mention positioning Yamaha second in the Manufacturer standings, just three points behind Ducati.
Scott Redding (ARUBA.IT Racing - Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4 R) took the win in the morning Tissot Superpole Race ahead of Northern Irishman Jonathan Rea and Toprak Razgatlioglu, whereas it was the latter who won Race 2. His teammate, rookie Andrea Locatelli, also put in an outstanding performance, taking home three fourth-place finishes this weekend, accumulating valuable points for the Manufacturer standings as well.
In WorldSSP, Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha / Yamaha YZF R6) confirmed his performance, taking home a nice double win on Basque soil and maintaining his leadership both in the overall championship standings and for the Pirelli Best Lap Award with no fewer than five Best Laps this season.
The Navarra race weekend once again afforded Pirelli engineers with the opportunity to gather important feedback on their standard tyres on a new circuit. In fact, the DIABLO™ Superbike Slicks in SC1 compound for the front and SCX for the rear, as well as the standard and development solutions, were the protagonists of adrenaline-packed races which ended with three different manufacturers on the three podiums of the weekend.
In the Tissot Superpole Race, most of the riders on the grid chose to race with the super soft standard SCX tyre (option A) on the rear and the soft standard SC1 (option C) on the front. In WorldSBK Race 2, the riders confirmed their choices from the day before at the rear, with the A0557 SCX development solution (option B) mounted on most of the bikes on the grid, whereas for the front, the most used solution was the standard SC1 (option C).
In Race 2 of the World Supersport class, the standard SCX rear solution (option A), successfully introduced by Pirelli this year at the Misano round, was the unanimous choice on the starting grid. At the front, all the riders except one chose to race on the soft standard SC1 (option A).
Tissot Superpole Race:
Scott Redding (ARUBA.IT Racing - Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4 R) started well from the second spot on the grid to lead the group with Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR) and Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with BRIXX WorldSBK / Yamaha YZF R1) following close behind to form a compact trio. The battle at the front was extremely heated from the early laps with upsets, surprises, overtaking and contact between the three riders. Watching the action from two seconds behind were the riders in the second group made up of rookie Yamaha rider Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha with BRIXX WorldSBK / Yamaha YZF R1), Kawasaki rider Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR) and BMW rider Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team / BMW M 1000 RR), all battling for fourth. Despite the intense battle in the first half of the race, the three podium positions remained unchanged with Jonathan Rea once again becoming a threat on the final lap, staying hot on the pipes of his Ducati-riding compatriot, but the latter defended well, finishing first ahead of the reigning World Champion and Toprak Razgatlioglu.
Tissot Superpole Race Standings:
WorldSBK Race 2:
Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with BRIXX WorldSBK / Yamaha YZF R1) started extremely well from the third spot on the grid, moving into the race lead ahead of Scott Redding (ARUBA.IT Racing - Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4 R) and Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR), who began attacking the Ducati straight away, finally succeeding during the third lap. Behind Redding was Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha with BRIXX WorldSBK / Yamaha YZF R1) who rode most of the race all alone in fourth place. Following him was the trio made up of Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team / BMW M 1000 RR), Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR) and Michael van der Mark (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team / BMW M 1000 RR) who were battling it out for fifth. Rea steadily closed the gap behind Razgatlioglu but was unable to overtake and on the penultimate lap, due to a mistake that took him wide, he was forced to concede second place to Scott Redding. At the chequered flag, Toprak Razgatlioglu was in the lead, thereby crushing any hopes of a Ducati hat trick, ahead of Scott Redding and Jonathan Rea.
WorldSBK Race 2 Standings:
WorldSSP Race 2:
From the seventh spot on the grid, Simon Jespersen (Kallio Racing / Yamaha YZF R6) moved to the head of the group, thanks to a brilliant start, followed by Steven Odendaal (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team / Yamaha YZF R6), who wasted no time snatching the lead, and Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha / Yamaha YZF R6) in third place. The Swiss rider maintained an outstanding and consistent pace, breaking the race record multiple times that he had set in Race 1, stopping the clock at 1’41.196 on the seventh lap. After overtaking Jespersen, Aegerter set off to chase down Odendaal and a spectacular battle for first ensued. In the meantime, Jespersen lost ground and Luca Bernardi (CM Racing / Yamaha YZF R6) managed to move into a podium position ahead of Federico Caricasulo (Biblion Iberica Yamaha Motoxracing / Yamaha YZF R6), P. Oettl (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing / Kawasaki ZX-6R) and Jules Cluzel (GMT94 Yamaha / Yamaha YZF R6) who battled it out for fourth. On the fifteenth lap, the red flag came out due to an accident on the extremely fast turn 1 to crown Aegerter winner of Race 2 ahead of Odendaal (second) and Bernardi (third).
WorldSBK Race 2 Standings:
The Pirelli solutions chosen by the riders for the Tissot Superpole Race, WorldSBK Race 2 and WorldSSP Race 2:
For the Tissot Superpole Race, all the riders on the grid raced on SC1 compound tyres on the front and SCX tyres on the rear. Specifically, the standard SC1 solution (option C) was the favourite on the front, with the rest of the grid on the A0721 SC1 development solution (option A) and only one rider, Loris Cresson (TPR Team Pedercini Racing / Kawasaki ZX-10RR) on the A0508 SC1 development solution (option B). For the rear, most of the grid went with the standard SCX (option A), whereas the remaining nine riders used the A0557 SCX development solution (option B).
In WorldSBK Race 2, the riders confirmed their choices from the day before at the rear, with the A0557 SCX development solution (option B) mounted on most of the bikes on the grid, with the exception of six riders who were on the standard SCX (option A). On the front, most of the riders maintained the solution used during the Tissot Superpole Race, with the most popular choice being the standard SC1 (option C), whereas Jonathan Rea, Alex Lowes, Lucas Mahias (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing / Kawasaki ZX-10RR) and Jayson Uribe (OUTDO TPR Team Pedercini Racing / Kawasaki ZX-10RR) opted for the A0721 SC1 development solution (option A).
Last, but not least, for Race 2 in WorldSSP, on the front, all except one of the riders decided to race on the soft standard SC1 solution (option A), whereas M. Fabrizio (G.A.P. MOTOZOO Racing by Puccetti / Kawasaki ZX-6R) preferred the standard SC2 (option B). There was no disagreement on the rear tyre choice: all the riders on the grid chose the standard SCX solution (option A).
Pirelli statistics for the WorldSBK Tissot Superpole Race:
Pirelli statistics for WorldSBK Race 2:
Pirelli statistics for WorldSSP Race 2:
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