Gordon Ritchie | October 3, 2021
Sunday
WorldSBK Race Two
Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) won the final race of the WorldSBK weekend in strong form to reverse the damage that two Portimao no-scores had done to his championship hopes earlier in the weekend.
Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) was a distant but safe second after Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team) exited second place in the race in spectacular fashion. What looked like his front mudguard came off in pieces as he tipped into Turn 15, the same spot Rea had fallen on day one, and he fast and slid for a long time. Investigations are underway now to determine exactly what happened.
Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team) was looking like he could be third but he dropped out of a fight that saw Loris Baz (Team GoEleven Ducati) and Alvaro Bautista (HRC Honda) finally touch exiting the tight left hairpin behind the pits, with Bautista falling and no scoring.
Baz would be third – again – and just under nine seconds from Rea.
Locatelli was fourth and Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha) fifth.
Superpole race winner in the wet, Michael van der Mark (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team), was sixth in the dry final race, with Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) recovering from his Superpole race bashing to take seventh. Leon Haslam (HRC Honda) was eighth, Axel Bassani (MotoCorsa Racing Ducati) ninth and Eugene Laverty (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) tenth.
In the championship points, Razgatlioglu is 24 ahead of Rea, 478 to 454, with Redding on 424 and Rinaldi on 249.
2021 Portuguese WorldSBK Results—Race Two
1 |
Jonathan Rea |
(Kaw) |
|
2 |
Scott Redding |
(Duc) |
+ 5.425s |
3 |
Loris Baz |
(Duc) |
+ 8.905s |
4 |
Andrea Locatelli |
(Yam) |
+ 12.289s |
5 |
Garrett Gerloff |
(Yam) |
+ 13.596s |
WorldSSP Race Two
Steven Odendaal (BARDAHL Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha) won an epic dry WorldSSP Race Two after the morning rains to cut his points deficit to championship leader Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) to 54, with four individual races left to run in 2021.
After the photo finish across the line after 17-laps, Race One winner Jules Cluzel (GMT94 Yamaha) was second and Federico Caricasulo (Biblion Iberian Yamaha Motoxracing) third.
One-time leader Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha ParkinGo Team) placed fourth, but the story of the race was the inability of points leader Aegerter to stay in contention for the win. At the back fo the leading group, he would eventually run wide and lose all chance of getting back into contention, with two laps to go. He was fifth, over three seconds down on Odendaal.
Yari Montella (GMT94 Yamaha) was sixth and Randy Krummenacher (CM Racing Yamaha) a lonely seventh.
After long time top five runner Raffaele De Rosa (Orelac Racing VerdNatura Kawasaki) fell in the latter stages and finally finished 14th, Philipp Öttl (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) was top Kawasaki rider in eighth, with Peter Sebestyen (Racing Team Hungary Yamaha) separating Öttl from his team-mate Can Öncü (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing), who finished tenth.
Niki Tuuli (MV Agusta Corse Clienti) fell from contention for a podium place and no-scored.
In the points Aegerter has 354, Odendaal 300, Gonzalez 249 and Öttl 232.
2021 Portuguese WorldSSP Results—Race Two
1 |
Steven Odendaal |
(Yam) |
|
2 |
Jules Cluzel |
(Yam) |
+ 0.011s |
3 |
Federico Caricasulo |
(Yam) |
+ 0.364s |
4 |
Manuel Gonzalez |
(Yam) |
+ 0.629s |
5 |
Dominique Aegerter |
(Yam) |
+ 3.196 |
WorldSBK Superpole Race
After early leader Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) crashed out of the first lap at Turn 13 to close off more of his reducing opportunities to win the championship the dramas kept on coming in a wet race at Portimao.
The often troubled BMW project in 2021 got a morale-boosting win when Michael van der Mark (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) pushed his way past Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) to eventually win by a clear 5.330 seconds.
This was BMW’s first WorldSBK win since 2013, when Chaz Davies was the victor in a race at the Nürburgring.
With everybody on full wet tires, Redding took second, and with Rea no scoring closed in on his rival some more.
Loris Baz (Team GoEleven Ducati) showed he had lost none of his wet weather prowess with his second podium of the weekend, in third place.
Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team) was fourth after Leon Haslam (HRC Honda) crashed out, just holding off Alvaro Bautista (HRC Honda).
Sixth, and only just moving his points advantage over Rea forward, was Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team), almost seven seconds back from Bautista.
Axel Bassani (MotoCorsa Racing Ducati) was seventh, Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha) eighth, as Eugene Laverty (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) and Isaac Vinales (Orelac Racing VerdNatura Kawasaki) completed the top ten.
Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) was also a high-profile faller, on lap one.
No more rain is predicted today but how fast the track dries up for the second WorldSSP and WorldSBK main races is now the subject of much conversation at Portimao.
2021 Portuguese WorldSBK Results—Superpole Race
1 |
M. van der Mark |
(BMW) |
|
2 |
Scott Redding |
(Duc) |
+ 4.140s |
3 |
Loris Baz |
(Duc) |
+ 5.479s |
4 |
Andrea Locatelli |
(Yam) |
+ 8.913s |
5 |
Alvaro Bautista |
(Hon) |
+ 9.359s |
Saturday
WorldSSP Race One
Another tough season for perennial championship force Jules Cluzel (GMT94 Yamaha) now has a win to show for his efforts after he set a new lap record on the final lap of a 17-lap race to beat Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha ParkinGo Team) into second by just 0.389 seconds. It was Cluzel’s first race win since Villicum in Argentina in 2019.
Championship leader Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) was third and Kawasaki privateer Raffaele De Rosa (Orelac Racing VerdNatura Kawasaki) fourth – just 0.669 seconds from the winner.
Niki Tuuli (MV Agusta Corse Clienti) took his three-cylinder machine into fifth place, still just over a second from Cluzel.
Steven Odendaal (BARDAHL Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha) was sixth, despite coming so close to crashing at one stage out of the final high-sped corner onto the main straight. He lost time at a key time and finished almost 1.5 seconds from Cluzel.
Randy Krummenacher (CM Racing Yamaha) placed a lonely seventh and the Kawasaki official pairing of Can Öncü (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) and Philipp Öttl (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) were eighth and ninth respectively.
Yari Montella (GMT94 Yamaha) completed the top ten riders in Portugal on raceday one.
2021 Portuguese WorldSSP Results—Race One
1 |
Jules Cluzel |
(Yam) |
|
2 |
Manuel Gonzalez |
(Yam) |
+ 0.389s |
3 |
Dominique Aegerter |
(Yam) |
+ 0.565s |
4 |
R. De Rosa |
(MVA) |
+ 0.669s |
5 |
Niki Tuuli |
(MVA) |
+ 1.099s |
WorldSBK Race One
Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team) won what started out as a three-rider fight for the Race One victory, with his main championship rival Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) crashing out on lap five after trying to get away from Razgatlioglu and Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati).
Rea’s fast crash gave him no chance to restart and he ended his day 45 points behind Razgatlioglu.
After a cool-headed defence of his leading position from Redding, and then a final spurt of pace that saw him 0.691 seconds ahead of the lead Ducati rider at the flag, Razgatlioglu showed his pace and aggression throughout the 20-lap race.
Loris Baz (Team GoEleven Ducati) took a stunning privateer third place in only his second round back in WorldSBK when Alvaro Bautista (HRC Honda) fell in the same spot as Rea had done earlier, although Bautista was almost in sight of the flag for his own podium before he fell.
Other potential podium riders, Michael van der Mark (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) and Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team) also crashed out when Locatelli tagged the back tyre of the BMW on the entry to the downhill hairpin with a handful of laps to go.
Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) thus finished fourth, from Leon Haslam in fifth and Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha) sixth.
With Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team) not riding today, Axel Bassani (MotoCorsa Racing Ducati) was seventh, Leandro Mercado (MIE Racing Honda Team) eighth, Eugene Laverty (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) ninth and Christophe Ponsson (Gil Motorsport Alstare Yamaha) 10th.
2021 Portuguese WorldSBK Results—Race One
1 |
Toprak Razgatlioglu |
(Yam) |
|
2 |
Scott Redding |
(Duc) |
+ 0.691s |
3 |
Loris Baz |
(Duc) |
+ 10.628s |
4 |
M. Ruben Rinaldi |
(Duc) |
+ 12.901s |
5 |
Leon Haslam |
(Hon) |
+ 13.305 |
WorldSBK Superpole
Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx) left it very late to win the Portimao Superpole qualifying contest, by a very clear margin of 0.305 seconds, setting as new track best of 1:40.219 in the process.
Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) was looking good for his ninth Superpole win of the 2021 season until the championship leader Razgatlioglu posted his impressive pole time.
More signs of the improvement in recent Honda performances saw Leon Haslam (HRC Honda) third, although over half a second from Superpole winner Razgatlioglu.
Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) was fourth, his 2022 team-mate-to-be Michael van der Mark (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) fifth and the second HRC Honda of Alvaro Bautista was sixth, completing the front two rows for this afternoon’s Race One.
Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team) placed seventh, Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha) eighth and the towering talent that is Loris Baz (Team GoEleven Ducati) ninth.
Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) was tenth.
Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team) has withdrawn from the Portimao races as his hand injury has not healed up enough to allow him to race with full stamina and strength in his throttle hand. He was fast over a few laps, second quickest of all yesterday, but knew he could not compete in a real racing scenario.
2021 Portuguese WorldSBK Results—Superpole
1 |
Toprak Razgatlioglu |
(Yam) |
1:40.219s |
2 |
Jonathan Rea |
(Kaw) |
+ 0.305s |
3 |
Leon Haslam |
(Hon) |
+ 0.561s |
4 |
Scott Redding |
(Duc) |
+ 0.665s |
5 |
M. van der Mark |
(BMW) |
+ 0.754s |
Friday
WorldSBK
Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) and his team made significant changes to their bike set-up between FP1 and FP2 and at one of his favorite and best tracks in terms of race wins he ended his opening Portimao day on top of the times. He looked visibly happier with his prospects for three strong races than he had been at most of the recent rounds.
In warm and then quite hot conditions Rea was on top of the time-sheets, with his team-mate Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team) second quickest overall and the resurgent Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha) third. Lowes will make a decision about riding in the first race on Saturday, as he is still suffering with a recently broken hand.
Rea was 0.191 seconds up on Lowes and 0.217 on Gerloff in the end.
A strong performance from Leon Haslam (HRC) put him fourth, with the championship leader Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team) fifth fastest.
Loris Baz (GoEleven Ducati) completed the top six. He was the top Ducati rider and the last of a closely packed bunch of riders from third to sixth.
The two factory Ducati riders – Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) and Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) – were seventh and eighth, with Alvaro Bautista (HRC Honda) and Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team).
2021 Portuguese WorldSBK Results—Friday
1 |
Jonathan Rea |
(Kaw) |
1:41.466s |
2 |
Alex Lowes |
(Kaw) |
+ 0.191s |
3 |
Garrett Gerloff |
(Yam) |
+ 0.217s |
4 |
Leon Haslam |
(Hon) |
+ 0.250s |
5 |
Toprak Razgatlioglu |
(Yam) |
+ 0.283s |
WorldSSP
Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha ParkinGo Team) went quickest on day one at a bright and shining Portimao, thanks to his morning time when the track was slightly cooler.
He led five Yamaha R6s in succession, with Jules Cluzel (GMT 94), Federico Caricasulo (Biblion Iberica Yamaha MotoxRacing), Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Yamaha) and Steven Odendaal (BARDAHL Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha).
The increasingly potent three-cylinder force of Niki Tuuli (MV Agusta Corse Clienti) was sixth, while Can Öncü (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) led his team-mate Philipp Öttl (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) and the other top performing Kawasaki rider this season, Raffaele De Rosa (Orelac Racing VerdNatura Kawasaki).
The top ten, in a field of 33 riders, was completed by Randy Krummenacher (CM Racing Yamaha), who had technical issues earlier in the day and set his best time in the afternoon.
2021 Portuguese WorldSSP Results—Friday
1 |
Manuel Gonzalez |
(Yam) |
1:44.188s |
2 |
Jules Cluzel |
(Yam) |
+ 0.170s |
3 |
Federico Caricasulo |
(Yam) |
+ 0.341s |
4 |
Dominique Aegerter |
(Yam) |
+ 0.405s |
5 |
Steven Odendaal |
(Yam) |
+ 0.430s |
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