Razgatlioglu wins Race 1 of the WorldSBK Motul French Round and sets a new race record; riders unanimously choose the A0557 SCX development tyre for the rear
The WorldSBK Motul French Round sets the stage for Toprak Razgatlioglu tenth win on Yamaha and Kawasaki’s one-hundredth pole position thanks to Jonathan Rea. Dominique Aegerter on the top step of the podium in WorldSSP
For the first day of races at the Motul French Round held on the Nevers Magny-Cours circuit, Toprak Razgatlioglu and his Yamaha YZF R1 managed by team Pata Yamaha with BRIXX WorldSBK proved their superiority even on the French track.
The Turkish rider proved to be in outstanding form, finishing on the top step of the podium in Race 1, also moving into the lead in the championship standings. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR) finished second ahead of Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha with BRIXX WorldSBK / Yamaha YZF R1), third. This means that the Japanese manufacturer is now leading in the Manufacturers Standings with a nine-point advantage over Ducati and eleven ahead of Kawasaki.
Jonathan Rea was the protagonist in Superpole: the six-time WorldSBK champion dominated the qualifying session on Saturday morning and takes a record-breaking eighth consecutive pole position, his fifth in a row on the French circuit and one-hundredth for the Akashi-based manufacturer.
Pirelli can consider themselves satisfied with the performance of their tyres, specifically with the outstanding performance of the A0557 specification SCX development solution that led to a new race record on the French circuit, with a time of 1'36.937 done by Toprak Razgatlioglu, and it was chosen for Race 1 by the entire starting grid in the WorldSBK class.
WorldSBK Race 1:
Pole man Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR) started well and held onto the lead straight away but he was attacked during the first lap by Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with BRIXX WorldSBK / Yamaha YZF R1) who, however, lost valuable time when he was forced to defend against Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR) in third place. Toprak stayed on the defending World Champion Kawasaki rider’s pipes and finally managed to overtake him during the fourth lap. In the meantime, lying fourth behind Lowes was Michael Ruben Rinaldi (ARUBA.IT Racing - Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4 R) ahead of Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha with BRIXX WorldSBK / Yamaha YZF R1) who overtook the Ducati rider on the thirteenth lap. The Italian rookie tried to close the gap behind the podium position and managed to achieve the result, thanks to a crash by Alex Lowes that forced him to retire five laps from the end. Toprak made no mistakes and finished first, 4.4 seconds ahead of Jonathan Rea in second place and Andrea Locatelli, third.
WorldSBK Race 1 Standings:
- T. Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with BRIXX WorldSBK / Yamaha YZF R1)
- J. Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR)
- A. Locatelli (Pata Yamaha with BRIXX WorldSBK / Yamaha YZF R1)
- M. Rinaldi (ARUBA.IT Racing - Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4 R)
- M. van der Mark (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team / BMW M 1000 RR)
- Á. Bautista (Team HRC / Honda CBR1000 RR-R)
- A. Bassani (Motocorsa Racing / Ducati Panigale V4 R)
- C. Davies (Team GOELEVEN / Ducati Panigale V4 R)
- T. Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team / BMW M 1000 RR)
- L. Haslam (Team HRC / Honda CBR1000 RR-R)
- G. Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team / Yamaha YZF R1)
- S. Redding (ARUBA.IT Racing - Ducati / Ducati Panigale V4 R)
- C. Ponsson (Gil Motor Sport-Yamaha / Yamaha YZF R1)
- T. Rabat (Barni Racing Team / Ducati Panigale V4 R)
- I. Viñales (ORELAC Racing VERDNATURA / Kawasaki ZX-10RR)
- J. Folger (Bonovo MGM Racing / BMW M 1000 RR)
- K. Nozane (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team / Yamaha YZF R1)
- L. Cresson (TPR Team Pedercini Racing / Kawasaki ZX-10RR)
- Rt. A. Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK / Kawasaki ZX-10RR)
- Rt. L. Mercado (MIE Racing HONDA Team / Honda CBR1000 RR-R)
WorldSSP Race 1:
WorldSSP Race 1 started at 3:15 in the afternoon, but due to an accident involving several riders on the first lap, the red flag came out so race conditions could be restored. The riders lined up on the grid once again to tackle a race that was reduced to twelve laps. It was Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha / Yamaha YZF R6) who had the best start, moving up to lead the group ahead of Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha ParkinGo Team / Yamaha YZF R6), Jules Cluzel (GMT94 Yamaha / Yamaha YZF R6) and Philipp Oettl (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing / Kawasaki ZX-6R). Spaniard Gonzalez dropped back several positions, whereas Luca Bernardi (CM Racing / Yamaha YZF R6) moved up as many spots, reaching the podium positions. In the second half of the race, Steven Odendaal (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team / Yamaha YZF R6) became increasingly threatening. Thanks to an outstanding pace, he managed to claw his way up through the ranks from his thirteenth spot on the starting grid. The final laps were chock full of constant overtaking among the top five positions, with Dominique Aegerter finishing first ahead of Steven Odendaal, second, and hometown hero Jules Cluzel, third.
WorldSBK Race 1 Standings:
- D. Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha / Yamaha YZF R6)
- S. Odendaal (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team / Yamaha YZF R6)
- J. Cluzel (GMT94 Yamaha / Yamaha YZF R6)
- M. Gonzalez (Yamaha ParkinGo Team / Yamaha YZF R6)
- L. Bernardi (CM Racing / Yamaha YZF R6)
- F. Caricasulo (Biblion Iberica Yamaha Motoxracing / Yamaha YZF R6)
- P. Oettl (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing / Kawasaki ZX-6R)
- C. Oncu (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing / Kawasaki ZX-6R)
- R. De Rosa (Orelac Racing VerdNatura / Kawasaki ZX-6R)
- A. Verdoia (GMT94 Yamaha / Yamaha YZF R6)
- R. Krummenacher (EAB Racing Team / Yamaha YZF R6)
- K. Manfredi (Altogo Racing Team / Yamaha YZF R6)
- S. Frossard (Moto Team Jura Vitesse / Yamaha YZF R6)
- U. Orradre (Yamaha MS Racing / Yamaha YZF R6)
- H. Soomer (Kallio Racing / Yamaha YZF R6)
- F. Fuligni (VFT Racing / Yamaha YZF R6)
- L. Taccini (Orelac Racing VerdNatura / Kawasaki ZX-6R)
- M. Brenner (VFT Racing / Yamaha YZF R6)
- D. Valle (Yamaha MS Racing / Yamaha YZF R6)
- D. Martinez (WRP Wepol Racing / Yamaha YZF R6)
- M. Herrera (Biblion Iberica Yamaha Motoxracing / Yamaha YZF R6)
- C. Bergman (Wójcik Racing Team / Yamaha YZF R6)
- L. Montella (Chiodo Moto Racing / Yamaha YZF R6)
- E. Montero (DK Motorsport / Yamaha YZF R6)
- Rt. V. Falcone (TFC Racing / Yamaha YZF R6)
- Rt. V. Debise (GMT94 Yamaha / Yamaha YZF R6)
- Rt. H. Pratama (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha / Yamaha YZF R6)
- Rt. P. Sebestyen (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team / Yamaha YZF R6)
- Rt. N. Tuuli (MV Agusta Corse Clienti / MV Agusta F3 675)
- Rt. M. Fabrizio (G.A.P. MOTOZOO Racing by Puccetti / Kawasaki ZX-6R)
- Rt. V. Takala (Kallio Racing / Yamaha YZF R6)
WorldSSP300 Race 1:
The Supersport 300 class was the first of the three classes to take to the track and Race 1 started on the Nevers Magny-Cours circuit at 12:45 in the afternoon. Taking home the win was Adrian Huertas (MTM Kawasaki / Kawasaki Ninja 400), who also maintains the lead in the overall Championship standings. Rounding out the podium were Tom Booth-Amos (Fusport - RT Motorsports by SKM - Kawasaki / Kawasaki Ninja 400), second in the overall championship standings, sixteen points behind, and Frenchman Samuel Di Sora (Leader Team Flembbo / Kawasaki Ninja 400).
Yamaha R3 bLU cRU Cup:
Race 1 and Race 2 of the Yamaha R3 bLU cRU Cup 2021 were both won by young British rider Fenton Harrison Seabright (#47).
The Pirelli solutions chosen by the riders for WorldSBK Race 1 and WorldSSP Race 1:
In Race 1 of WorldSBK, most of the riders used the standard SC1 solution (option A) on the front, whereas Kawasaki riders Jonathan Rea, Alex Lowes, and Loris Cresson preferred the A0508 development solution (option B). At the rear, on the other hand, the entire grid was unanimous in choosing the A0557 SCX development solution (option A) to tackle the first race of the weekend.
In the WorldSSP class, all the riders on the grid opted for the soft standard SC1 solution (option A) on the front and the super soft standard SCX tyre (option A) on the rear.
Pirelli statistics for WorldSBK Race 1:
- Winner of the PIRELLI BEST LAP AWARD: Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with BRIXX WorldSBK / Yamaha YZF R1) in 1'36.937 on the 7th lap (new race record)
- Most used front solution: standard SC1 (17 out of 20 riders)
- Most used rear solution: A0557 SC1 development (21 out of 20 riders)
- Maximum race speed reached by Pirelli DIABLO™ Superbike tyres: 296.7 km/h, done by Álvaro Bautista (Team HRC / Honda CBR1000 RR-R) on the 14th lap
- Number of solutions (dry, intermediate and wet) for the Superbike class: 5 front and 6 rear
- Number of tyres available for each Superbike rider: 66, including 30 front and 36 rear
- Air temperature: 26° C
- Asphalt temperature: 43° C
Pirelli statistics for WorldSSP Race 1:
- Winner of the PIRELLI BEST LAP AWARD: Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha / Yamaha YZF R6), in 1'41.279 on the 6th lap
- Most used front solution: standard SC1 (31 out of 31 riders)
- Most used rear solution: Standard SCX (31 out of 31 riders)
- Maximum race speed reached by Pirelli DIABLO™ Superbike tyres: 264.1 km/h, done by Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha ParkinGo Team / Yamaha YZF R6) on the 8th lap
- Number of solutions (dry, intermediate and wet) for the Superbike class: 4 front and 4 rear
- Number of tyres available for each Supersport rider: 43, including 20 front and 23 rear
- Air temperature: 27° C
- Asphalt temperature: 37° C