More, from a press release issued by Dorna WorldSBK Press Office;
Rea doubles up in Indonesia with wet-weather WorldSBK victory after thrilling battles
The season ended with an incredible battle between second and third in the Championship in a rain-affected shortened Race 2
A shortened Race 2 for the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship at the Pertamina Mandalika International Street Circuit provided plenty of drama in wet conditions, with a delay to the start due to weather conditions meaning the race was run to a reduced 12 laps, down from the originally planned 21 laps. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) doubled up on victories in Indonesia as he battled it out with Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) for victory.
A WET WEATHER MASTERCLASS FROM REA AND REDDING…
As the race got underway, newly crowned Champion Toprak Razgatligolu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) kept the lead from the race, with the lead five quickly looking to break away. Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) and Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) were able to break away with relentless pace as they battled it out for Race 2 honours.
Rea and Redding both exchanged first place as they looked to end the season on the top step of the rostrum, including a superb move around the outside of the Ducati rider on Lap 7, although Redding was able to respond. As the final lap started, Redding was able to make a move into Turn 1 before Rea responded into Turn 10. Heading into Turn 16, Redding went up the inside of Rea but ran wide, allowing Rea to move back into the lead of the race and claim his second victory at Mandalika for the 215th podium of his career. Redding’s second place earnt Ducati their 660th race on the podium.
INTENSE BATTLE FOR THE PODIUM
Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) got a good start to be in the lead group of five riders, and on Lap 4 he looked to move up the order into a podium place. Into Turn 17, Bassani and Michael van der Mark (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) made contact and Bassani crashed out of the race, with the incident placed under investigation by the FIM WorldSBK Stewards, with no further action taken. On the run to Turn 17, Bassani and Razgatlioglu were battling which allowed van der Mark to get alongside Bassani on the exit.
Van der Mark and Razgatlioglu battled it out for third place with the former teammates going head-to-head for the final place on the podium, with van der Mark passing the 2021 Champion on Lap 7 to claim his third podium of the 2021 and the 50th podium placement in WorldSBK for BMW. Razgatlioglu came home in fourth place meaning the gap between him and Rea at the end of the season was 13 points, while it also secured the Manufacturers’ Championship for Yamaha for only the second time; Yamaha winning the Riders’, Teams’ and Manufacturers’ titles in 2021.
ROUNDING OUT 2021 IN THE TOP TEN
Tom Sykes (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) finished his BMW stint with a top five finish in the wet conditions, finishing three seconds clear of Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) in sixth place. Gerloff’s result, coupled with Bassani’s retirement, meant Gerloff claimed the Best Independent Rider award for 2021. He finished ahead of teammate Kohta Nozane in seventh place, the best of his rookie season in WorldSBK as he ended the season on a high.
Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) finished in eighth place after a battle with Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) in Race 2. Although Rinaldi did get ahead of Locatelli on track, he had a crash at Turn 6 which forced him out of the race and allowed Locatelli to claim fourth in the Championship standings. Following the race, Rinaldi was transported to RSUD NTB Hospital by air ambulance for further assessments after being diagnosed with a cervical strain. Isaac Viñales (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) ended his rookie campaign with his best result of the season with ninth, ahead of fellow Spaniard Alvaro Bautista (Team HRC); whose Team HRC career ended with a top ten finish.
TAKING HOME POINTS
Frenchman Christophe Ponsson (Gil Motor Sport-Yamaha) finished 11th place after he battled with the retiring Chaz Davies (Team GoEleven) in the closing stages of the race, with Davies ending his WorldSBK career with 99 podiums, 32 victories and 2999.5 points. Tito Rabat (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) finished in 13th place and Samuele Cavalieri (Barni Racing Team) was 14th and the last of the classified riders.
TO NOTE
Despite a good start and running in the top six, Leandro Mercado (MIE Racing Honda Team) crashed out of the race at Turn 14.
Oliver König (OUTDO TPR Team Pedercini Racing) was declared unfit after a Race 1 crash, where he was diagnosed with a minimal head injury. Leon Haslam’s Team HRC farewell came to a premature end after he was declared unfit with a right shoulder functional impairment and missed both races, while Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) was declared unfit with a right acromioclavicular join separation.
P1 Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)
“Super happy. Thanks to my team, they made all the right decisions. After our tough FP1, we got the bike in a really good area. To come here and win in the dry, win in the wet, in front of the amazing fans… massive thanks to the fans who stayed around in the wet weather. It was so nice to get a race, albeit it was very wet. Super happy with our effort this year. I rode with a lot of heart. I did my best, no regrets. Congratulations again to Toprak and Yamaha and look forward to battling again in 2022.”
P2 Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati)
“I didn’t do as well as Chaz when he left, he took the win! I did my best. None of us have done any wet weather riding this weekend. It was just everyone for themselves, go out and you see it at the beginning of the race; swapping and changing. Jonny got the rhythm. I felt strong then he come past me. I was behind him, I was faster. I think you get a lot of judgement when someone’s in front of you. I tried at the end. Jonny made a small mistake. I pushed. He passed me quite hard on the brakes, it was a big aggressive. I said ‘okay, let’s try it back for the last corner’. I was locking fronts, locking rears. It’s been an amazing season.”
P3 Michael van der Mark (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team)
“I’m really happy with this podium. I had an amazing fight with Toprak on track and I really enjoyed this even though I think I could’ve ended up further towards the front. I’m really proud to be on the podium here. We saw today the tarmac is fantastic and in the wet conditions we could have some awesome battles, and in the dry.”
More, from a press release issued by Yamaha:
Gerloff Wins Independent Riders’ Championship, Nozane Achieves Best WorldSBK Result in Indonesia
At the 2021 FIM Superbike World Championship finale in Indonesia, the GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team added to their Independent Teams’ trophy, with Garrett Gerloff winning the Independent Riders’ title, while rookie teammate Kohta Nozane scored his best result in seventh.
Rain returned to the Mandalika International Street Circuit on Sunday, but it held off for the morning’s postponed first race. With the track still damp from the early showers though, Gerloff immediately lost positions from his fourth-place grid slot to run 13th early on. He was unable to challenge back inside the top 10 and eventually crossed the line in 11th.
Race 2 was delayed due to a heavy downpour prior to the start, and the organisers took the decision to shorten the contest to 12 laps. After a good initial getaway, the American dropped back outside the top 10 in the melee of the first corners, but he was able to make an impressive comeback through the field and eventually brought his Yamaha R1 home in sixth place. The result saw the Texan end the 2021 campaign seventh in the overall standings and first of the Independent riders.
Nozane was 15th in the tricky mixed conditions in Race 1, but went on to enjoy his best performance yet of his maiden WorldSBK campaign in the afternoon. Starting 16th, the Japanese rider was up to ninth by the end of the first lap, and showed impressive pace to run sixth by lap four. Gerloff managed to pass the 2020 JSB1000 All-Japan Champion, who was comfortably ahead of Pata Yamaha’s Andrea Locatelli by the chequered flag.
Garrett Gerloff: P11 & P6
GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team
“I wish we could have had a dry race. To have ever-changing conditions for two days in a row was a bit frustrating, but I am happy to have finished the season. The track in the wet was amazing today, it had a lot of grip and there was not too much standing water, but it just took me a while to find the limit. I just prefer racing in the dry, it’s less scary. Now I know where the limit in the wet is, though, and I felt really fast in the dry earlier in the weekend, so I look forward to coming back next year. I am also really happy that I was able to keep the lead in the Independents’ Championship to give it to the team, they deserved a positive result. I look forward to 2022 and to the winter tests, so we can work on some things. Next year I need to improve my consistency and the first couple of laps of my races, for sure, because I am not quick nor aggressive enough at the start. The bike feels great, but I need to work on myself.”
Kohta Nozane: P15 & P7
GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team
“Today, I had a very difficult time in Race 1. The conditions were very tricky as sometimes it was raining, sometimes it wasn’t, and my final result was not good. Then I hit the reset button and focused fully on Race 2, which was run in the wet. I like these conditions but it was my first time at this track in the rain, so it wasn’t easy. It was the same for everybody, though, and I was confident I could do well. In the end I achieved my best result of the season, a seventh place result, after running my best race so far in WorldSBK. Next season, though, I will need to make a step up and the target for 2022 is to make it onto the podium for the first time.”
