Razgatlıoğlu holds a 30-point lead in a titanic fight for the Riders’ Championship that has seen some of the best racing in WorldSBK’s 33-year history; Yamaha will challenge for its first Manufacturers’ Championship since 2007 (holding a 16-point lead) and Crescent Racing-run Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK will work towards clinching its first ever Teams’ Championship (from a current 58-point lead).
It’s likely that the battle for the “triple crown” between the main protagonists Razgatlıoğlu, Rea, Kawasaki, Ducati and Yamaha will go to the final race of the season on Sunday afternoon – with a maximum of 62 points up for grabs across the two full-length feature races and 10-lap Superpole Race.
Teammate and 25-year-old Italian rider Locatelli has already been awarded “Rookie of the Year” with his outstanding run of performance over the course of the 2021 season so far including an impressive run of top-five consistency and four podiums. For “Loka” the next goal is to close the eight-point gap to fourth place in the Riders’ Championship and help Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK finish on top.
With a new 4.310km circuit to learn in Mandalika, it’s game on for the championship contenders as they aim to hit the ground running in Free Practice 1 on Friday morning at 11:00 (UTC+8) for the first of two 45-minute practice sessions on Friday. All eyes will be on both FP1 and FP2 (15:00) to see how the competition is shaping up ahead of the final points-paying races, set to decide the overall winners of 2021.
