After topping Friday for the second consecutive week, Razgatlıoğlu qualified on the front row in third in the Superpole, after a penalty ahead, despite only doing one real fast lap. In Race 1, Razgatlıoğlu battled with Ducati’s Scott Redding and Kawasaki’s Jonathan Rea throughout in what was a titanic three-way fight for the lead. Rea mounted a late attack on the 24-year-old, but Razgatlıoğlu pulled off a series of stunning late braking defences to keep him at bay, finishing second. In the Superpole Race, he was second again and first of the SCX tyre runners.
In Race 2, the Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK rider was given a double long-lap penalty for jumping the start, which was made worse by the fact he had penalised himself by pulling the brakes on again as the lights went out. He had initially run fourth, climbing to second before serving his penalties, which saw him drop back to sixth. However, another exceptional ride saw Razgatlıoğlu climb back into the podium places, finishing third.
At GRT Yamaha, Garrett Gerloff had been left feeling “confused” by Friday’s performances, but managed to find a good set-up on his Yamaha R1 to line up fourth for the races. In the opener, the American was forced to back out of the first corner melee, and dropped to eighth in the early stages. The Texan made an excellent recovery though, finishing fourth and matching the leaders’ pace.
Sunday’s Superpole Race saw a much more competitive start for Gerloff, who held his position off the line. Although the result was the same as Race 1, his fourth-place finish this time was just 2.059s from the race-winner. In Race 2, the 25-year-old made another good start and was settling into a rhythm, before he lost the rear under braking into Turn 6 on the second lap, falling out of the race and collecting Michael Rubin Rinaldi’s Ducati on the way.
Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK’s Andrea Locatelli had only ridden a limited number of laps here with the Yamaha R1 after the final round in 2020, and made a good step forward in Saturday’s FP3 session. The Italian was ninth in qualifying, courtesy of two penalties ahead, but dropped to 15th over the first few laps. However, he improved his pace in the second half of the race and finished 10th.
After coming home 11th in the Superpole Race, the 24-year-old was able to put it all together in the final feature event. Locatelli held his place at the start, climbing from ninth to finish an impressive fifth in only his second WorldSBK weekend.
For GRT Yamaha’s Kohta Nozane, this was a new track entirely, having never raced or tested here previously. The Japanese rider was given a setback following a massive highside at the end of FP2, which knocked his confidence and meant the team had to build a new bike. After qualifying 16th, Nozane improved to 15th in Race 1, but the following morning his crew found a technical issue, which meant he had to skip Sunday’s Warm Up, hindering his preparations for the races. 15th in the SPRC was followed by his fifth points finish of the season in 13th, where he fought among WorldSBK veterans once again.
Alstare Yamaha’s Christophe Ponsson endured a difficult weekend, after an issue forced him out of Race 1, the French rider was 20th in the SPRC, improving to 17th in the final race of the weekend.
In the FIM Supersport World Championship, two thrilling and unpredictable races saw Evan Bros Yamaha WorldSSP Supported Team’s Steven Odendaal take his third consecutive victory in Race 1, with GMT94 Yamaha WorldSSP Supported Team’s Jules Cluzel joining him on the podium in third.
Sunday’s race saw an even more tightly contested battle for victory, which included 10 riders at some stages. Ten Kate Yamaha WorldSSP Supported Team’s Dominique Aegerter charged his way from fifth on the grid to take an emotional first victory, dedicating it to Jason Dupasquier, with 2018 bLU cRU graduate Luca Bernardi taking a sensational second-place finish in only his second WorldSSP weekend.
