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SUNDAY STATS PACK: the closest finish of 2021 so far and more…

Saturday, 7 August 2021 15:56 GMT

Close gaps, a final lap thriller and a first in WorldSBK history, Race 1 on Day 2 had it all…

The 2021 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship erupted in Race 1 at the Autodrom Most, with a final lap to remember between Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with BRIXX WorldSBK) and Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati), in which the Turk triumphed over the Brit. However, Championship leader Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) crashed from third, and despite remounting, crashed again at Turn 20. Amongst the drama, history was made, and records were broken, so prepare yourself for the final race day with our Sunday Stats Pack.

  1. Toprak Razgatlioglu beating Scott Redding by 0.040s is the closest finish of the 2021 season so far. It is Yamaha’s 86th win.
     
  2. Razgatlioglu’s win is his ninth of his career, the fourth of his year. The tally of wins is the same as 2014 WorldSBK Champion Sylvain Guintoli – the last non-Rea Champion – in the 29th all-time position in the win rankings.
     
  3. Finishing second, Scott Redding took his 20th WorldSBK podium and his sixth of the year, giving Ducati a 961st podium place.
     
  4. Razgatlioglu’s teammate, Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha with BRIXX WorldSBK) made it back-to-back podiums, giving Yamaha their 333rd podium place. Ironically, the last Italian to achieve back-to-back podiums for Yamaha was the #33, Marco Melandri at Jerez in 2019 in Race 1 and the Tissot Superpole Race.
     
  5. Italy’s success continued throughout the top five, with Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) and Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) completing the top five. The last time there were three Italians inside the top five was at the Moscow Raceway in 2013, Race 1: Melandri P1, Ayrton Badovini P3, and Michel Fabrizio P5.
     
  6. For the first time in WorldSBK history, two riders who are the same age and born on the same day are on the podium: Razgatlioglu and Locatelli, born on 16th October 1996. Ironically, they are also teammates and share consecutive numbers - #54 and #55.
     
  7. For the first time since an engine problem at Laguna Seca in Race 2 and a crash in Lausitzring Race 1 in 2016, Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) suffers two no-score results in five races. On a positive note, he became the fifth rider to set six straight poles in WorldSBK. He waits for his 200th podium one race more…
     
  8. In fifth place, Axel Bassani took a best WorldSBK finish to-date, finishing as top Independent.
     
  9. In WorldSSP, Steven Odendaal (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team) gave Yamaha a 104th win in the class, equalling Honda’s record at the top of the manufacturer win ranking.
     
  10.  Also, in WorldSSP, Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha ParkinGO Team) became the youngest ever pole-sitter in Superpole at 19 years and 3 days. He took it from Chris Vermeulen who set the record aged 19 years, 10 months and 23 days: at the time, Gonzalez hadn’t even been born! It was also Spain’s first pole in WorldSSP since David Salom at Portimao, 2011.

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