Jonathan Rea with his Kawasaki team and on his right his crew chief Pere Riba, himself a former WorldSBK rider, after his first title in 2015 and his first year for the Greens. It was the last time he wore the number 65 on his bike, and since then he has been walking the number 1 year after year, making him the defending champion in 2021 as well (© Kawasaki Racing Team).

The 2nd Corona season of MotoGP from 2021

Because the FIM and Dorna had set up a completely unfamiliar calendar, which at first glance looked as if the corona pandemic had never happened, changes inevitably came afterwards. Over the course of the months, wild MotoGP and WorldSBK laps have been cancelled and new dates and routes have been found to replace them. By May there had been a total of around 10 changes. Originally, the season should have started in Assen in April and then the second round in Estoril. But as was to be expected too early, the first changes and cancellations soon came, as in the case of Phillip Island (Australia), where the season had started last year. Below is the calendar as of the end of May. In dark grey, the more than questionable dates due to the pandemic and in bold the changes compared to the first edition from the end of November 2020.

The first race on May 22nd: http://www.motoracers.eu/aragon-saturday-live/?lang=en
Review Aragon SBK Saturday: http://www.motoracers.eu/aragon-sbk-saturday-review/?lang=en
Rider voices Aragon Saturday: http://www.motoracers.eu/riders-voices-aragon-saturday/?lang=en
Aragon Sunday: http://www.motoracers.eu/aragon-sunday-live/?lang=en
Review Aragon Sunday: http://www.motoracers.eu/aragon-sunday-review/?lang=en
SSP Aragon review: http://www.motoracers.eu/ssp-round-1-look-back/?lang=en

As the first and possibly the only Superbike rider for all time, Jonathan Rea achieved his hundredth victory of the WSBK career in the first round of Aragon.

The 1st race in Estoril on May 29th: http://www.motoracers.eu/saturday-estoril-sbk-live/?lang=en
Estoril Saturday Review: http://www.motoracers.eu/estoril-race-1-look-back/?lang=en
Estoril’s Sunday: http://www.motoracers.eu/sunday-estoril-sbk-live/?lang=en
Review of Estoril Sunday SBK: http://www.motoracers.eu/sunday-review-sbk-estoril/?lang=en
WSSP review Estoril: http://www.motoracers.eu/wssp-look-back-estoril/?lang=en
WSBK Estoril Findings: http://www.motoracers.eu/wsbk-estoril-findings/?lang=en

The moment when the Ducati people caught their breath in their box – in pursuit of Jonathan Rea, who has just passed him for the second time, Redding ends up in the gravel bed of Turn 4.

The 1st race in Misano on June 12th: http://www.motoracers.eu/misano-saturday-live/?lang=en
Saturday review Italy: http://www.motoracers.eu/misano-saturday-review/?lang=en
The scandalous Misano Sunday: http://www.motoracers.eu/misano-sunday-live/?lang=en
Review Italy Sunday SBK: http://www.motoracers.eu/misano-scandal-sunday/?lang=en
WSBK Misano Findings: http://www.motoracers.eu/the-misano-farce/?lang=en
Track-Limits and other FIM-scandals: http://www.motoracers.eu/the-track-limit-shit/?lang=en

As this recording shows, Toprak Razgatlioglu (Yamaha) had already committed a so-called track limit violation in lap 3 of the second race on Sunday, which, unlike Odendaal, was not punished in the WSSP race.
Despite the fact that he crossed the finish line as the winner of the second race in Misano, Steven Odendaal was subsequently relegated to fifth place by the FIM stewards. The reason for this was a new rule that was applied inconsistently by them, which, if Toprak had been treated equally in the WSBK, would also have cost him the victory. As a result, the South African and his team were cheated of the World Cup lead in addition to his fourth win of the season. Due to this kind of manipulation of sporting competitions, from June 13th 2021 onwards we did without our live blog, because this means that the sport will stop for us.
Lucas Mahias (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) only received his new Kawasaki ZX-10RR a week before the season opener, and yet the fast Frenchman was immediately a constant top ten candidate. Unfortunately, he suffered an injury in a crash during the first run in Assen, which should checkmate him for some time.

Donington Park Superpole: http://www.motoracers.eu/the-donington-superpole/?lang=en
The first WSBK race: http://www.motoracers.eu/wsbk-race-1-in-doningon/?lang=en
Saturday review SBK Donington: http://www.motoracers.eu/donington-saturday-review/?lang=en
The Superpole Race: http://www.motoracers.eu/donington-superpole-race/?lang=en
The 2nd run of the WSBK: http://www.motoracers.eu/donington-wsbk-race-2/?lang=en
Review Donington Sunday: http://www.motoracers.eu/wsbk-donington-look-back/?lang=en

Tom Sykes ahead of Michael van der Mark (both BMW M-1000RR) – finally, the long-awaited podium for BMW with the new model became a reality and after a tough 2020 season without a podium finish, one of the blue-whites was finally on the podium again.

Premature BMW euphoria? http://www.motoracers.eu/premature-bmw-euphoria/?lang=en

Eugene Laverty (BMW) is the notorious unlucky person of WorldSBK – at first the Northern Irishman had to start the season with practically no preparation because his Italian team did not show up for the tests in Barcelona at short notice. This was followed by bankruptcies and breakdowns and, for Assen, even the withdrawal of this hobby group that was not worthy of the World Cup.

The Assen Superpole: http://www.motoracers.eu/sbk-superpole-in-assen/?lang=en
The first WSBK race in Assen: http://www.motoracers.eu/first-wsbk-race-in-assen/?lang=en
First race of the WSSP 600: http://www.motoracers.eu/first-wssp600-race-in-assen/?lang=en
Saturday review SBK Netherlands: http://www.motoracers.eu/assen-sbk-friday-review/?lang=en
The Superpole Race: http://www.motoracers.eu/assen-superpole-race/?lang=en
Second race of the WSSP 600: http://www.motoracers.eu/assen-ssp-600-race-2/?lang=en
The 2nd run of the WSBK in Assen: http://www.motoracers.eu/wsbk-race-2-in-assen/?lang=en
Review Assen Sunday SBK: http://www.motoracers.eu/assen-sbk-sunday-review/?lang=en
Rider voices after Assen: http://www.motoracers.eu/rider-voices-after-assen/?lang=en

Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki ZX-10RR) as a three-time winner of Assen in 2021 and since then the sole record holder in the “Cathedral of Speed”, where he had previously won 12 times like Carl Fogarty.

The Most Superpole: http://www.motoracers.eu/wsbk-most-superpole/?lang=en
The first WSBK race in Most: http://www.motoracers.eu/worldsbk-most-race-1/?lang=en
First race of the WSSP 600: http://www.motoracers.eu/wssp-race-1-most/?lang=en
The Superpole Race: http://www.motoracers.eu/most-superpole-race/?lang=en
Second race of the WSSP 600: http://www.motoracers.eu/ssp-600-race-2-most/?lang=en
The 2nd run of the WSBK in Most: http://www.motoracers.eu/sbk-race-2-most/?lang=en
Review Most Sunday SBK: http://www.motoracers.eu/sbk-most-review/?lang=en

Toprak in front of Ducati Ass Redding, Yamaha team-mate Locatelli and Rea – very few had expected such a strong performance from Pata Yamaha with BRIXX and the reigning world champion has to work hard to leave these opponents behind. In Assen this succeeded three times in a row, in Most it went wrong.

WSSP Tops and Flops: http://www.motoracers.eu/wssp-tops-and-flops/?lang=en

Navarra WSBK Superpole: http://www.motoracers.eu/navarra-superpole/?lang=en
SSP 600 Navarra Superpole: http://www.motoracers.eu/wssp-superpole-navarra/?lang=en
The first WSBK race in Navarra: http://www.motoracers.eu/wsbk-race-1-in-navarra/?lang=en
First race of the WSSP 600: http://www.motoracers.eu/wssp-race-1-in-navarra/?lang=en
Saturday review SBK Navarra: http://www.motoracers.eu/navarra-saturday-review/?lang=en
The Superpole Race: http://www.motoracers.eu/superpole-race-navarra/?lang=en
Second race of the WSSP 600: http://www.motoracers.eu/wssp-race-2-navarra/?lang=en
The 2nd run of the WSBK in Navarra: http://www.motoracers.eu/sbk-race-2-navarra/?lang=en
Review Navarra Sunday: http://www.motoracers.eu/navarra-sbk-look-back/?lang=en

The duel for the title last year has now turned into a three-way battle – here Toprak on the Yamaha in front of the reigning world champion Rea on Kawasaki and Ducati Ace Redding, who will, however, switch to BMW for next season.

WorldSBK half-time conclusion: http://www.motoracers.eu/wsbk-half-time-conclusion/?lang=en

Magny-Cours Superpole: http://www.motoracers.eu/wsbk-superpole-in-france/?lang=en
The first WSBK race in Nevers: http://www.motoracers.eu/race-1-nevers/?lang=en
Rider voices from Saturday: http://www.motoracers.eu/saturday-voices-nevers/?lang=en
The Superpole Race: http://www.motoracers.eu/superpole-race-nevers/?lang=en
Second race of the WSSP 600: http://www.motoracers.eu/ssp-600-race-2-nevers/?lang=en
The 2nd run of the WSBK in Nevers: http://www.motoracers.eu/sbk-race-2-nevers/?lang=en
Magny-Cours look back: http://www.motoracers.eu/nevers-look-back/?lang=en

The tight situation in the Superbike World Championship

Toprak on the Yamaha ahead of the Kawasaki duo with Rea and Lowes – the Turkish rider was stronger in Navarra and Magny-Cours, but how will it be in Catalonia, Andalusia and Portugal? After victories, Rea is still leading with 9 ahead of Razgatlioglu with 8 (© Kawasaki Racing Team).

Barcelona Saturday: http://www.motoracers.eu/sbk-barcelona-saturday/?lang=en
Saturday review SBK Barcelona: http://www.motoracers.eu/barcelona-race-1-review/?lang=en
The Superpole Race in Catalonia: http://www.motoracers.eu/barcelona-sp-race/?lang=en
Second race in Barcelona: http://www.motoracers.eu/race-2-barcelona/?lang=en
The 2nd run of the WSBK in Barcelona: http://www.motoracers.eu/race-2-barcelona/?lang=en
Review Barcelona Sunday: http://www.motoracers.eu/barcelona-look-back/?lang=en

WSBK Championship situation after 9 of 13 planned rounds

Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki ZX-10RR) For the third time in a row he has extremely tough competition in defending his title, but the Northern Irishman has not been naked in Jerez de la Frontera and on Friday he set the fastest time.

Andalusian Superpole: http://www.motoracers.eu/jerez-sbk-superpole/?lang=en
Black Saturday in Jerez: http://www.motoracers.eu/black-jerez-saturday/?lang=en
The first WSBK race in Jerez: http://www.motoracers.eu/sbk-race-1-jerez/?lang=en
The only race of the WSSP 600: http://www.motoracers.eu/wssp-race-jerez/?lang=en
The 2nd run of the WSBK in Jerez: http://www.motoracers.eu/sbk-race-2-jerez/?lang=en
Review Jerez de la Frontera Sunday: http://www.motoracers.eu/sbk-jerez-look-back/?lang=en

WSBK Championship situation after 10 of 13 rounds

Moving moment after the last race on Sunday – at the scene of the accident where Dean Berta Viñales lost his life the day before, his helmet and a wreath were laid down and there was another minute’s silence for the tragically injured cousin of MotoGP hero Maverick.
Toprak Razgatlioglu after the race – after the tragic accident in the junior class, the Yamaha rider looked very deformed despite his one-two victory, and he couldn’t really be happy about it, as he openly stated.

Portimão Superpole: http://www.motoracers.eu/portimao-superpole/?lang=en
The first WSBK race in Portimão: http://www.motoracers.eu/sbk-race-1-portimao/?lang=en
First race of the WSSP 600: http://www.motoracers.eu/race-1-ssp-600-portimao/?lang=en
Saturday review SBK Portimão: http://www.motoracers.eu/portimao-preliminary-decision/?lang=en
The Superpole Race: http://www.motoracers.eu/superpole-race-portimao/?lang=en
Second race of the WSSP 600: http://www.motoracers.eu/race-2-ssp-600-portimao/?lang=en
The 2nd run of the WSBK in Portimão: http://www.motoracers.eu/sbk-race-2-portimao/?lang=en
Review Portimão Sunday: http://www.motoracers.eu/sbk-portimao-look-back/?lang=en

WSBK Championship situation after 11 of 13 rounds

Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with BRIXX) gambled away his huge lead in the world championship by falling on Turn 15 when he landed rudely in the gravel in pursuit of Jonathan Rea.

The consequences of bad role models like Toprak for the next generation: http://www.motoracers.eu/bad-role-models/?lang=en

Unless otherwise mentioned, applies to all images (© WorldSBK).