Scott Redding (Aruba.it Ducati) won the first race at the premiere at the Circuito de Navarra ahead of Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team). The Englishman signed with BMW shortly before that for next season and will do everything possible to win the title for the Reds in the second year.

Instead of the hoped-for victory, a setback for Toprak – Redding unbeatable in race 1

When Toprak says he is happy after a third place in an interview, his eyes and face usually speak a completely different language. It was like that in Assen, and it didn’t change after the first WorldSBK race in Navarra. At the premiere there were very difficult conditions with stifling heat. As in the previous year, these conditions seem to be ideal, especially for Ducati and Yamaha. Kawasaki had already had major problems in Jerez de la Frontera in 2020 with an asphalt temperature of well over 40 degrees Celsius. But at the beginning you didn’t see any of this in the world championship leader when he took the lead after a few laps. But then the hour came for Scott Redding and the Englishman showed early that it was his day and he fought his way back to the top. However, the man who spoke the most about victory in the run-up had to be content with third place. Below is his opinion on the first run and a few other voices.

Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with BRIXX, P3): „The race was not easy for me because of the very hot conditions, but it was the same for everyone. After five laps it felt like the front tire was destroyed, there was a very early drop in performance and in every corner I feel like I was about to fall, but I try my best. We are happy because we made it back to the podium and took good points for the championship. But that’s not enough for me. I want to try to win on Sunday. Johnny and Scott were very fast today, but on the second lap I lost time due to a big mistake with a shift error, which is why they drove me away. Then I try to attack again, but we didn’t have enough for second or first place because they were very quick. I’ll fight again tomorrow. It’s not easy in the heat, especially with the tires, but we’ll see.“

Toprak in the interview after 3rd place – his face spoke a different language than his words, as so often when he said that he was happy with the result, which was tantamount to a defeat against his toughest competitors.

Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha with BRIXX, P4): „The race today was certainly not easy. So we had to fight a bit because we weren’t strong enough in these conditions. The feeling with the bike wasn’t too bad yesterday either, but on Saturday afternoon we lost a little with the heat. In the end it was a good race because the gap to victory is a little closer and therefore not that big. We had a little problem with changing gears, I missed a few shifts on the first and second laps and thus lost the gap to the drivers in front. However, we have to be happy because we have a good result again and tomorrow we will definitely try to find another solution to go a little faster compared to today, and then we’ll see. But today we did a good job overall.“

Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team, P5): „I felt pretty good in Superpole and my laps weren’t bad. I used a racing tire and two Q tires. In the second, I made a mistake in the last sector. It was so close. Jonathan and Scott did good laps, but they were only a couple tenths behind, not even that. I ended up seventh, and the position wasn’t ideal when I came from the third row. I got off to a good start in the race and was fourth until Toprak overtook me. At first, I thought I would be able to stay behind these guys in front of me, but I wasn’t fast enough because I was struggling with the front. I was a bit faster than the people behind me, so it was a boring race for me. But it was a long race, and it was really hot. I used the Race One experience to try to stay consistent and understand how I can improve for Sunday.“

Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) seemed very relaxed after the race and, despite 2nd place, quite satisfied – for the Superpole Race he is the favourite after 4 of 6 wins in this sprint race on Sunday.

Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team, P2): „ hat a lap in Superpole, even though I didn’t do it very well. I really got the best out of the tire, but I screwed up a few corners, missed a few vertices, so I was really surprised with the lap time. I was a little nervous about the start of the race. It was very important to be at the front, and we got off to a good start, but Scott was a little better. At first, I felt like I could go forward and when Scott went pretty far in T5 and T6 I went inside and passed him. From then on, I just kept my rhythm until he beat me up on the straight. After that, I first thought I could stick with him. But then the front tire got hot, the stability decreased and the front moved. Since I overwhelmed the front, I had a few slides, and that was enough to show me that I should brake a little earlier. I lost up to a second on one mistake and Scott got away with it. I didn’t feel like he was destroying me lap after lap when it was constant. The gap was pretty similar, so I think we can make some changes to the front tomorrow to take a step forward.“

Leandro Mercado (MIE Honda, did not see the chequered flag on Saturday): „We took a step forward on Saturday in both FP3 and SP, both in FP3 and in the Superpole session. Our goal in the race was to be close to Bautista, Haslam, Rabat and the others in this group, but instead it ended too early. It’s a shame because when I tried to overtake another driver, the front blocked. There was very little grip. Conditions changed a lot in the afternoon heat. It’s a shame because today’s race was important to take another step for on Sunday and I think we could have done well given our FP3 and qualifying. We will of course try again.”.

Leandro Mercado (Honda) and behind him Christophe Ponsson, who he hit on the rear wheel – for the Argentine the race was over after this collision in turn 3, while the Frenchman still finished fifteenth and Suzuki wildcard rider Uramoto snatched the last point in front of his nose.

Tom Sykes (BMW, P6): „It was not so bad. We had a good qualifying, and starting from the front row is always a nice goal. At the start, another rider passed me and almost took the handlebars, so I had to close the gas and a Kawasaki had passed. So the first lap wasn’t very good and then, to be honest, behind Alex Lowes on the first few laps I was a little too cautious. So I have to see this for tomorrow. I have to try to get a better start and get a good start on the first couple of laps. Later I just got used to the rhythm that I found on Friday afternoon. It looks like everyone was suffering a little more because times were slower than the first afternoon. I really had problems with the front of my bike, cornering and some rear traction, so it was definitely a difficult race. I had to change my line a bit to even make some turns and try to get around these problems. So we have a lot to do in the evening and hopefully can improve the set-up for these hot conditions on Sunday.”

Michael van der Mark (BMW, P7): „To be honest, I expected a lot more. In the morning, we took a big step in terms of performance and lap time consistency. We also made a good step in Superpole. I was tenth, but the gap to P5 was really close. I was happy with that, but in the warmer conditions in the race, the bike just didn’t react as it did in the cooler conditions. It’s normal, but I’ve had too much trouble. So we have to find a solution for on Sunday.“

Tom Sykes (BMW M-1000RR) in front of his pursuers – one of the most important things for the man from Huddersfield was to see the chequered flag as the best BMW driver, which he managed to do this time.

The handicap for Toprak on Sunday

Before the first race, the Turk said he wanted to fight for victory as much as possible. Coming from 8th place on the grid, he reached P4 early on in the first run. But after that, he found it difficult to just stick with teammate Andrea Locatelli. After a mistake by the Italian, he inherited third position, which he also brought home. For the Superpole Race on Sunday morning, with his starting position, he will again be forced to take a lot of risk in order to work his way forward. This is also important because the result in the sprint race determines the starting order for the second race in the afternoon. A lot will therefore depend on whether Ratzgatlioglu gets a good first lap in order not to lose touch with the top people.

Topraks Yamaha team-mate Andrea Locatelli will start the race again on Sunday morning before the World Cup runner-up and if he has a good start, he must first be able to overtake in Ratzgatlioglu in order to be able to fight at the front.

Result of the first race in Navarra

Stand in the WorldSBK world championships

P, Rider, Points, Bike
1. JONATHAN REA 286 KAWASAKI
2. TOPRAK RAZGATLIOGLU 279 YAMAHA
3. SCOTT REDDING 241 DUCATI
4. ALEX LOWES 154 KAWASAKI
5. MICHAEL RUBEN RINALDI 141 DUCATI
6. GARRETT GERLOFF 134 YAMAHA
7. ANDREA LOCATELLI 132 YAMAHA
8. TOM SYKES 131 BMW
9. MICHAEL VAN DER MARK 122 BMW
10. CHAZ DAVIES 89 DUCATI
11. ALVARO BAUTISTA 84 HONDA
12. AXEL BASSANI 81 DUCATI
13. LEON HASLAM 71 HONDA
14. LUCAS MAHIAS 36 KAWASAKI
15. TITO RABAT 30 DUCATI
16. KOHTA NOZANE 30 YAMAHA
17. ISAAC VINALES 19 KAWASAKI
18. EUGENE LAVERTY 14 BMW
19. JONAS FOLGER 10 BMW
20. CHRISTOPHE PONSSON 8 YAMAHA
21. LEANDRO MERCADO 7 HONDA
22. MARVIN FRITZ 6 YAMAHA
23. LORIS CRESSON 3 KAWASAKI
24. ANDREA MANTOVANI 2 KAWASAKI
25. LUKE MOSSEY 2 KAWASAKI

Top 20 of the WorldSSP 600 world championships

  1. DOMINIQUE AEGERTER 232 YAMAHA
  2. STEVEN ODENDAAL 190 YAMAHA
  3. PHILIPP OETTL 146 KAWASAKI
  4. LUCA BERNARDI 134 YAMAHA
  5. MANUEL GONZALEZ 120 YAMAHA
  6. JULES CLUZEL 113 YAMAHA
  7. RANDY KRUMMENACHER 77 YAMAHA
  8. FEDERICO CARICASULO 71 YAMAHA
  9. CAN ALEXANDER ONCU 66 KAWASAKI
  10. RAFFAELE DE ROSA 56 KAWASAKI
  11. NIKI TUULI 49 MV AGUSTA
  12. HANNES SOOMER 47 YAMAHA
  13. MARC ALCOBA 40 YAMAHA
  14. CHRISTOFFER BE RGMAN 35 YAMAHA
  15. KEVIN MANFREDI 22 YAMAHA
  16. VERTTI TAKALA 21 YAMAHA
  17. GALANG HENDRA PRATAMA 21 YAMAHA
  18. PETER SEBESTYEN 15 YAMAHA
  19. VALENTIN DEBISE 9 YAMAHA
  20. SHERIDAN MORAIS 9 YAMAHA

WorldSBK Navarra schedule

>WSBK Navarra Preview see separate report on this page.

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