Third place in the World Cup, Phillip Öttl, is one of the favorites for the 2020 WorldSSP 600 title. The Bavarian is looking forward to hopefully when it starts again soon (© WorldSBK).

First official entry list for the 600 and 300 series for 2021

On February 9, 2021, a first provisional WorldSupersport starting grid for the coming season was officially published. Unfortunately, some names are missing, such as Patrick Hobelsberger, who will compete in the IDM in 2021. Jaimie van Sikkelerus drives in the BSB Supersport and Andy Verdoïa competes in the Italian SSP 600 Championship CIV. Corentin Perolari and Hikari Okubo found shelter in MotoE. As one of the last long unconfirmed drivers, Randy Krummenacher also found a place at EAB Racing as world champion in 2019. It will certainly not be easy for the “Krummenator” to defend his title, which he voluntarily gave up last year. Even from home, there will be strong competition with the “Domi-Fighter”.

Photographed by us at the season opener on March 1, 2020 in Phillip Island in turn 4 (Honda Corner): Andrea Locatelli (Bardahl Evan Bros Yamaha) in front of Lucas Mahias (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) and outside his teammate Phillip Öttl, and inside Jules Cluzel (GMT Yamaha). At this point, “Krummi” was already lying on his pants and was never seen in the paddock after Australia. With the move to the Pata Yamaha works team from Locatelli, there will definitely be a new World Champion next season.

The WorldSupersport 600 Entry List – still incomplete

Up to this point there are already 28 drivers on the entry list and the MV Agusta team obviously still has a place available. The return of Thomas Gradinger, which has obviously been on the brink for a long time, is definitely good for Austria’s motorsport. To his and his fans’ chagrin, however, WorldSSP is usually boycotted by the Austrian Red Bull Media broadcaster Servus TV. At least for the European season, Stéphane Frossard made it into the starting line-up at the last minute. His first name is of course written exactly as it is on our website, while it was misspelled on the official entry list. A good distinguishing feature in the event that you simply “copy / paste” the FIM list on other web portals, instead of the “author” thinking along (Frossard is from the French-speaking part of Switzerland).

In italics and with an asterisk (*) the pilots who are only registered for the “WorldSSP Challenge” are marked. However, we doubted whether overseas races would really take place at the end of November when the first provisional and still incomplete calendar from FIM and Dorna was published.

Long worried about it – now the redemption came
It was with great relief that we learned that Kallio Racing is continuing. The Finnish team even continues with one of their own as the second pilot at the side of the fast Estonian Hannes Soomer. It should not only have been a relief for the fans from Finland. After all, it was they who were behind the German Sandro Cortese’s world title and who made it possible to continue his career in 2018.

Photographed by us at the WorldSSP event in Brno on June 10, 2018, from left Jules Cluzel (P2), winner Sandro Cortese (both Yamaha) and Raffaele de Rosa (MV Agusta, P3). The two men at the side of the then world champion for Kallio Racing will again be among the favorites in 2021.

What fans and drivers can expect in 2021

We have already conducted interviews with some people, see this keyword on this page, including Philipp Öttl. At Kawasaki Puccetti Racing, the latter, together with Raffaele de Rosa (Orelac Racing Verdnatura Kawasaki), will ensure that there will be no “Yamaha Cup” again. As Phillip Öttl recently revealed to us, the Kawasaki ZX-6R is by no means an “old pickle” compared to the recently indeed only superficially revised Yamaha R6. He already proved this last year behind his team-mate Mahias with 3rd place in the World Cup. The fast German is definitely one of the top favorites in a long list of drivers who have what it takes to win the title. There are probably no main favorites and this should ensure a lot more excitement in the coming season than last year.

Our photo from March 1, 2020, in the Phillip Island paddock: To his chagrin, Krummi’s MV Agusta already suffered severe damage at Turn 1. But the Swiss rider made it even worse and said goodbye to the WSSP 600 through the back door instead of fighting to defend his title. A dark stain will remain on his vest that he will not be able to wash out easily, specially because he blamed his Team to act illegal, after leaving.

Die WorldSSP300 Entry List

Instead of 4 as in the previous year, only one KTM is represented in the paddock, which means a terrible blow in the neck for German racing and its youngsters. The Austrians prefer to play the “global players” instead of helping the Freudenberg team. The Red Bull broadcaster Servus TV is also not taking care of the Supersport World Cup. In MotoGP, they have been annoying thousands and thousands of fans (in Germany, Austria and Switzerland) since 2019 by not broadcasting training sessions and warm-ups on TV (© WorldSBK).

The next official test dates

Portimao test: 4th – 5th March
Jerez test: 9th – 10th March (Honda only)
Misano test: 15th – 16th March
Estoril test: 24th – 25th March
Barcelona test: March 31st – 1st April
MotorLand Aragon test: April 12th – 13th

Photographed by us in April 2019: WorldSupersport 600 start in Assen with Estonian Hannes Soomer (Honda), Japanese Hikari Okubo (Kawasaki) and Jules Cluzel (Yamaha), the biggest French hope for the coming season.

The provisional calendar – changes are to be expected

Assen could tip over at short notice due to the pandemic situation and the overseas races are all currently still in question. This of course includes Phillip Island in particular.