Steven Odendaal (Bardahl Evan Bros Yamaha) ahead of Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Yamaha) – this duel this season clearly also means the fight for the world title of 2021 in the Supersport 600 category.

Half-time conclusion – Aegerter and his mammoth task before the forced break

We had an interview with Dominique Aegerter before the start of the season, which also dealt with his double exposure with MotoE and WorldSSP 600 (see under “Interviews + TV” on this page). He was more diplomatic, but also aggressive when it came to his goals in the near-series World Cup. Because we knew about his qualities, it was already clear to us then that this conflict could be imminent. Now the time has come and the question from back then has been sufficiently clarified because his MotoE team Liqui Moly Intact GP insists on his participation in the San Marino Grand Prix. At the same time, the World Cup round of the WorldSSP 600 will take place in Barcelona. However, neither the Swiss nor the German team based in Memmingen, for which Marcel Schrötter rides in Moto2, is to blame for this collision. Only because of the bad planning by FIM and Dorna could this date overlap arise.

Randy Krummenacher (EAB Racing Team Yamaha) in front of Philipp Öttl (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) – the two are likely to be out of the race for the title, although the German can still repeat third place in the World Championship from the previous year, while the Swiss should have finally lost a top position in the final accounts with his crash in race 2 of Navarra.

In extreme cases, the Swiss lose 50 points
Should Steven Odendaal win both races in Barcelona in mid-September as the closest pursuer in the absence of the Swiss competing in Misano this weekend, he will lose 50 points to the South African. Before the round in France, the “Domi-Fighter” is 47 points ahead. Losing one’s lead without a fight is definitely a tough lot for the 2014 Sachsenring winner in Moto2. For this reason, he is struggling with a real mammoth task to extend his lead over the nearest competitor and main favourite in the fight for the title as much as possible. Aegerter has never raced at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours, so a really tough challenge awaits him. But as is so often the case, this medal also has another side. If you look at what your toughest competitor had to experience in the title fight, your hair stands on end, especially in one case.

Dominique Aegerter and a masked monster (this is not really taken seriously) after the Superpole at the Circuito de Navarra – the Swiss can expect a tough final due to the elimination of his Barcelona lap. But he was also lucky in terms of the gap to Odendaal as his closest rival in the World Cup.

The incredible handicap of the Bardahl Evan Bros pilot in Misano and Assen
It has to be clearly stated that Steven Odendaal was extremely unlucky twice. In Misano, to the incomprehension of his team and all neutral observers, he received a long lap penalty shortly before the end of the second race. Anyone with a functioning brain can understand that as a leader, he “disregarded” this punishment from the point of view of the stubborn FIM commissioners when he fought for victory with Aegerter. The functionaries of the highest motor sport authority do not belong to this group of people. Although Odendaaal was the first to cross the chequered flag, he was then penalized and thus returned to P5. The sporting fairness was literally trampled underfoot, and he lost 15 points, while Domi won 5, which is a difference of 20 points between the two opponents. Toprak Razgatlioglu then also committed two of the same “misconducts” as Steven in the WSBK race, but the Turk was not punished for this by the race management. At Estoril, Odendaal had won the first race, but in the second he was retired due to a technical problem while fighting for victory. With that, he lost another 20 or 25 points.

The recording from Jonathan Rea’s bike camera on the Kawasaki in lap 3 – clear evidence that Toprak had already committed the same “offence” here and so early as it did later when the FIM stewards noticed it. In contrast to Odendaal, the Turk was only given a warning and, in contrast to the South African, kept the points for his victory at the finish. If treated equally, Razgatlioglu would currently have at least 5 points less on the account and the Kawasaki Pilot would have a few more.

The abolition of the track limits – a matter of time?

We were so offended by the unequal treatment of Odendaal and Toprak in Misano that we then decided in protest to stop our live blog from now on. The history of this also took place in the MotoGP in Mugello, to name just one further example. There, too, there was unequal treatment by the FIM commissioners. In Moto2, Marco Bezzecchi was punished and lost his podium as a result. In MotoGP, Oliveira and Mir, two riders in front of the French Zarco, actually did exactly the same thing as in the middle class of the Italians. But they kept their places, which even various commentators did not understand at all. Actually, the abolition of the track limits should only be a matter of time, because drivers and teams hate the new rule like the plague in both series. You could feel the first signs of this from Assen in the WorldSBK and WSSP.

An example from Most with the officially published protocol from the WSBK Superpole – there were track limits hailing and in the end there were 13, after which there were bitter comments from those affected in the paddock. These numerous complaints obviously had an effect because in the afternoon race, as in the WSSP 600 race, there was not a single warning about the so-called “Track Limit Violation” and consequently no punishments. Only in the warm-up on Sunday morning suddenly there were 12 cancelled lap times, but in the afternoon in all four races of all classes not a single warning or punishment. It’s more than strange, isn’t it? Especially on the winding route of the year, it is simply unbelievable, but still in keeping with the spirit of the sport.

The situation before the France Round

The Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours is a special racetrack for the riders for the next lap. A typical rider’s route with the shortest home straight on the calendar and some very tricky passages. This is exactly why Johnny Rea had a smile on his face in the Navarra panel interview when he spoke of the course, which he has fond memories of. This is less true for the “Krummenator”, although he was lucky after his crash in the 2019 race, as his team-mate and toughest competitor in the title fight, Federico Caricasulo, also fell shortly afterwards. Steven Odendaal showed one of his best races last year, especially in the second run, and finished an excellent fourth, while Aegerter has never competed on the special track on the western edge of Burgundy. Philipp Öttl had his worst weekend in Nevers in 2020, although it was wet in both races at the time and at least currently, according to the forecast, it looks damp for the event in France at most for Friday and Saturday.

The start of the WorldSSP 600 race in front of the main grandstand in Navarra, which was almost empty due to the excessive prices – for Magny Cours comparable tickets for 3 days on the first weekend in September cost less than half.

Stand in the WorldSSP 600 world championships

How to proceed in the provisional calendar

According to the plan, the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours will be the next stop two weeks after the Navarra premiere, and another 14 days later a so-called three-man block will begin. Just like in the first year of the WSBK in 1988, when lap 5 was driven in Sugo, with only one week apart (on August 28), it went on to Le Mans and 7 days later it was driven in Estoril. Back then, of course, both races on Sunday and there were fewer points than today and no Superpole Race. Four-cylinder engines were limited to 750 cc and only 9 laps were held. For more information, see our richly illustrated history. This season it is only the second time Barcelona with the Circuito de Cataluña, Jerez and Portimão. What comes next, however, is still questionable because many rightly doubted the races in Argentina and Indonesia when the first calendar was published. Either replacement laps on other routes or a shortening of the calendar can be expected. At least in MotoGP, the events in Australia, Japan, Thailand and Malaysia have already been cancelled one after the other.

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