2021 Portimao World Supersport Race One Result: Close Racing Again

World Supersport would follow on from the exciting Superbike race with another exciting and close race.

Dominique Aegerter passed Jules Cluzel for the lead, unsettling the Frenchman to let Can Oncu and Niki Tuuli past. Manuel Gonzalez, Raffaele De Rosa and Steven Odendaal sat behind the leaders. Into turn one of the second lap, Dominique Aegerter was passed by three riders, headed by Jules Cluzel, with Can Oncu passing Cluzel for the lead. Manuel Gonzalez led Dominique Aegerter, holding third place. 

Steven Odendaal in seventh place set the fastest lap with a 1'45.180 as Manuel Gonzalez took his turn at the front, ahead of Jules Cluzel, Can On cu and Dominique Aegerter. The leading eleven riders were all within touch of the riders either side of them. 

Lap four opened with Manuel Gonzalez setting a new lap record of 1'44.996, ahead of Jules Cluzel, Dominique Aegerter and Can Oncu. Steven Odendaal, second in the championship, was in seventh place, at risk of losing his second place to Manuel Gonzalez. A gap appeared behind Odendaal, with Philipp Oettl, Federico Caricasulo and Randy Krummenacher over as second off Odendaal's seventh place. 

Dominique Aegerter set a new lap record in third place with a 1'44.935. Manuel Gonzalez missed his turn at turn three and dropped to fifth place and gifting Jules Cluzel with the lead. Cluzel and Aegerter were caught by Raffaele De Rosa, Manuel Gonzalez, Niki Tuuli, Steven Odendaal and Can Oncu to make the leading seven bikes a group. 

At the end of lap seven, Manuel Gonzalez in fourth place set a 1'44.877 to move the lap record on even more as Can Oncu dropped off the leading six riders, with a shrinking gap to Randy Krummenacher behind him. Steven Odendaal dropped off the leading group a lap later. Manuel Gonzales, in the tight group of five riders at the front, took third place from Raffaele De Rosa and, to start lap ten, five riders were covered by less than two tenths of a second as Dominique Aegerter took the lead into turn one. As Cluzel slid the rear into turn five, Manuel Gonzalez held a tighter line into turn five to take second place. 

With the leading five riders starting lap eleven within a quarter of a second, Jules Cluzel, Manuel Gonzalez and Raffaele De Rosa passed Dominique Aegerter, with Niki Tuuli in fifth place. Lap twelve was less close over the line, with the leading five covered by three quarters of a second, with Steven Odendaal eight tenths of a second behind the fight, and Randy Krummenacher two seconds behind him. Manuel Gonzalez used the slipstream to pass Jules Cluzel into turn one of lap thirteen of seventeen as Niki Tuuli did the same to Dominique Aegerter, pushing Aegerter to fifth place and within reach of Steven Odendaal who took advantage of the fights in front slowing the leading group and allowing him to close up. 

Manuel Gonzalez again set the lap record on lap thirteen with a 1'44.814, with Jules Cluzel and Niki Tuuli not far off the pace in the remaining podium places, only for Jules Cluzel to take the lead back into turn thirteen. Gonzalez took the lead back into turn one, leading Cluzel, Tuuli, De Rosa, Aegerter and Odendaal. Randy Krummenacher was in sixth place over three seconds behind. Into turn one of lap sixteen of seventeen, Dominique Aegerter took third place off Niki Tuuli after passing Raffaele De Rosa. 

The last lap opened with Jules Cluzel powering past Manuel Gonzalez down the straight and holding the lead through turn one. Cluzel slid wide in turn five, but he held a tight line to retain the lead. Dominique Aegerter tried a pass on Gonzalez, but it cost him too much time. 

Jules Cluzel held his nerve and his line to win the race with a new lap record on the last lap and his first victory since 2019. Manuel Gonzalez and Dominique Aegerter held on to podium places with Raffaele De Rosa, Niki Tuuli and Steven Odendaal missing out on the podium. Randy Krummenacher was four seconds behind in seventh place.

Dominique Aegerter extended his lead with his third place to sixty eight points over Steven Odendaal and Manuel Gonzalez closed up to thirty nine points from Odendaal, taking third place in the championship from Philipp Oettl. Jules Cluzel's victory put him in fifth place, fifty three points behind fourth-placed Oettl.

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