Submitted by Jared Earle on
The World Supersport championship could be decided this race, as long as Dominique Aegerter can finish ahead of Steven Odendaal.
Jules Cluzel led into turn one, with Can Oncu behind, but behind them the championship was all but over. Manuel Gonzalez and Steven Odendaal crashed out in the first turn, with Gonzalez losing the front and taking Odendaal out of contention. Odendaal made his way up to eighteenth place after a lap, but with Dominique Aegerter in sixth place, the title was effectively decided.
At the end of lap two, with Jules Cluzel leading Can Oncu, Dominique Aegerter set a new lap record in sixth place with a 1'42.096. The fight for third place, over two seconds behind the fight at the front, Peter Sebestyen led Niki Tuuli, Dominique Aegerter and Hannes Soomer as the incident between Gonzalez and Odendaal was placed under investigation.
Lap five of nineteen and Dominique Aegerter latched on to the back of Peter Sebestyen in the fight for third as Can Oncu continued to harass Jules Cluzel at the front. Niki Tuuli and Hannes Soomer remained in touch with the fight for third place as Manuel Gonzalez and Steven Odendall climbed to within eight seconds of points paying positions. At turn eight of lap seven, Aegerter slipped underneath Peter Sebestyen to take third place, and Niki Tuuli followed him to push Sebestyen back to fifth.
Dominique Aegerter was four seconds off the leading pair with Niki Tuuli constantly looking at passing places to take third from the champion elect.
At half race distance, Jules Cluzel still had Can Oncu glued to his tail, within a couple of tenths of a second or so around the lap. Dominique Aegerter had a similar problem five seconds behind the leaders, with Niki Tuuli and Peter Sebestyen holding on to hope for third place. Aegerter looked like he was building a small gap over Tuuli, but by lap twelve, the pair had closed back up.
By lap twelve, Manuel Gonzalez and Steven Odendaal had made it to thirteenth and fourteenth places as Raffaele De Rosa pulled off track to give them both a place. Jules Cluzel continued to keep the lead with the best lap pace of the grid, and Can Oncu started to lose his tight grip on the leader, but he remained within seven tenths of a second with Dominique Aegerter and Niki Tuuli six seconds behind.
Steven Odendaal crashed out of turn fifteen on lap fifteen, handing the title to Dominique Aegerter with four laps to go. His team kept giving him normal pit board notes, telling him about his on-track fight with Niki Tuuli hot on his rear tyre until lap sixteen when they finally told him Odendaal was out.
Meanwhile, at the front, Jules Cluzel started spending whatever he had left in his rear tyre and set a new lap record of 1'41.906 on lap fifteen, breaking free of Can Oncu by over a second. With two laps to go. Cluzel held a lead of over two seconds over Oncu with Dominique Aegerter almost six seconds further back. Aegerter was over a second clear of Niki Tuuli, and behind the pair, Hannes Soomer took fifth place off Peter Sebestyen, two and a half seconds off Tuuli's fourth place.
Jules Cluzel took his first double win, with a lap record and pole position, over two seconds clear of Can Oncu whose second place was a career best, but it was all eyes on third place as Dominique Aegerter crossed the line World Supersport world champion. Niki Tuuli crashed out of fourth place, handing fourth place to Hannes Soomer with Peter Sebestyen taking his best ever result in fifth place.
Ten Kate took their first title in a while, with this their first with a Yamaha and tenth overall. On his cool-down lap, Dominique Aegerter picked up a Swiss flag to wear as a cape, which was a big plus.
With the title decided, all that remains is second place, where Steven Odendaal leads Manuel Gonzalez by thirty eight points. Jules Cluzel joins Philipp Oettl on 241 points, Cluzel holding on to fourth place by winning more races than Oettl.
Results:
Pos | No. | Rider | Bike | Gap |
1 | 16 | J. CLUZEL | Yamaha YZF R6 | |
2 | 61 | C. ONCU | Kawasaki ZX-6R | 2.157 |
3 | 77 | D. AEGERTER | Yamaha YZF R6 | 7.682 |
4 | 38 | H. SOOMER | Yamaha YZF R6 | 12.152 |
5 | 56 | P. SEBESTYEN | Yamaha YZF R6 | 12.979 |
6 | 53 | V. DEBISE | Yamaha YZF R6 | 16.864 |
7 | 95 | V. TAKALA | Yamaha YZF R6 | 23.567 |
8 | 28 | G. VAN STRAALEN | Yamaha YZF R6 | 23.805 |
9 | 25 | M. BRENNER | Yamaha YZF R6 | 27.164 |
10 | 81 | M. GONZALEZ | Yamaha YZF R6 | 27.790 |
11 | 24 | L. TACCINI | Yamaha YZF R6 | 29.576 |
12 | 5 | P. OETTL | Kawasaki ZX-6R | 30.147 |
13 | 32 | S. MORAIS | Yamaha YZF R6 | 54.122 |
14 | 40 | U. ORRADRE | Yamaha YZF R6 | 55.588 |
15 | 64 | J. BUIS | Kawasaki ZX-6R | 1'30.591 |
16 | 57 | M. PETRATTI | Yamaha YZF R6 | 1 Lap |
Comments
Positive Race Report
Your recap, again, really adds to my experience of the whole WorldSBK family of races.
And kudos to Aegerter for joining the ranks of WorldSSP champions; I think he really complements ....OK, I'm all out. ;)
Congrats to Aegetter
Shame that things had be settled with Odendaal being taken out, though.
Congratulations Ten Kate Yamaha
Well done Dominique Aegerter and congratulations to Ten Kate Yamaha.
Yes it would have been great to have Steve Odendaal racing with D.A.16. Shame about the first corner crash, that's racing!
Odendaal's second crash seems to have been all his own work. More to be done there, he may well be a champion in the future.
Congratulations Ten Kate Yamaha !