Saturday

Aegerter victorious once again in shortened Race 1 at Donington Park, Taccini finishes 13th.

Dominique Aegerter has won the first World Supersport race of the weekend at Donington Park on Saturday afternoon. Over a shortened distance of twelve laps the Swiss rider was unbeatable again and took the eighth victory in a row for Ten Kate Racing. Leonardo Taccini scored points again by finishing thirteenth.

After two interruptions – one due to a problem on the grid for a rider and the second due to a red flag after a heavy crash resulting in oil on the track – the race over twelve laps started. Aegerter was unable to make the most of his pole position and found himself within a tough group battle. In the end, the Swiss pulled away together with Lorenzo Baldassarri and took over the lead on lap 8.

The reigning World Supersport champion didn’t make any mistakes crossed the finish line as winner again. Aegerter and Ten Kate Racing have now taken eight consecutive victories and increased their championship lead to 59 points.

Leonardo Taccini started from 23rd position but a bad start made him fall back immediately. Yet the Italian managed to come back strongly and through some impressive overtaking he was able to gain positions. Eventually the Italian crossed the finish line in thirteenth place and scored two World Championship points.

Dominique Aegerter: “It was a short race over twelve laps but that made it quite exciting. I had a great battle with some other riders that made it a busy couple of opening laps with a lot of overtaking. The track is amazing and our speed was good after thirteen years not riding here. It feels great to have finished on the podium in every race so far and having won the last eight races. This takes a lot from my side, the team’s side and the machinery as well so I want to thank everyone that works hard to make this happen. The team has done a great job because we have been fast everywhere so far. Tomorrow we’ll have another race and starting from pole position I hope we make a great show for the British fans.”

Leonardo Taccini: “The result of the race could have been worse. I had a very bad start and I think I was almost last in the first corner, so it was still a good comeback. We scored some points again and I think we can do better in tomorrow’s race if I make a better start. Step by step we improve and I’m looking forward to race again tomorrow. Thanks to the team for their hard work.”

Kervin Bos – Ten Kate Racing team manager: “25 points again and it’s a dream start to the season so far with eight wins in a row. We are approaching Andrea Locatelli’s record of nine in a row. Dominique rode very well today, he’s clearly in top form and he worked hard with the team to put the package together. With the two restarts and the crashes it was hectic and it’s important for the team not to make any mistakes and to have a good plan for the tyres.

Leonardo had a very bad qualifying session but after some big changes we seem to have made a turnaround with him. He got some points today and we can be more than happy with that. It is not yet where we want to be with him but we are definitely on the right track. I’m very happy with the results today.”

Sunday

Aegerter and Ten Kate Racing claim 9th World Supersport victory in a row at Donington Park.

Dominique Aegerter has also won the second World Supersport race on Sunday afternoon at Donington Park. The Ten Kate Racing rider had to work hard this time but managed to pass his three Italian rivals in the closing stages to take a great ninth consecutive victory for the team from Nieuwleusen. Leonardo Taccini scored another point by crossing the finish line in fifteenth place.

Aegerter made a good start from pole position and took the lead but at the end of the first lap he was passed. In the following laps, the Swiss rider kept his head cool and followed, before being forced to drop another two places in the eighth lap due to an aggressive overtaking manoeuvre. Again, Aegerter didn’t let his guard down and slowly fought his way back to the front.

On lap 12, he took over third place again, before moving up to second place on lap 16. One lap later, the reigning world champion took over the lead and was able to make his mark on the race by riding away from his rivals. Another perfect weekend for Aegerter and Ten Kate Racing with pole position, two wins and the fastest lap time in both races.

With nine wins in a row the Swiss rider has now scored 245 points and has a 64-point advantage in the championship. The nine wins in a row equals Andrea Locatelli’s record from 2020, and Aegerter can break this record at the next race weekend.

After the disappointing qualifying session on Saturday morning, Leonardo Taccini rode another great race and managed to fight his way to the front. After two laps he had already made up seven positions and fought for the final points’ positions throughout the race. In the end the Italian finished in fifteenth place and therefore adds another point to his tally.

Dominique Aegerter: “It’s so nice to win our ninth race in a row. It was a very exciting race today, I had a great battle with another manufacturer and we could see that they were strong in different parts of the track. Therefore it was not so easy to overtake them, it was quite difficult to go past Caricasulo and Bulega. With Baldassarri I already knew where he was fast as we had a battle already yesterday.

I was waiting to find the right moment to get to the front and I wanted to make a clean pass. In the end we won again so I’m just very happy right now. The fact that we have nine victories in a row right now still feels like a dream. It has definitely not been easy to achieve this because we’ve been on many different tracks in different circumstances, everything needs to be perfect. I think it’s credit to the hard work that we have done over the winter to prepare ourselves. I trained hard to be fit, the team worked hard to analyse the data and improve the bike. I want to thank everyone who’s involved for their hard work, that’s why we have been able to see the chequered flag first.”

Leonardo Taccini: “Today’s race was quite okay. My feeling was better in the first race but the result today wasn’t too bad as we still scored a point coming from 27^th place. I think we’re finding the right way to work and I want to thank the team for that. We need to continue in this way and then we will improve our results for sure. Congratulations to Dominique for another win and the amazing nine wins in a row, it shows how strong our team is.”

Kervin Bos – Ten Kate Racing team manager: “”What can you say, nine victories in a row with Dominique. I am speechless. It equals the record for most consecutive wins in World Supersport. The fact that we only lost five points in the first ten races is of course bizarre, I couldn’t be more proud of everyone who worked hard to make this possible. Of course we have to enjoy this moment and I hope we can continue in this way, although I still think we have not reached the top yet because we are getting faster and faster.

With Leonardo we are moving in the right direction. Yesterday we made radical changes and immediately we saw a good first race, warm-up and second race. I am sure that, with what we have learned from each other, we can start the coming weekends better. Slowly we hope to build towards the results we want with him.”