Aegerter wins first WorldSSP race in Navarra, Hendra Pratama finishes eleventh

Dominique Aegerter has won the first World Supersport race of the Pirelli Navarra Round on Saturday afternoon in Navarra, Spain. Galang Hendra Pratama had a strong race and finished in eleventh place.

The sixth round of the 2021 World Supersport season is being held at the Spanish Circuito de Navarra this weekend, a new circuit on the WorldSBK calendar. Dominique Aegerter recently had the chance to test with his Yamaha R6 at this new circuit located in the north of Spain. During the first training day, Aegerter was strong and set the second fastest time. In the Superpole the Ten Kate Racing Yamaha rider was also on top of his game and managed to claim pole position. Teammate Galang Hendra Pratama qualified in sixteenth place for the two races this weekend.

After the start, Aegerter fell back a few places. In the first laps, the 30-year-old Swiss was in sixth position. Aegerter then started to advance and managed to connect with the race leader after a few laps, before taking over the lead on lap 12. After a number of changes for the lead, the Swiss rider managed to open up a small gap on the rest of the field with seven laps to go, set the fastest lap of the race and held on to his leading position until the finish. Aegerter crossed the finish line after 20 laps as the winner, with a lead of more than four seconds. It is the seventh victory for the Ten Kate Racing Yamaha rider this season.

Hendra Pratama had a very strong opening phase from sixteenth on the grid. The 22-year-old was able to keep up a good pace and join the battle for a top-ten position where he finally crossed the finish line in eleventh place and therefore scored another five important World Championship points.

Sunday afternoon at 12:30hrs the second World Supersport race will start in Navarra. Aegerter starts this race as leader in the championship with a lead of 42 points on number two. Hendra Pratama is seventeenth in the standings.

Dominique Aegerter: “It was a great race. My start was not really good and that resulted in a great battle during the first two laps. I was riding  around the fifth or sixth place and it was not very easy to find my way to the front. I had to work hard for the first ten laps to get to the front of the field. Once I was in the lead, I was able to ride my own pace, take a small lead and hold on to my position until the finish. Thanks to the team, they did a great job all weekend and not to forget for their efforts we were able to test here recently. Due to the high temperatures, it was a very tough race physically. Now we will try to relax a bit and prepare for the second race tomorrow.

Galang Hendra Pratama: “I can look back on a really good day. I was the first to score my best qualifying result this morning, P16. The race also went very well for me, despite it being a very tough race physically speaking. During the race I was able to maintain my position in the group that was fighting for a top ten ranking. Unfortunately, it was not a top ten finish but eleventh, although it was my best finish in a dry race. I think I can say this was my best race in the WorldSSP category and I’m really happy. I am looking forward to tomorrow’s race, a race in which I will do everything I can to follow up on this result.

Team manager Kervin Bos: “This was the best team result this season so far. So here is a proud team manager. The eleventh place of Galang is great, this really is a breakthrough for him. His speed has been good all weekend, and step by step we are actually finding the clicks to give him the package he feels good with, that he can do well with and that he can go fast with. As for Dominique, he was fast and dominant right from the first lap here on Friday. The concept we worked on all weekend – giving him a bike that he could also be quick with in the second part of the race – worked out perfectly, as we have seen. Maybe we just need to tweak a few small things to make him a bit quicker in the beginning of the race. But whatever happens, as a team we can only be satisfied today. Thank you to all our partners, sponsors, helpers, technical crew for their great support, effort and assistance. Thank you.”

Aegerter also wins second WorldSSP race of the Pirelli Navarra Round

Dominique Aegerter ended Sunday’s World Supersport weekend in Navarra with a double victory. After winning the first race on Saturday, the Swiss rider also took the win in the prematurely ended second race on Sunday afternoon. Galang Hendra Pratama could not follow up on his strong performance on Saturday due to two crashes and a DNF.

Dominique Aegerter was the winner of the first World Supersport race on Saturday afternoon at the Circuito de Navarra in the North of Spain, whilst teammate Galang Hendra Pratama managed to score a neat eleventh place in this race.

After setting a second fastest time in the warm-up on Sunday morning, Aegerter was once again able to start from the front row of the grid in the second race of the Pirelli Navarra Round. The Swiss rider had a reasonably good start but then lost a few places in the first laps. Hendra Pratama on the other hand lost a good result in the fifth lap due to a crash. The Indonesian was able to pick up his bike and continue the race, but halfway through the race it went wrong again, resulting in a definitive end of the race.

Aegerter was able to recover quickly, closing the gap to the race leader and briefly taking over the lead for the first time on lap nine. After changing positions several times, the 30-year-old took over the lead for the first time on lap 13.

Two laps later, however, the race was stopped prematurely due to a red flag situation. With two-thirds of the race gone, the result was determined on the basis of the previous lap and the eighth victory of the 2021 season for Aegerter became a fact.

Aegerter increased his lead in the world championship to 47 points. The seventh round of the World Supersport Championship is held in a fortnight (3^rd to 5^th of September) at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours in France.

Dominique Aegerter: “My start today was a bit better than in the first race, but I had a fight with some riders in the beginning and it was very difficult to pass them. Once I did, I was able to pick up the pace and close the gap to Steven (Odendaal). It was not easy to pass him, but eventually I did and managed to pull away from him. Not much later the red flag came out, I hope everything goes well for the guys who crashed. Of course it’s a shame for the crowd that the race was cut short. But despite everything I am very happy with this new victory. We can look back on a successful weekend here in Navarra, with two wins, pole and also two fastest race laps. Thanks to the team, they have worked very hard and I am happy to have been able to reward them with two wins. After three busy consecutive weekends with a lot of successes, I am now especially looking forward to going back to Switzerland and relaxing a few days at home with family and friends.”

Galang Hendra Pratama: “This was not the result we were hoping for. After a good first race yesterday, I was looking forward to having another good race today. In the beginning of the race I was able to keep up with the group fighting for the top ten, unfortunately I lost control of the front and crashed. My apologies to the team. It is now important to forget this race as soon as possible and focus on the next round of the championship in Nevers Magny-Cours.

Team manager Kervin Bos: “Unbelievable, eight out of twelve. I think that as a team we can now almost say ‘Living the Dream’. Pole, fastest lap twice and victory twice here this weekend. Dominique dominated the whole weekend and we can only be proud of that. As for Galang, he has made a big step forward here this weekend, but unfortunately that also includes making small mistakes and that happened to him this afternoon in the race. I hope we can continue this step with Galang in Magny Cours. And yes, as for Dominique keep winning!”