Strong Saturday in Spain for Ten Kate Racing with Manzi second and Navarro fourth

In the first World Supersport race of the weekend at the Circuito de Jerez – Ángel Nieto, Stefano Manzi finished second. Jorge Navarro crossed the finish line fourth in Race 1 as Ten Kate Racing secured the team championship for the third consecutive season.

The twelfth and final race weekend of the 2023 season did not start as planned on Friday at the Circuito de Jerez – Ángel Nieto. In the first free practice session there was no action as the track was still wet for the most part. In the afternoon conditions had improved and Stefano Manzi soon found his speed as the Italian ended the day in third. Jorge Navarro also had a solid start to his weekend, finishing tenth. In the Superpole session on Saturday morning, the two Ten Kate Racing riders came out well again. Manzi qualified fourth while Navarro claimed the seventh starting positions for this weekend’s two races.

The first race of the weekend started Saturday afternoon at 12:30pm and Manzi immediately lost several positions while Navarro held on to his seventh place. The Italian soon gained a number of position which meant he had already moved up to third after five laps. The Spaniard was also making progress and was currently riding in fifth place.

After an exciting duel with Federico Caricasulo, Manzi crossed the line in second place, resulting in his sixteenth podium finish of the season. Navarro rode in fifth place for a long time but managed to take over fourth position on the last lap. With this, Ten Kate Racing won the team championship for the third season in a row.

Stefano Manzi – P2: “It was a good race, I had a nice battle with Federico. Fortunately I was able to finish in front of him. It was a tricky race for me because in Turn 2 I hit a wet patch and lost a lot of positions. I had to recover these and it was not easy but in the end we did well. We were not close to the race winner so we need to improve that for tomorrow. The feeling I had today wasn’t great but in the end, I enjoyed the race. Tomorrow we will try again.”

Jorge Navarro – P4: “Yesterday we didn’t gather a lot of information but this morning in Superpole I managed to do a good lap time, which meant I could start from seventh place. In the race I had a good feeling with the bike and I was able move forward. This is positive and we take some good points from the race with us to tomorrow. It’s nice that we have taken the team championship and I look forward to a strong race tomorrow.”

Kervin Bos – Ten Kate Racing team manager: “We are very happy to have won the team championship for the third season in a row. This is something we can be very proud of and working on it day and night together with the team and partners, it gives enormous satisfaction. Unfortunately, we couldn’t win the riders’ championship but second place is certainly a great result.

This was also reflected in Stefano’s race today, missing FP1 meant we were short of time. So I expect us to step up tomorrow and that he can be more competitive in Race 2. Jorge continues the upward trend from Portimão but he too had some problems as we missed some set-up time, therefore I think both riders can also put on a nice show tomorrow. We are all looking forward to fighting for the podium with both riders tomorrow.”

Ten Kate Racing closes the WorldSSP season with the team championship and 17th podium for Stefano Manzi

Ten Kate Racing finished the season as the best team in the World Supersport class on Sunday at the Circuito de Jerez – Ángel Nieto. Stefano Manzi finished second in the final race of the year, earning his seventeenth podium finish this season. Jorge Navarro crossed the line in eleventh, giving Ten Kate Racing the team championship in the World Supersport class for the third season in a row.

After a red flag was waved after four laps in Race 2 for the World Supersport category at Jerez on Sunday, it was then resumed over seven laps. Stefano Manzi started well in that restart and climbed to second position on the first lap. The Italian was in a battle with Öncü but eventually managed to stay ahead of him as he crossed the finish line in second place. With four wins, 11 second places and two third places, Manzi finishes the season second in the championship with a total of 408 points.

Jorge Navarro had a significantly harder time in Race 2, riding in tenth place for most of the race. On the last lap he lost a position and eventually finished 11th. The Spaniard finishes his first season in the World Supersport class seventh in the championship with a total of 163 points, of which the podium finish in Portimão was the highlight.

After winning both the rider and team championships in 2021 and 2022, the Nieuwleusen-based team has clinched the team championship for the third consecutive season this year. The next season starts in the weekend of 23-25 February 2024 in Australia.

Stefano Manzi – P2: “It was a good race today, it’s nice to finish the season in this way. This gives me energy to keep training hard this winter with a good mentality. I have to say thanks to the Ten Kate Racing team and Yamaha for choosing me this year, in the background they helped me a lot. We didn’t finish in the position we wanted to finish but, in the end, second is not so bad. We will try again next year.”

Jorge Navarro – P11: “Today wasn’t as we expected it to be but in the end, we managed to finish seventh in the championship. After the difficulties I had with my injury and my adaptation to the bike, that is something we can be proud of. The team has supported me a lot during the season so I want to thank them for that.”

Kervin Bos – Ten Kate Racing team manager: “Stefano rode another fantastic race today and showed again that he is a real racer. It is disappointing that we could not make a fist towards the Ducati this weekend, we know what we need to work on in the coming months to improve. We also expect the FIM and Dorna to review the regulations regarding the balancing of the bikes. Jorge unfortunately could not continue his form from yesterday to today, we had hoped he could have finished in the top five today as well.

This brings the season to an end with two new riders in which we eventually finished second with Stefano, seventh with Jorge – including a podium finish – and won the team championship together. From this we can conclude that we had a successful season. I would mainly like to thank our partners and sponsors because through their support we can achieve this, thanks also to the people at Ten Kate back at home who work behind the scenes and make sure we always have the best material.”