13th to first: Cluzel takes epic WorldSSP Race 2 win with final corner showdown.
The WorldSSP season ended with last-corner drama as Jules Cluzel claimed an incredible victory from 13th on the grid.
The 2021 FIM Supersport World Championship campaign came to a thrilling conclusion at the Pertamina Mandalika International Street Circuit as Race 2 was decided at the final corner after an incredible 19-lap battle, with Jules Cluzel (GMT94 Yamaha) taking his fourth win in the final three rounds. The top four were separated by just 0.714s at the end of Race 2 for the Pirelli Indonesian Round.
Federico Caricasulo (VFT Racing) was a fast starter as he moved immediately into the lead of the race with a move into Turn 1, with Turkish star Can Öncü (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) also making progress as the lights went out for the 19-lap race, with Öncü taking the lead on the opening lap before Caricasulo started fighting back. The Italian was able to close the gap to Öncü before making his move at Turn 10 on Lap 9 to re-gain the lead of the race.
Despite taking the lead of the race, the Italian was unable to pull a gap to Öncü, allowing Niki Tuuli (MV Agusta Corse Clienti) to close the gap, with the Finnish rider moving from third to first in one move at Turn 16 as he ducked under both Öncü and Caricasulo, while Öncü passed Caricasulo to move into second place. After taking the lead of the race, Tuuli looked to pull a gap to the rest of the field, setting a new lap record on Lap 11 with a 1’36.849s. On Lap 13, Caricasulo re-passed Öncü into Turn 10 to move back into second place and started chasing down race leader Tuuli. A lap after that move, Öncü dropped to the back of the six-strong lead group after a moment exiting the final corner, re-joining in sixth.
As the race entered its closing stages, Cluzel completed his charge to the front of the field after starting from 13th on the grid, as he made his move at Turn 10 on the penultimate lap of the race. On the final lap, at Turn 16, Cluzel looked to respond after losing out to Aegerter earlier in the lap, making a move at Turn 15 but running wide at Turn 16, allowing Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) and Caricasulo back through. At the final corner, Cluzel swept past Aegerter and Caricasulo as they battled it out to claim his fourth victory in six races while Tuuli was able to take advantage of that fight to sweep back into second having run wide and losing time and positions earlier in the season. Aegerter claimed third place with Caricasulo just finishing off the podium. Tuuli’s second place means MV Agusta now have 50th podium placings in WorldSSP, while Ten Kate Racing Yamaha were able to claim the 2021 Teams’ Championship.
P1 Jules Cluzel (GMT94 Yamaha)
“It was great! Starting 13th and not the best Warm-Up this morning but the team analysed, together with Valentin Debise, my teammate, who was injured unfortunately, but he helped me a lot and we worked together as a team. We improved the bike. Yesterday was a great race, fourth place and nearly a podium, and today I pushed a little bit more and… wow! What a last lap, I think it was crazy to watch! For me, it was quite crazy. I’m so happy, really happy to finish the season like that.”
P2 Niki Tuuli (MV Agusta Corse Clienti)
“I’m so happy! I made so many mistakes this year, the team made some mistakes, we had a lot of problems. Today, I only thought after yesterday when we had technical problems, we had technical problems in Argentina. I pushed as much as I could, and it didn’t matter if I crash because I already crashed so many times. I push until the end but, because I don’t have such a high top speed, I need to open a little bit more on the lean angle and I destroyed the rear tyre but I tried to stay behind the three guys, and just hoped they made some mistakes. I was sure something would happen. So happy to end the season like this. Let’s see what’s going to happen but thanks to the team.”
P3 Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha)
“The main goal was to take the Teams’ Championship for Ten Kate Racing family and Yamaha. Again, on the podium, I tried to fight for the victory. I was first for a short time but there was a big battle with five or six good riders. I think everybody enjoyed the race in WorldSSP. I was a little bit unlucky to finish third. We had an incredible season.”
WorldSSP Results Race 2
1. Jules Cluzel (GMT94 Yamaha)
2. Niki Tuuli (MV Agusta Corse Clienti) +0.419s
3. Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) +0.640s
4. Federico Caricasulo (VFT Racing) +0.714s
5. Raffaele De Rosa (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) +1.802s
6. Can Öncü (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) +6.922s
Championship Standings (after Race 2, Round 13)
1. Dominique Aegerter (SUI) Yamaha (417 points)
2. Steven Odendaal (RSA) Yamaha (323 points)
3. Manuel Gonzalez (ESP) Yamaha (286 points)
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