The Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours plays host to round seven of a thrilling World Supersport Championship
The FIM Supersport World Championship paddock heads to the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours for the seventh round of the 2021 campaign with the title battle raging on and plenty of other fights throughout the Championship standings as the second half of the season kicks off with the Motul French Round, with Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) and Steven Odendaal (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team) leading the Championship.
Aegerter heads into his first WorldSSP race at Magny-Cours as the Championship leader with a 47-point advantage over Odendaal in the standings, with this potentially an opportunity for Odendaal to close that gap as he has raced at the French venue in WorldSSP; claiming a best result of fourth in 2020. With a busy period of eight races across four rounds in five weeks when the French Round kicks off, Aegerter will be looking to extend his Championship lead while Odendaal will want to cut it.
Only 36 points separate riders from third to sixth in the Championship with Philipp Oettl (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing), Luca Bernardi (CM Racing), Jules Cluzel (GMT94 Yamaha) and Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha ParkinGo Team) all in the battle for the bronze medal. Oettl had a disappointing 2020 French Round with 11th and 14th in tricky wet conditions and will be looking to bounce back from the Navarra Round, the only second round in 2021 Oettl did not claim a single podium.
19-year-old Bernardi is just six points behind Oettl with 156 points to his name and has shown remarkable form in his rookie campaign with five podiums from 12 races. Although he hasn’t raced at Magny-Cours on a WorldSSP machine, claimed a top five finish in 2018 in WorldSSP300. Cluzel is 26 points back from Bernardi after a challenging 2021 campaign and, with two WorldSSP victories at his home round, this presents the perfect opportunity for Cluzel to return to the rostrum; he hasn’t claimed a podium since he took third place in Race 2 at Misano. Teenage sensation Manual Gonzalez has been in scintillating form in his sophomore campaign, consistently fighting for the top positions. A crash at Navarra in Race 1 forced him to miss Race 2 with a right shoulder dislocation, ending his record-equaling run of 25 races in the points and will need to undergo a medical check at Magny-Cours.
3 key stats ahead of the Motul French Round
33
33 different riders climbed on the WorldSSP podium in Magny-Cours. The most successful is Kenan Sofuoglu at six Jules Cluzel is in position to equal him, currently on four.
13
13 different riders have won here: the most successful is Frenchman Jules Cluzel at four. Among the current field, there is only another winner, Niki Tuuli (1).
8
Honda holds the record for wins: eight. They can’t be reached this year as Yamaha stands at 5 and Kawasaki at 4. The last win from Honda here came in 2015 with PJ Jacobsen.
Championship Standings (after Race 2, Round 7)
1. Dominique Aegerter (SUI) Yamaha (257 points)
2. Steven Odendaal (RSA) Yamaha (210 points)
3. Philipp Oettl (GER) Kawasaki (156 points)
For more info checkout our dedicated World Supersport News page superbike-news.co.uk/world-supersport/
Or visit the official World Superbike website worldsbk.com
Follow us on social media:
Instagram: @superbikenews
Twitter: @sbknews
Facebook: @superbikenews
SBN Directory – add your motorcycle related business here
Click here for more info on Arai Helmets
Click here for more info on Xena Security
Click here for more info and to buy Biker T-Shirts
Grid Girls UKIf you would like to receive our headlines daily to your email inbox then sign up to our newsletter: Here
Subscribe to our news channels: Here
