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The 2021 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship hits the Spanish heat and the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in the hills above Barcelona for the ninth round of the season. The Hyundai N Catalunya Round will welcome another titanic battle between Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) and Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK), with just seven points between them in the standings. However, there’s plenty on the statistical horizon this weekend, so as Catalunya calls, it’s time to look at the milestones that lie ahead.

800 – A podium place for any British rider will see them move on to 800 podium places in WorldSBK. The next best is currently Italy on 386.

375 – Two wins for Ducati this weekend (at a circuit they won at in 2020) puts them on 375 wins.

330 – The Superpole Race will be Jonathan Rea’s 330th race start, his 190^th for Kawasaki.

325 – Three different manufacturers on a podium will be the 325^th time it’s happened in WorldSBK.

94 – So far, 94 WorldSBK races have been run in Spain. The tally will go up to 97 this weekend.

45 – A podium this weekend for Toprak Razgatlioglu will see him move onto 45, level with Stephane Mertens and Leon Haslam (Team HRC), providing Haslam doesn’t get a podium.

20 – In Magny-Cours, Toprak Razgatlioglu became the first Yamaha rider with 20 podiums in a season. So far, this goal had been achieved only by Kawasaki (7 times), Ducati (5 times) and Honda (Colin Edwards in 2002) riders.

13 – Yamaha is having its best podium streak, which now amounts at 13 consecutive races.

11 – The “incredible trio” of 2021, Toprak Razgatlioglu, Jonathan Rea and Scott Redding in Magny-Cours Race 2 locked-out the podium for the 11^th time. Next up is the second value in history, each representing a decade in WorldSBK: 12, shared by two trios: Troy Bayliss, Colin Edwards and Ruben Xaus/Troy Corser, Carl Fogarty and Aaron Slight. The former set their records in the early 2000s, the latter in the last part of the 1990s.

9 – Toprak Razgatlioglu broke another Yamaha record in Magny-Cours and has the room to improve it in Barcelona. He is the first Yamaha rider with nine consecutive podiums. He eclipsed the record set by Noriyuki Haga in 2005 from Brno Race 2 to Imola Race 1.

8 – Jonathan Rea’s on a record streak of eight straight poles, the best of all times followed by the seven of Ben Spies in 2009. For Kawasaki, it’s their best Superpoles streak in history.

6 – Last year, Barcelona made its first appearance in the WorldSBK Championship, becoming the sixth Spanish track in history.

4 – Yamaha last year took the record of podium finishes in the first WorldSBK weekend at Barcelona-Catalunya with four. Ducati managed three podium finishes and Kawasaki two.

4 – In Magny-Cours, Toprak Razgatlioglu had one milestone deleted after his demotion in the Superpole Race: he could have become the second Yamaha rider with 4 consecutive wins after Fabrizio Pirovano in 1990. Now the count has been reset to one.

4/3 – Incredible consistency from Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK): in the last 11 races he finished either third (3 times) or fourth (8 times). It’s a unique streak in WorldSBK history as in the past the best streak of finishing in those two places was 6-races long and was recorded for the last time by Marco Melandri from Laguna Seca Race 2 to Portimao Race 2 in 2017.

3x3 – Last year, the three wins went to three different riders from three different manufacturers: Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki), Michael van der Mark (Yamaha), Chaz Davies (Ducati).

3x3 – Not only the wins came to three different manufacturers, but also the first three places in Superpole were occupied by three riders with three different bikes: Rea (Kawasaki), Razgatlioglu (Yamaha), Bautista (Honda).

SHORTHAND NOTEBOOK

2020 race winners:

• Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki, Race 1)
• Michael van der Mark, Tissot Superpole Race)
• Chaz Davies (Ducati, Race 2)

2020 pole-sitters at Barcelona-Catalunya:

• 2020: Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki) 1’41.619 (old layout)

Manufacturer podium places (and wins) from all WorldSBK races at Barcelona-Catalunya:

• Yamaha: 4 (1)
• Ducati: 3 (1)
• Kawasaki: 2 (1)

Key gaps Catalunya in 2020:

• Front row covered by: 0.138s
• 1 second in Superpole covered… the top 12: 0.936s
• Closest race gap between 1^st and 2^nd: 2.372s (van der Mark 1^st, Rea 2^nd, Superpole Race)
• Closest race podium: 2.559s (Davies 1^st, van der Mark 2^nd, Gerloff 3^rd, Race 2)

Manufacturer top speeds at Catalunya, 2020:

• Honda: Alvaro Bautista – 326.2km/h, Superpole Race
• Ducati: Chaz Davies – 325.7 km/h, Race 1
• BMW: Eugene Laverty – 321.4 km/h, Race 1
• Kawasaki: Jonathan Rea – 320.4 km/h, Race 2
• Yamaha: Garrett Gerloff and Jonas Folger – 319.5 km/h (Gerloff: Superpole Race and Race 2, Folger: Superpole Race)

Watch all the 2021 season unfold chapter-by-chapter with the comprehensive WorldSBK VideoPass!