STATS ROUND-UP: all the heavy-hitting numbers after Mandalika’s showdown
With 2021 now in the history books, just how big was the final round of the WorldSBK season?
The 2021 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship may be all over but there’s plenty to digest in this week’s review of the statistical records that came from the Pirelli Indonesian Round. From a newly-crowned World Champion to manufacturer records and spooky numerical coincidences, there’s no shortage of headlines coming away from Lombok Island. You can enjoy them all below, whilst you can enjoy our dedicated article on Toprak Razgatlioglu’s (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK) year in numbers here, to find out even more about the new WorldSBK Champion.
2999.5 – The final points tally of Chaz Davies’ (Team GoEleven) WorldSBK career.
660 – Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) taking second in his final race for Ducati means that the Pertamina Mandalika Circuit’s Race 2 is the 660th podium of which Ducati have featured on.
564 – The final points tally of newly-crowned World Champion Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK).
215 – A double win to end the season, Jonathan Rea’s (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) Race 2 podium in Indonesia was his 215th of his career.
170 – Rea’s Race 1 win was the 170th for Kawasaki in WorldSBK – they ended on 171 after Race 2 victory.
50 – Michael van der Mark’s (BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) third podium of 2021 in Race 2 in Indonesia was the 50th podium placement for BMW in WorldSBK. He’s now equal with double WorldSBK Champion Doug Polen and 22nd overall in the rankings.
40 – Michael van der Mark’s Race 2 podium was the 40th of his career.
37 – Race 2’s podium for Scott Redding was his 37th in WorldSBK and thus Ducat. This is one less than Carlos Checa in Ducati’s overall rankings and one more than Doug Polen.
29 – Toprak Razgatlioglu took his first WorldSBK title in Race 1 and achieved a 29th podium, but failed to get another one in Race 2, meaning Jonathan Rea remains the only rider to achieve 30 or more podiums in one season – 34 in 2019, 30 this year.
25 – 25 years, 1 month and 5 days, he’s the third-youngest Champion, behind James Toseland (23 years 11 months and 28 days, 2004) and Troy Corser (24 years 11 months, 1996). At 25, he takes the title at the same age as the only other Yamaha Champion (Ben Spies, 2009).
18 – Razgatlioglu is the 18th different WorldSBK Champion in the Championship’s 18th final round title decider.
13 – Toprak Razgatlioglu and Jonathan Rea won 13 races each in a season formed of 13 rounds. Rea finished 13 points behind Razgatlioglu in the end. Razgatlioglu also enjoyed a 13th front row start for Yamaha after Superpole, the same as the last WorldSBK Champion from Yamaha, Ben Spies.
13 – Razgatlioglu, Rea and Redding set a new record for the number of times three riders have shared a podium together in a single season: 13.
13/11 – 13 riders were able to stand on the podium in 2021, of which 11 of them made it their more than once.
10 – In his final season with Honda, Alvaro Bautista (Team HRC) managed to finish tenth overall with two podiums.
9/7 – A strong end to 2021 for two rookies: Kohta Nozane (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) took his best career result with seventh in Race 2, as did Isaac Viñales (Orelac Racing VerdNatura) in ninth.
7 – Garrett Gerloff (GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) was able to wrap up the Best Independent Riders’ award for 2021, finishing seventh overall. He beat Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing), who had an impressive rookie season to finish ninth.
6 – After six years, Jonathan Rea has lost a WorldSBK Championship. One of the longest sequences in the sport’s modern era, Rea hopes to get it back in 2022, as he’ll be using the #65.
5 – Van der Mark’s third podium of 2021 means he’s the fifth BMW rider with three podiums.
4/3 – 2020 WorldSSP Champion and 2021 WorldSBK rookie Andrea Locatelli impressed many in 2021 and has finished fourth overall in the standings: top Italian and top rookie. This is the third consecutive season where a rookie has managed to finish in the top four overall, after Alvaro Bautista and Scott Redding finished second in 2019 and 2020 respectively. It’s also the 17th season out of the last 18 where a rookie has stood on the podium in WorldSBK – 2017 was the exception.
3 – Yamaha took three poles in 2021, the same amount they scored from 2011 to 2020 combined.
2 – For just the second time in WorldSBK, Yamaha win the Riders’ Championship (first time since 2009) and the Manufacturers’ Championship (first time since 2007).
1 – This is Toprak Razgatlioglu’s first WorldSBK title. He is the first Champion from Turkey in WorldSBK. Turkey is the 7th country with a World Champion after Great Britain (14 titles), USA (9), Australia (5), Italy and France (2), Spain (1). Likewise in MotoGP™, Fabio Quartararo became World Champion, making France the 7th country to take a title in their premier class. For the first time, the World Superbike Championship is decided in Indonesia and at a new track (not including Manfeild in New Zealand from 1988, when the Championship was new).
0.038s – The closest race finish of the 2021 WorldSBK season was Most Race 1, with Razgatlioglu beating Redding by 0.038s.
Get ready for another titanic season of WorldSBK in 2022 and watch 2021 all over again with the WorldSBK VideoPass!
