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After a thrilling weekend of action in Barcelona, the FIM Supersport World Championship heads south to the Circuito de Jerez – Angel Nieto for the Motul Spanish Round, the second of three back-to-back rounds that will have a huge impact on determining who will be the 2021 WorldSSP Champion.

THE CHAMPIONSHIP LEADER RETURNS

After missing the Catalunya Round due to a clash with the MotoE™ World Cup season finale in Italy, Dominique Aegerter (Ten Kate Racing Yamaha) is back in action after missing out on the MotoE™ title. He returns to the Championship with a 45-point lead of nearest rival Steven Odendaal (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team) with the South African unable to substantially cut Aegerter’s lead at the top of the Championship after not standing on the podium in Barcelona. Although it was not possible for Odendaal to take the lead of the Championship in Barcelona, he could have cut the gap to just 12 points but heads into Jerez 45 points down on the Swiss rider.

AN INTENSE BATTLE FOR THIRD

A double Catalunya podium for Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha ParkinGo Team) hauled him up to third in the Championship, just six points clear of German rider Philipp Oettl (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing), who is now on a run of seven races without a podium finish; the longest run of his WorldSSP career. With Gonzalez now on a run of three races inside the top two, he has the momentum in the closing stages of the season. Will Oettl be able to respond at the circuit he took his first podium in and end the podium drought?

CAN KRUMMENACHER WIN AGAIN?

After making his WorldSSP return in 2021, Randy Krummenacher (CM Racing) was consistently fighting inside the top ten but could not reach the lead group to battle for podiums, claiming only one at Assen, until a fruitful switch to CM Racing following Luca Bernardi’s injury. His debut with the team in Barcelona was a success with one victory and a fourth place, moving Krummenacher into seventh place in the Championship and within touching distance of Jules Cluzel (GMT94 Yamaha) and Bernardi. Second at Jerez in 2019, can he replicate or better this in 2021? Cluzel was declared unfit in Barcelona after a crash at Magny-Cours and will need to be declared fit in Jerez as he looks to finish as high up the order as he can.

A SWISS SURPRISE

Swiss riders are making headlines in WorldSSP this season with Aegerter’s title challenge and Krummenacher back to winning ways. Another Swiss rider who has shown remarkable progress since his debut at the Autodrom Most is Marcel Brenner (VFT Racing), culminating in a top-five finish in Race 2 at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Race 2 of a round has typically been Brenner’s strongest result of the weekend and Jerez is a circuit Brenner knows well from his CEV Moto2™ days, recording a best result of sixth in 2019 at the Andalusian venue. At a circuit he knows and has ridden at many times, there is every possibility Brenner is once again fighting in the top ten.

WorldSSP HOUSEKEEPING

Alongside Aegerter, Maria Herrera (Biblion Iberica Yamaha Motoxracing) returns to compete in the WorldSSP Challenge with teammate Federico Caricasulo reverting to a One Event rider for the team. The Italian has competed in two rounds as a WorldSSP Challenge rider and sits joint top of the standings with Kevin Manfredi (Altogo Racing Team), with Caricasulo on top due to countback, but will not earn points towards that Championship in Jerez.

Andy Verdoïa (GMT94 Yamaha) made his WorldSSP comeback recently but will be forced to miss the Spanish Round with an ankle injury, with Verdoïa replaced by Moto2™ star Stefano Manzi. Dutch rider Glenn van Straalen (EAB Racing Team) will also return to action for EAB Racing after debuting with the team in Catalunya.

Croatian rider Martin Vugrinec (Ferquest – Unior Racing Team) returns after making his WorldSSP debut at the Autodrom Most where he finished just outside the points in 17^th place. IXS-YART Yamaha duo Bill van Eerde and Ondrej Vostatek will also return to the Championship after Australian rider van Eerde made his debut in Catalunya and Vostatek at the Autodrom Most.

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