While the focus of the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship’s visit to the Circuito de Jerez – Angel Nieto was on the title battle and emotional farewells, one rider was quietly making a small bit of history. Dominique Aegerter (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) had been threatening to have a weekend full of good results all season and he was finally able to put it together during the Prometeon Spanish Round as he took second in the Tissot Superpole Race and third in Race 2.

The #77 was strong in the build-up to the races and took a front row start in Saturday’s Tissot Superpole session, but he was unable to convert that in Race 1 due to a technical problem. It looked like the Tissot Superpole Race had gone the same way when his primary bike suffered an engine blowout, causing a red flag, but the Swiss star was able to take to the track on his second machine and finished in second for his first WorldSBK podium.

In Race 2, the double World Supersport Champion started from the front row, and he was able to go with the leaders as they battled it out for victory, finishing just a few tenths away from Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati). He had dropped behind the charging Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) but the #21 fell back in the latter stages of the race, promoting Aegerter back into third.

Looking back on his weekend, Aegerter said: “It was amazing to finally take my first WorldSBK podium. We worked very hard with all the crew and team; they did a fantastic job. It wasn’t such an easy season. We started quite well, then I had some problems with arm pump, got crashed out and my shoulder was painful for a long time. This morning when I was second, it was a big pressure released. I was close to Bautista, and, at one point, I was thinking that maybe I could close the gap! I said I wanted to take my first podium and finally I got it. It was very emotional.

“Bautista and Razgatlioglu are very experienced. Me also, but not in WorldSBK. I think you could see that many tracks we went to this year, it was difficult to set up the bike with all the electronics than at tracks we already tested at. We were here at the start of the season, so we started at a higher level. To fight with them in Race 2 was fantastic. It was nice to see them fighting, I didn’t really want to make a strange mistake, because I enjoyed the battle!”

2023 is over but 2024 starts soon! Keep up to date with videos, interviews and highlights from the Jerez test using the WorldSBK VideoPass!