Supersport Navarre Race 2: Aegerter new winner of a Homeric duel against Odendaal!

The Swiss driver achieved the double in Navarre, after a tough battle won against his South African rival.

It could well be that the first round contested by the Supersport category in Navarre constitutes a turning point in this 2021 season. Because although it has now been several racing weekends that the trend has certainly reversed between Dominique Aegerter and Steven Odendaal in favor of the first cited, the two men had not yet really had the opportunity to participate in several close fights in a row.

However, the two races held in Spain each time offered a magnificent duel between the two leaders of the championship. With each time the same course and the same outcome: after a takeover in the first rounds on the part of Odendaal, a return to the strength of the wrist of his opponent Aegerter, who ultimately wins the arm wrestling after a bitter fight on the track.

 

Jespersen the quickest to leave

Such was the scenario of this Race 2, with the preamble of the express passage in the lead of Simon Jespersen (replacing Hannes Soomer, withdrawal due to injury in Navarre, but who will return to competition at the beginning of September at Magny-Cours) in the lead race. The Dane thus repeated his performance from the day before, when he had already jumped from eighth place to third when the lights went out.

This takeover, symbolized by the holeshot, was fleeting, Odendaal taking the lead even before the end of the first loop. Behind him, Aegerter had once again had a difficult start from his pole position, but gradually returned to the front to make contact with the South African halfway through the race.

The two men would then play duelists, with Odendaal offering constant resistance. But it was undoubtedly by stretching his resources too much, and it was difficult to imagine seeing number 4 preserve the lead in these conditions until the checkered flag.

 

A race interrupted by the red flag

Aegerter thus delivered the blow to his opponent on the 14th lap, just in time before the red flags came out following a high-speed accident in turn 1 of Borja Gomez in the following loop. The Race Direction then stopped the classification, in accordance with the regulations, at that which was in force during the last lap completed in its entirety, thus granting the victory to Aegerter at the last minute, the eighth for the Swiss in 12 races this season.

The Helvetian therefore now enjoys a lead of 47 points over its rival in the championship, the equivalent of almost a victory, while the mid-season milestone has now passed with six rounds completed out of 12 on the calendar. .

 

Cluzel fifth

Behind the two leaders, it is Luca Bernardi who takes the third step of the podium, ahead of Federico Caricasulo and Jules Cluzel. The Frenchman had a solid race despite losing a few positions in the adventure given his start from the first row of the grid. The Auvergne had in fact benefited from Manuel González's withdrawal from this second race of the weekend in Supersport, the Spaniard suffering a dislocated shoulder following his heavy fall during Race 1 yesterday.

Beyond the top 5, we find Philipp Öttl in sixth place, ahead of Niki Tuuli and Simon Jespersen, while Raffaele de Rosa and Marcel Brenner complete the top 10. The latter will also have had his moment of glory during this event, having moved into third position in the opening stages after a fantastic takeoff from 13th place on the grid.

Supersport Navarre – Race 2 Results:

Classification credit: WorldSBK.com