World Champion titles for WorldSBK and WorldSSP

Nicolò Bulega (Aruba it Racing – Ducati) won WorldSBK Race 1 ahead of the Turkish BMW rider with different tyre choices for the rear: the former on standard SCX and the latter on the SCX development solution in D0820 specification. With this result, the gap in the overall standings was reduced to 41 points, but with only 37 left up for grabs in tomorrow’s race, Razgatlioğlu is already champion mathematically.

The situation is similar in WorldSSP as well, where today’s race was won by Stefano Manzi (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing), but third-place finisher Adrian Huertas (Aruba.it Racing WorldSSP Team – Ducati) clinched the WorldSSP Champion title. Both riders raced on SC1 tyres at the front and SCX at the rear.

Congratulations to new World Champions Razgatlioğlu and Huertas
 
“The performance of the SCQ rear today in qualifying was brilliant. The rain that fell over the past few days washed the rubber off the asphalt, consequently reducing grip, so the six tenths of a second improvement made by Bulega compared with the previous all-time track record is a result we are proud of. Obviously, the news of the day is the world titles earned by Razgatlioğlu and Huertas, and we wish to congratulate them wholeheartedly. Toprak had an extraordinary season in which he showed his skill at exploiting each option we provided to the maximum, always being able to find the one that best suited him. He won just as often in the first part of the season using standard tyres as he was able to then squeeze the best out of the development solutions in the second part. Even when he made an unpopular choice, like using the SC0 for Race 1 in Estoril, he found a tyre that suited his style and which performed well for the win. He demonstrated a noteworthy ability to interpret the available solutions and, on our part, we confirmed our ability to consistently offer high performance solutions in the allocations. Congratulations to BMW as well for their first world title and to Adrian Huertas who is WorldSSP World Champion.”

WorldSBK

· The Jerez de la Frontera track offered conditions on Friday similar to those in Estoril one week ago, with difficulty finding sufficient grip on the asphalt for the riders. Therefore, work was focused on testing the different tyre options available and, for this reason, all the slick options available for this round were seen in action.

· The time of 1’37,596, thanks to which Nicolò Bulega (Aruba it Racing – Ducati) took pole position in qualifying, is also the new all-time track record, a full 6 and a half tenths faster than the previous record Jonathan Rea set in 2019. Along with the Ducati rider, four other riders were faster than the 2023 pole position time, done by Alvaro Bautista (Aruba it Racing – Ducati) in 1’38,635.

· First and second place finishers made different rear tyre choices for Race 1: winner Nicolò Bulega (Aruba it Racing – Ducati) opted for a standard SCX, whereas second-place finisher Toprak Razgatlioğlu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) preferred the SCX development tyre in D0820 specification, which 21 other riders also chose. At the front, almost everyone used the standard SC1, with only Andrea Iannone (Team GoEleven – Ducati) going against the crowd to use the standard SC2.

⁠WorldSSP

· ⁠In qualifying, all the riders opted for the SC1 front and SCX rear, including pole man Adrian Huertas (Aruba it Racing WorldSSP Team – Ducati), Jorge Navarro (Orelac Racing Verdnatura – Ducati) with the second-best time, and Marcel Schroetter (MV Agusta Reparto Corse) who was third-best.

· Race 1 was held with asphalt temps at 40°C and sunshine, conditions which left little doubt as to which tyres to choose. In fact, all the riders went with the SC1 front and SCX rear combination, both from the standard Pirelli range. Victory went to Stefano Manzi (Pata Yamaha Ten Kate Racing), ahead of Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team – Ducati) and Adrian Huertas (Aruba it Racing WorldSSP Team – Ducati).

· With just one race left to ride in 2024 and only 25 points still up for grabs, Huertas is mathematically World Champion thanks to the 36-point advantage he currently has over Manzi. This is his first WorldSSP title, which will join the 2021 WorldSSP 300 title he already has in his trophy case.