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The official race report service of Kawasaki Racing Team.

22 Septembre 2021

Kawasaki Riders Ready For Quick Restart

Philipp Öttl and Can Öncü will take part in the second of three quick-fire WorldSSP rounds this coming weekend as the Circuito de Jerez - Angel Nieto welcomes Round Nine of the championship just a few days after the previous round at Barcelona - Catalunya.

Ten-times podium finisher Öttl returns to the site of his first podium finish in WorldSSP this coming weekend, focused on getting back into the top three spots in both the Jerez races and the championship standings after a tough Barcelona weekend by his own high standards.

No better place than Jerez for long-time Grand Prix rider Philipp to realise his next ambition of winning a WorldSSP race as he has vast experience of racing different categories of motorcycle there, and has a strong affinity with the overall circuit design.

For teenager Öncü Jerez is welcome chance to add not just another podium to the first one he scored at Magny Cours recently but an opportunity to take his first win. Can led the second race in Barcelona at the previous round and hopes to make it all the way to winning status  before the season finishes.

In the championship standings Philipp is now fourth, with 197 points and Can is tenth, with 103.

After Jerez the championship will make a quick and relatively short hop across the Portuguese border for the tenth round, at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve near Portimao, between 1 and 3 October.

Philipp Öttl, stated: “Jerez is a track that I like. I had my first WorldSSP podium there last year and it was quite an important moment for us all. We will try our best and we have to focus on FP1 to build our weekend from there. Other riders had problems at Catalunya with the grip but some riders made it better. I will watch last weekend’s race again to see what they were doing different compared to me and try to find improvements to come back stronger in Jerez.”

Can Öncü, stated: “In Jerez we will be stronger in the races. I trust the team and I trust Kawasaki. I am sure that sometime soon we will be in first position. I cannot tell how things will be in Jerez because I have some great memories and some difficult memories, but we will see, of course, how it will be. Last year we were not so bad in my rookie year there. I hope to have a good pace and good races in Jerez.”

Raffaele De Rosa (Orelac Racing VerdNatura Kawasaki) arrives in Jerez on the back to two excellent podium rides in the previous round at Barcelona. He was a fraction away from his first win in the dry Race Two and hopes to find a way after qualifying to let him move up one place on the podium in Jerez.

Leonardo Taccini (Orelac Racing VerdNatura Kawasaki) will be out to score more points after his 13th place in Barcelona Race Two, to move him up the championship table from his current 37th position.

Michel Fabrizio (G.A.P. Motozoo Racing by Puccetti Kawasaki) and his team-mate Shogo Kawasaki were cleared to come back into competitive action at Barcelona after recent injuries and now look forward to Jerez, and building momentum again as the season enters its final third.

                                          #NinjaSpirit