A late surge from Scott Redding allowed him to take victory while Axel Bassani took his first World Championship podium
Catalunya, 18 Sept 2021: A pre-race rain downpour provided the perfect recipe for Race 1 at the Hyundai N Catalunya Round as Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) put in a late surge for victory at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya with Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) claiming his first MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship podium, as the fight for the Championship took yet another twist in Spain.
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At the start of the race, Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) found himself down in tenth at the first timing point but battled his way back to the lead after Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK), who was forced to retire from the lead of the race on Lap 15 with a technical issue. The final results mean Rea has a six-point advantage over Razgatlioglu in the Championship standings.
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As Rea pulled away at the front, Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) battled his way to the front and fought with Razgatlioglu in the first half of the race before the pair closed the gap to Rea while battling. Eventually they bought found their way past the six-time Champion before Bassani took the lead when Razgatlioglu pulled over with the technical issue. As the 20-lap race progressed, the two factory Ducati riders of Michael Ruben Rinaldi and Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) found pace.
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In the closing stages, Redding passed teammate Rinaldi for second before making a move on the Independent Ducati of Bassani for the lead with a handful of laps to go as he claimed the lead of the race, ahead of Bassani and Rinaldi who secured Ducati’s first 1-2-3 finish since Assen 2012.
