Friday

The circuit of Most is new on the World Supersport calendar. Dominique Aegerter starts the fifth round of the season full of confidence, after the Ten Kate Racing Yamaha rider won the last five races in a row. Galang Hendra Pratama will once again fight for world championship points in Czech Republic.

Dominique Aegerter has started his debut season in the World Supersport championship in very strong fashion. After eight races, the Swiss rider has accumulated six podium finishes and five victories. Aegerter has 169 points before the start of the event in Most and is leading the world championship. Galang Hendra Pratama has already collected more points than last year. The Indonesian rider is seventeenth in the standings with fourteen points.

The fifth round of the 2021 season will be held at the Autodrom Most in the Czech Republic. The circuit is new on the calendar. Dominique Aegerter had a good test at the circuit in July, Galang Hendra Pratama couldn’t join his teammate because of his visa. The circuit of Most is 4.2 kilometres long and has 21 corners. The first race will start on Saturday afternoon at 15:15. The second race is scheduled for 12:30 on Sunday.

Dominique Aegerter: “We tested at Most three weeks ago. It was a one-day test during a track day. It was therefore quite busy on the track. It was important to learn the track again, as it was sixteen years ago that I was for last time there. Especially the first sector has changed. We collected a lot of information and data, so that’s important for a good start on Friday. I’m really looking forward to competing at Most. The goal is to continue our good work from the last races.”

Galang Hendra Pratama: “Finally we are back in the Czech Republic. I have good memories of that country because I won the World Supersport 300 race at Brno in 2018. I never been at Most before. I will try to learn the track really fast. The team has already had a test with Domi (Aegerter) there, so data is available. My goal is to get some points again. If I see any possibility to fight for a top-ten position, then I will do everything what’s in my power to achieve that.”

Team manager Kervin Bos: “After the fantastic weekend in Assen and our five wins in a row with Dominique, we’re very excited that we can race again in Most. This time not in yellow and black livery, but in our familiar blue Yamaha colours. Most is a new circuit on the calendar and we have tested there with Dominique. Galang couldn’t join there due to his visa issues. We lead the rider and team championship, so we will do everything we can to defend that position. The competition will be strong as always, but the entire team is ready to battle.”

Saturday

Dominique Aegerter ended fourth in the first World Supersport race at Autodrom Most. The race was ended with a red flag with seven laps to go at the moment when Aegerter was catching up with the leading group. Galang Hendra Pratama rode a strong race and finished not far from the top-ten in fourteenth position.

The fifth round of the 2021 World Supersport season is being held at Autodrom Most. The Czech circuit is new on the WorldSBK calendar. Dominque Aegerter recently had the opportunity to test with his Yamaha R6 at a track day on this circuit. During the first day Aegerter was strong and set the fastest lap time. The Ten Kate Racing Yamaha rider also was at the top of the timesheets for a long time in the Superpole session. In the closing stages he ended second, 0.040 seconds behind the polesitter. For Galang Hendra Pratama the Autodrom Most was completely new. The Indonesian rider improved his lap time in qualifying by one second and qualified in twenty-third for the races.

After the start, Aegerter dropped back a few places. After three laps, the 30-year-old rider was in seventh place. Then Aegerter started to gain positions and moved up to fourth place. The Swiss rider had to make up more than two seconds on the leading group. Just when the Ten Kate Racing Yamaha rider started to make up ground, the red flag came out due to an earlier crash. Just at this point two thirds of the race had been completed, therefore the race wasn’t restarted. Aegerter was ended up fourth. Hendra Pratama had a very strong opening phase, the 22-year old rider managed to ride from the eighth row of the grid to fifteenth position within two laps. Hendra Pratama was able to maintain a good pace and fight for a top-ten position. When the red flag came out Hendra Pratama was riding in fourteenth place, which means he scored two World Supersport points in Most.

Sunday afternoon at 12:30 the second World Supersport race will start in Most. Aegerter starts this race as leader in the championship with a lead of 32 points. Hendra Pratama is seventeenth in the standings.

Dominique Aegerter: “We were very unlucky with the red flag. Our Superpole was good and we were on the front row. My start was also good, but in the first corner I lost some positions. Then I fell back to P7 because the other riders had a bit more grip. During the race I was able to build up my pace and reduce the gap to the top three. It was a strange situation with the red flag. I think the race should have been stopped immediately after the crash and not wait until two-thirds of the race was completed. That is not good for the crashed rider, but also not good for the race itself. We will now check the data to see where we can improve in the first laps. Tomorrow is another day to fight for the podium!”

Galang Hendra Pratama: “I improved my lap time in Superpole by one second, but it was not fast enough as all the riders went faster. I had to start from P23. I had a good start, then I tried to manage my pace and follow the group. Unfortunately, the race ended just after the halfway point. But this race gives us confidence and we will do everything we can to fight for the top-ten positions tomorrow as well.”

Team manager Kervin Bos: “I have mixed feelings about the race, because Dominique is always very strong in the closing stages. I do believe that if the red flag was shown for safety reasons due to an earlier crash, the race should have been stopped earlier and they shouldn’t have been waiting until two-thirds of the race was completed. It feels disappointing when you finish fourth, but we’ve scored good points. We have to learn to be a bit sharper in the opening stage of the race. With Galang we made a breakthrough. Last night we completely changed the setup to give him a better feeling. I’m happy for Galang that he did such a good race after starting from so far down the grid. That’s encouraging for race two and with Dominique we will go for revenge tomorrow!”

Sunday

Dominique Aegerter ended the World Supersport round in Most with a victory. After his fourth place following a red flag situation in the first race, the Ten Kate Racing Yamaha rider took revenge by winning Sunday’s race after a strong performance. Unfortunately, Galang Hendra Pratama was declared unfit after being hit by a bike part of another rider during the warm-up session.

On Saturday afternoon Dominique Aegerter finished fourth in the red flagged first World Supersport race in the Czech Republic. Galang Hendra Pratama ended up in fourteenth place after a strong race with a lot of overtaking. Unfortunately Hendra Pratama was been declared unfit for the second WorldSSP race in Most. In the warm-up the Indonesian rider was hit by a part of another bike. Hendra Pratama was hit on his shoulder and seems to have suffered a muscle tear. Because of the swelling it was not possible to assess it properly and for safety reasons he was declared unfit by the organisation. In the coming days, the young rider will have his shoulder further examined.

Aegerter started from the front row of the grid again in the second race at Autodrom Most on Sunday afternoon. The Swiss rider had a good start and took the lead on the first lap. Aegerter stepped up the pace but a number of riders came with him. Around halfway through the race the Yamaha rider was able to accelerate further and only two riders could follow. Aegerter was consistently in the lead after his overtake on the first lap. In the closing stages of the race, the 30-year-old managed to grab a small lead, which was enough for his sixth win of the 2021 season.

Aegerter increased his lead in the world championship to 37 points. The sixth round of the World Supersport championship will take place in two weeks’ time (20-22 August) at the Navarra circuit in Spain.

Dominique Aegerter: “It was an incredible race. The race was a lot longer than yesterday, it was a shame we didn’t see the chequered flag. We kept working and opted for the soft tyre. I think it was the right choice. I could lead the whole race, but it was difficult to keep the concentration. I want to thank the Ten Kate Racing Yamaha team for this weekend. It’s great to leave the WorldSSP round in Most with a 37-point lead in the championship!”

Galang Hendra Pratama: “We had a very good feeling after yesterday’s race. Before the warm-up we made some positive changes to the setup and I was confident to fight for a position around the top-ten, just like yesterday. Unfortunately, in the warm-up I was hit by a part of another rider’s bike that crashed and it hit my shoulder hard. It was very unlucky and I’m very disappointed. I want to say sorry to the team, because they have worked very hard this weekend. We’re going to do everything we can to come back strong in Navarra!”

Team manager Kervin Bos: “First of all, it was a great shame that Galang couldn’t start in Race 2, because of the incident in the warm up. Galang had a positive weekend and it was a shame that he couldn’t continue that today. We hope he will be fit again for Navarra. Dominique did a perfect job today. Yesterday we were very unlucky with the red flag. We learned from that by being more aggressive in the first laps. Today we increased our championship lead again. Despite some bad luck here and there, we had a super weekend in Most. I want to thank the team, the sponsors and the partners!”