After a Saturday saddened by the death of Dean Berta Vinales, the Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team was back on track today in Jerez. In fact, following the wishes of the Vinales family, it was decided to regularly run the entire race program scheduled for Sunday, including the second (now first and only) race of the World Supersport Championship, where Steven Odendaal and Peter Sebestyen obtained respectively the 8th and 13th position.
At 9.25 the Andalusian Sunday started with the Warm Up session, where Steven Odendaal and Peter Sebestyen were able to refine their set up in view of the race. Steven has recorded a total of nine laps, taking the sixth place and collecting only three tenths from the first position. Same number of laps for Peter, 14th but very close to the top ten.
At 12.30 it was time for the race, with Odendaal and Sebestyen ready to start from positions number 7 and 17 obtained in yesterday's Superpole. With the lights switched off, Odendaal made one of his proverbial great starts, immediately climbing from 7th to 4th position, but a mistake at turn 13 during the second lap relegated him to 9th place.
The South African rider tried to make a comeback, but the continuation of the duel with Manzi prevented him from keeping in touch with the leading riders, so he had to settle for eighth place. Sebestyen also had a good start and was able to enter the points zone on the second lap. In the rest of the race Peter has maintained a constant pace, but without being able to engage the top ten, and ending his race in P13.
By virtue of today's results Odendaal rises to 265 points, maintaining the excellent second position in the overall standings, while Sebestyen touches 32 points. After this sad weekend in Jerez, the Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team will be back on track next weekend (1-2-3 October) at the Portimao circuit, for round 10 of the 2021 WorldSSP season.
Race results #ESPWorldSBK
P1 - Dominique Aegerter (Yamaha)
P2 - Philipp Oettl (Kawasaki)
P3 - Niki Tuuli (MV Agusta)
P4 - Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha)
P5 - Federico Caricasulo (Yamaha)
P8 - Steven Odendaal (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team, Yamaha)
P13 - Peter Sebestyen (Evan Bros. WorldSSP Yamaha Team, Yamaha)
Steven Odendaal: "I had a good start gaining ground, but on the second lap I got the neutral on the last corner, so I lost positions. I immediately tried to recover but I started a long duel with Manzi: we overtook each other many times because we both thought we had a better rhythm, but in doing so we lost contact with the riders in front of us. Unfortunately, it was a day to forget, just like yesterday's, for which I offer my condolences to the Vinales family, so it's better to think about Portimao".
Peter Sebestyen: "I'm not satisfied with my result today. We started the weekend well, solving some problems thanks to the great work of the team, so I expected more. At the moment we have consolidated our level, but we need to understand how to make that last and decisive step forward. I also want to express my deepest condolences to the Vinales family: what happened yesterday is certainly more important than anything else".
Fabio Evangelista (Team Principal): "Unfortunately I can't feel completely satisfied after today's results. I thought that Peter could have been around the ninth or tenth position but this didn't happen, also because of a not optimal starting position. As far as Steven is concerned, I don't really know what problems he encountered during the race, but after the mistake on the second lap he was unable to keep up a pace that would allow him to climb. Now we must remain positive in view of Portiamo, without forgetting what happened yesterday: the whole team is close to the family of Dean Berta Vinales".