Aegerter: I’ve waited at least 25 years to be world champion, now I am!
After narrowly missing out on the MotoE World Cup, Dominique Aegerter has won the 2021 World Supersport title in just his first season in the championship.
Aegerter, who led the championship by 54 points heading into round 11 in San Juan, Argentina, finished fifth in race one, before going on to take his 14th podium of the season in race two.
His podium and subsequent title win was aided in just the first corner of race two as Manuel Gonzalez crashed into Aegerter’s main challenger Steven Odendaal.
While the South African remounted his Bardahl Yamaha machine, Odendaal would go on to crash again later on, while Aegerter held off Niki Tuuli for much of the race before the Finn also crashed out on the final lap.
The Swiss rider’s triumph means he’s the third rookie in four years to win the title - the other two being Sandro Cortese (2018) and Andrea Locatelli last year.
Speaking after his first world championship win, an elated Aegerter said: "The first world title is amazing to get. It’s difficult to analyse right now, I can’t wait to celebrate with the team.
"I’ve waited at least 25 years to be world champion, now I am. It wasn’t easy, I’ve been working hard but I’m so happy to have achieved this goal.
"I didn’t feel the pressure, I was focused and pushing every lap in the second race just to get the best result I could.
"I lost many places at the start but my goal was to fight for the podium. I had the information that P4 was OK, but for me it wasn’t OK, so I built a gap.
"The last lap was an emotional lap and when I went over the line, I said ‘I am world champion’. I knew the title would be possible from the moment I signed the contract with the Ten Kate Yamaha team.
"They are very successful, the Yamaha R6 is very successful, and I could see how much the whole crew, both at the track and back in the workshop, were working towards the championship. Thank you to everyone, I am just super happy."
