Motul FIM Superbike World Championship

Magny-Cours, France

September 30, 2017

Race One Results (wet conditions, all on Pirelli tires):

1. Jonathan REA, UK (Kawasaki ZX-10RR), 21 laps, Total Race Time 40:06.523, Best Lap Time 1:53.320

2. Marco MELANDRI, Italy (Ducati Panigale R), -16.316 seconds, 1:52.749

3. Tom SYKES, UK (Kawasaki ZX-10RR), -16.666, 1:53.282

4. Leon CAMIER, UK (MV Agusta F4 RC), -22.133, 1:53.303

5. Alex LOWES, UK (Yamaha YZF-R1), -41.210, 1:54.597

6. Eugene LAVERTY, Ireland (Aprilia RSV4 RF), -62.101, 1:54.267

7. Leandro MERCADO, Argentina (Aprilia RSV4 RF), -62.281, 1:55.326

8. Davide GIUGLIANO, Italy (Honda CBR1000RR SP2), -65.775, 1:55.698

9. Michael VAN DER MARK, Netherlands (Yamaha YZF-R1), -69.271, crash, 1:54.694

10. Chaz DAVIES, UK (Ducati Panigale R), -77.429, 1:56.859

11. Lorenzo SAVADORI, Italy (Aprilia RSV4 RF), -90.899, 1:56.150

12. Roman RAMOS, Spain (Kawasaki ZX-10RR), -99.111, 1:56.060

13. Raffaele DE ROSA, Italy (BMW S1000RR), -100.891, 1:55.363

14. Jordi TORRES, Spain (BMW S1000RR), -114.311, 1:57.096

15. Riccardo RUSSO, Italy (Kawasaki ZX-10RR), -1 lap, 1:58.847

16. Ondrej JEZEK, Czech Republic (Kawasaki ZX-10RR), -1 lap, 1:58.204

17. Alessandro ANDREOZZI, Italy (Yamaha YZF-R1), -1 lap, 1:58.120

18. Anthony WEST, Australia (Kawasaki ZX-10RR), -1 lap, 1:58.469

19. Jake GAGNE, USA (Honda CBR1000RR SP2), -2 laps, DNF, retired, 1:57.621

20. Xavi FORÉS, Spain (Ducati Panigale R), -4 laps, DNF, crash, 1:59.161

21. Ayrton BADOVINI, Italy (Kawasaki ZX-10RR), DNS

22. Matthieu LUSSIANA, France (BMW S1000RR), DNS

More, from a press release issued by Kawasaki:

Rea Creates History With Third Successive FIM WorldSBK Title

KRT rider Jonathan Rea won an unprecedented third FIM Superbike World Championship title in succession after a peerless display of front running in a wet first race at Magny Cours in France. No other rider had won three WorldSBK titles in a row before today. Tom Sykes (KRT) overcame recent injury and treacherous track conditions to finish third in the 21-lap opening race at Magny Cours.

A historic third championship win in succession for Jonathan Rea came after his 12th win of the season, which was also the 50th of his WorldSBK career. Has led the 2017 title race from round one, race one, and make sure of his ultimate title success after winning today’s wet race by over 16 seconds. Rea’s latest victory came despite the slippery conditions that changed from lap-to-lap as the skies brightened after heavy overnight rain.

Jonathan celebrated his latest championship success trackside with a three-pronged golden trident – symbolising his three championships in succession – and a special crash helmet design, before coming back to pitlane to celebrate his historic achievement with his team and KHI personnel.

Shortly before the first race of the weekend Rea had also secured pole position after a dramatic and wet Superpole 2. He fell early in the 15-minute session but quick work from his crew in pitlane ensured he would take to the track again, and Jonathan duly finished in pole position.

A heroic and ultimately rewarding performance from Sykes saw him start from third place after Superpole 2 and fight bravely at times to maintain a podium position, despite his recent left hand surgery.

Tom saw off an early challenge from Chaz Davies to keep himself a firm second in the championship as Davies dropped down the order. Sykes, the 2013 WorldSBK champion with KRT, battled again in the final laps, this time with Marco Melandri. They accidentally touched on the penultimate lap, as they rounded the long right hand corner of turn three.

Sykes only missed out on the second place he had held for most of the race by 0.350 seconds. This was Tom’s 15th podium of the year and the 99th of his long career.

One more 21-lap race will take place in France this weekend, again at 13.00 local time tomorrow, Sunday 1st October.

Jonathan Rea, stated: “I have no words right now. I have sacrificed so much in my life, as have my parents and everyone involved in helping me get me to this level. To win it the championship the first time, the second time and then go three times in a row – I cannot compute my feelings right now. My thanks to all the team, every single member of the team, and everyone from Kawasaki back in Japan. Most of all I want to thank my wife and kids who sacrifice so much. To win this race was special. Winning a race to win the championship is not something I have done before, so I was important for me to do that. I also scored my 50th WorldSBK race win in WorldSBK as well.”

Tom Sykes, stated: “Considering the injury I had I am just happy to be here, never mind get on the podium. At times I struggled with edge grip in the track conditions, and Marco Melandri had good side grip towards the end. We had a bit of a ‘kiss’ in turn three as out paths crossed, while fighting for second place. I was third today but if somebody had offered me this kind of result two weeks ago, I would have taken it. I struggle to put on my socks in the morning so I am not sure how I could manage to ride the bike! Thanks to Kawasaki for making it possible for me to ride and for making it as comfortable as possible for me to ride.”

2017 KRT Rider Statistics

Jonathan Rea: World Champion 2015, 2016 & 2017

2017: Races 21, Wins 12, Podiums 20, Superpoles 5

Career Race Wins: 50 (35 for Kawasaki)

Career Podiums: 108 (66 For Kawasaki)

Career Poles: 13 (9 For Kawasaki)

Tom Sykes: World Champion 2013

2017: Races: 19, Wins 2, Podiums 15, Superpoles 4

Career Race Wins: 33 (33 for Kawasaki)

Career Podiums: 99 (98 For Kawasaki)

Career Poles: 42 (42 For Kawasaki)

Kawasaki FIM Superbike World Championship Statistics

5 x Riders’ Championships (Scott Russell 1993, Sykes 2013, Rea 2015, 2016 & 2017), 1 x EVO Riders’ Championship (David Salom 2014)

2 x Manufacturers’ Championships (Ninja ZX-10R 2015 & 2016)

2 x Teams’ Championships (KRT/Provec Racing 2015 & 2016)

Kawasaki FIM Superbike World Championship Statistics

Total Kawasaki Race Wins: 105 – third overall

Total Kawasaki Podiums: 343 – third overall

Total Kawasaki Poles: 72 – second overall

More, from a press release issued by Althea BMW Racing:

A wet SBK Race 1 for Althea BMW at Magny-Cours

Nevers (France), Saturday 30 September 2017

On track this weekend at the Magny-Cours circuit in France, the Althea BMW Racing team concluded the first Superbike race, on a wet track, in thirteenth place with De Rosa and fourteenth with Jordi Torres.

Superpole 1 – riders faced wet conditions during today’s Superpole. Both Torres and De Rosa were both out in the rain for this first phase. De Rosa made six laps, the fastest of which was his last, completed in 2’04.718, which placed him ninth at the session’s end. Struggling to build confidence in the difficult conditions, Torres unfortunately crashed four minutes before the end of the session. He was able to continue but without improving any further on his times, thus closing in tenth place. Both Althea BMW riders therefore qualified on row seven of the grid for race one.

SBK – Race 1: with work to do, from 19th and 20th on the grid, De Rosa and Torres hoped to do well in this first race despite the wet track. Making up a few positions over the first two laps, they were lapping ‘together’ in 16th and 17th place. Unfortunately, the pair lost ground during the first half of the race, struggling to find the rhythm needed to catch those ahead of them, separated by several seconds and perhaps more confident in the tricky conditions. In the final phase though, on a gradually drying track, the two Althea BMW riders upped their pace, earning a further three places apiece to cross the line in 13th (De Rosa) and 14th (Torres) position.

Jordi Torres:

“It’s been a tough day in the rain, as I expected. I crashed already in FP3, hurting my back. Then in Superpole, I lost the front, crashing for a second time. So the important thing was to finish the race, considering the risky conditions and how my previous sessions had gone. I started out OK but was perhaps too cautious at the start. I made a few laps right behind Raffaele but when he started to push later in the race, I struggled to find the right confidence. Let’s hope that tomorrow is dry and we are able to complete a good second race.”

Raffaele De Rosa:

“I didn’t make the best start and tried to get into a rhythm but it was tough at the start, when it was very wet, and I didn’t have the best feeling with my bike. Feeling improved lap by lap though, especially over the last ten or so as the track started to dry. I was able to make up a few places, which was positive at least, but we need to work to be faster in very wet conditions like we had early on in today’s race.”

More, from a press release issued by Dorna WSBK Press Office:

Jonathan Rea takes record breaking third consecutive WorldSBK title

Northern Irishman secures championship after stunning performance in France

When someone asks you when Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team) made history by winning three back to back WorldSBK titles, you will remember 30th September 2017, as the Northern Irishman has been crowned MOTUL FIM Superbike World Champion this weekend in France. A match made in heaven with his Ninja ZX-10RR, Rea took the crown in race one with a stunning display of pure race craft. The 31 year old has made this seasons dominance seem effortless, and as he lifts the third consecutive title in a row he has cemented his name in the history books along the way.

Beginning his racing career in motocross, Rea moved over to the tarmac as he began to compete in the British domestic series. Making the step up onto the world stage in 2008 in WorldSSP, he quickly found his feet and moved into the World Superbike class with Honda – taking 15 victories overall. Swapping to a green machine in 2015, Rea quickly adapted to his Kawasaki Racing Team Ninja, and he secured his debut world title that same season.

It was from here the Northern Irish born rider became unstoppable as he took the 2016 title in style at the final round in Qatar, finishing a narrow 51 points ahead of team-mate Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team). Becoming the first champion of this millennium to secure back to back titles, he then went into 2017 looking to make history.

A strong winter of pre-season testing stood the 31 year old in good sted ahead of his title defence, and he began the season in true Rea style with pole position and a double victory around the Australian circuit of Phillip Island. Round Two in Buriram saw the dominance continue with another double victory and pole position, heading to Europe with a 30 point lead in the championship standings.

With already such a strong lead in the standings, the rider from Ballymena didn’t show any signs of slowing down. Rea was able to stop British rival Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) around MotorLand Aragon to take the victory in race one, before continuing his stunning run of victories at the TT Circuit Assen for Round Four, making it 11 wins in The Netherlands.

Rea faced some tough competition in the mid-part of the season, with Davies dominant in front of the Ducatisti around Imola and Sykes heading to his preferred circuit of Donington Park, but the champion continued with his consistency throughout the Rounds, only finishing off the podium once in Race One around Donington Park following a tyre issue.

Heading into the summer break with a 59 point lead following victories at Misano and Laguna Seca, talk of Rea securing the title this season had already began, of which he brushed off. Returning on track in August to the Lausitzring circuit, Rea again struggled to hold off Davies’ domination, but two podium finishes didn’t leave the reigning champion worried. Producing a masterclass of a double victory in Portugal seemed to seal the deal for Rea, whilst his team-mate and main title rival Sykes was forced to watch from the sidelines. Heading to Magny-Cours, Rea welcomed a fast pace from Friday and was able to secure pole position as the rain fell on Saturday morning. The title fight was never in doubt, as the Northern Irishman put in a stunning performance to dominate the 21 lap race in wet conditions, to take the title and his 12th victory of the season.

After securing this historic title, Rea is quickly becoming known as one of WorldSBK’s greats, with compatriot Cal Fogarty’s records in his sights. Ever the fan favourite and a dedicated family man, the three time champion is making his mark on the series in a big way and the question will continue to be asked; how many more can he win?

Congratulate the first ever triple back-to-back world champion using #R3PEAT or #JR3PEAT on social media.

Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team):

“To be honest I can’t sum up my emotions, I feel quite numb. I just feel super proud of my team and Kawasaki. It has been such a team effort, even though I’m the guy who rode it over the line, there have been so many people involved to make it possible.

Every season is different and special in it’s own individual way. 2015 was a seamless year, I joined a high level team with a well developed bike. I jumped on a bike that was ready to win and we won. 2016 was more special because we had a completely new ZX.10R, and I’m really proud of my team for the constant development. We had a lot of success last season and although we didn’t score as many points, we were able to understand the bike and it was a lot more difficult, so it was a lot harder.

This season we showed the strength of team, the manufacturer the strength of Pere, and we went through some hard winter tests and we worked through the problems, and were able to go out an win at Phillip Island. I have to say thank you to Mr Matusda and everyone back in Japan as they work so hard to allow me to live my dream. I cross the line but there are too many names on the list who are involved to say thank you.

Straight away I am thinking about tomorrow and the end of the season. 2018 as a whole looks uncertain and we need to understand how the bike will work with some new regulations. Winter testing will be so important, and when we turn our attentions to 2018, I am 100% confident in my team and Kawasaki that we will always give our 100%.”

More, from a press release issued by Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team:

Eighth place for Davide Giugliano in Race One at Magny-Cours

French Round

Circuit Nevers Magny-Cours, France

Davide Giugliano finished today’s WorldSBK race one at Magny-Cours in eighth place, courtesy of a strong performance on board his Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade SP2 machine on the drying French circuit. His Red Bull Honda World Superbike Team mate Jake Gagne was forced into a late retirement after fighting for a top-12 result.

Giugliano got an OK launch off sixth place on the grid and, after a few laps needed to adjust to the drying track conditions, he settled into a nice, consistently improving rhythm which allowed him to catch and overtake his former teammate Chaz Davies on lap 14. After losing one place to Laverty five laps later, the 27-year-old Italian managed to maintain eighth position up to the chequered flag. Courtesy of today’s result, Davide will start race two tomorrow from the middle of the second row (fifth place).

Jake Gagne had an encouraging and convincing early part of the race as he made his way up from 18th place on the grid to 12th in only five laps. The young American rider then a small setback on lap 7 which cost him a couple of places and, after staying attached to the group fighting for 12th position, he ran off track on the penultimate lap after experiencing a gear-shifting issue, and retired shortly afterwards. His starting position will not change for race two.

Race two for the French Round of the 2017 FIM Superbike World Championship will get underway tomorrow at 13:00 local time (GMT +2), after the 15-minute warm up scheduled at 9:00.

Davide Giugliano 34

8th

It has been a positive race. We had good pace for the full 21 laps and we were able to improve all the way to the chequered flag. It was my first time riding the bike for more than a few laps in wet conditions so there were some things I needed to understand first before I could start pushing harder. The team did a great job in translating my comments and the data into appropriate changes to the bike set-up. Obviously there is still room for improvement, but for a first wet race I’d say it hasn’t been a bad one at all!

Jake Gagne 45

DNF

It was my first race in wet conditions with this bike and Pirelli tyres, so again there was a lot to learn for me. I’m happy with how I was able to improve my pace lap after lap; the bike is quite different with the wet set-up on but I was able to adjust to that and – despite a small setback in the first half which cost me a couple of places – I was able to run consistently and gather some more experience. My goal was to finish the race – we got really close to it, but unfortunately we had to retire with less than two laps to go. It’s a pity, really, but there’s another race tomorrow to make it right.

Ronald ten Kate

Team Manager

Davide rode a brilliant race. It was clear from Superpole already that he was feeling comfortable with the bike in the wet, but obviously the drying asphalt added a further challenge to the race as the laps went by. Eighth place is a good result – maybe it could have been even better but we’re definitely happy with his performance. His comments were again positive and that shows that we’re working in the right direction. Too bad for Jake’s retirement, but unfortunately the gear-shifting issue he experienced did not allow him to finish the race. He did a good race nevertheless, especially if we consider that it was his first race in wet conditions with Pirelli tyres and this version of the Fireblade. He keeps improving, so I’m looking forward to seeing what he’ll be able to do tomorrow.

More, from a press release issued by Aruba.it Racing Ducati:

Bittersweet Race 1 at Magny Cours: Melandri 2nd after a strong comeback; electrical problems hinder Davies, 10th

Race 1 of the 11th round of the WorldSBK Championship, held at Magny Cours (France), yielded a bittersweet result for the Aruba.it Racing – Ducati team. On a wet but progressively drying track, Marco Melandri mounted a spectacular comeback to finish second. Chaz Davies, after making a strong start, was hindered by electrical problems and, despite putting up a fight, had to settle for tenth position.

Starting from 12th position on the grid due to a slow-speed crash during Superpole, Melandri paced himself and progressively climbed back as the track was drying up. With two laps to go, the Italian definitevely cut a 10-second gap from Sykes and engaged in a hard though fair duel, outfighting the Brit with just a few corners left.

Davies, seventh on the grid, was instead forced to lose ground after a strong start that saw him take second position within a few corners. The Welshman unluckily suffered an electrical issue that hindered his performance both under braking and acceleration. Despite his valiant efforts, Davies was forced to settle for tenth position.

Due to the reverse grid for Race 2, Melandri and Davies will start from 8th and 11th position on the grid tomorrow. The Aruba.it Racing – Ducati team will resume action at 09:30 (CET) Sunday for warm-up ahead of Race 2 (scheduled to start at 13:00).

Marco Melandri (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati #33) – 2nd

“It’s been a fantastic race. At the beginning, the conditions were tricky as the grip was really low. As time went by, I gained confidence and started to push harder and harder. When I saw that Sykes was struggling a little bit, I realized I could push even more because we weren’t struggling with the tires and nobody would have gone back to the pits to change them. We had a fun battle in the last two laps, I gave my all to bridge the gap and honestly we couldn’t have done more today. I hope we have a dry race tomorrow, because here it’s so easy to make mistakes. We haven’t done many laps in the dry so far this weekend, but we would all be in the same boat and we’re ready to have a go at it.”

Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati #7) – 10th

“We had a strong start and the bike felt good at the beginning of the race, but after three laps it had an issue and it became hard to control. It started to lock the rear and spin a lot under acceleration. We’ll look into it, but all we could do was to try and make it to the checkered flag, so I’m a bit disappointed. Yesterday, in the dry, we were making good progress. Our pace wasn’t the best but we were competitive nonetheless. Hopefully it will be dry during WUP as well, as we want to verify one final step with the setup. I’m quite confident about the direction we were going in, so hopefully we can bounce back with a solid result in Race 2.”

Ernesto Marinelli, Superbike Project Director

“It’s been a bittersweet race today. Marco made a fantastic comeback on Sykes, taking advantage of a progressively drying track and showing great tactical acumen. We’re sorry for Chaz. An electrical problem in the button panel, which caused the electronics to malfunction, hindered his performance. Tomorrow the weather could change again, with low temperatures but dry conditions. We’ll try to make the most of WUP to improve with both our riders in Race 2.”

More, from a press release issued by Pata Yamaha:

 Pata Yamaha Pull Out the Stops in a Wet Race 1 at Magny-Cours

Race

The Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team secured two positive results after putting in maximum effort in tricky conditions on Saturday at Magny-Cours, round 11 of the 2017 FIM Superbike World Championship. Alex Lowes rode to a solid fifth-place finish in a wet Race 1, enjoying some superb battles along the way on a difficult drying track. His teammate Michael van der Mark had a crash on lap 2 but remounted and charged his way sensationally through the field to secure ninth at the chequered flag.

Lowes finished Friday’s dry practice in ninth overall, but only two-tenths off his teammate in second in one of the closest opening days of the season. On Saturday morning, the rain poured down in Magny-Cours but Lowes used FP3 to find a good wet setup with his R1 and in SP2, in typical style, he pulled out a great lap to qualify in fifth for Race 1. The rain had stopped and the sun came out just before the race, although everyone stuck with wet tyres, but when the lights went out he did not have the best of starts and was in seventh and behind his teammate van der Mark by the first corner. Responding brilliantly, the 27-year-old enjoyed a great battle in the early laps with his teammate, passing him at Turn 5 on the second lap and not looking back. Next up was Leandro Mercado and then Chaz Davies as Lowes continued his charge through the field and made his way up to third by lap 6.

The damp track made conditions extremely tricky and Lowes battled hard, with first, Marco Melandri and then Leon Camier, before settling into fifth. Determined to secure a good result after a tricky weekend in Portimao, the British rider rode consistently well to bring his R1 home in a rather lonely fifth to secure 11 vital championship points, which means he remains fifth in the standings with 180 points. Lowes will start Sunday’s Race 2 from the middle of the front row in second position and with the forecast saying it should be dry, he is hoping to be able to fight for his third podium of 2017.

For van der Mark, unfortunately, there was an issue in SP2 that meant he could not extract the maximum performance from his Pata Yamaha R1, which saw him qualify in tenth. When it came to the race, van der Mark had a blistering start, passing his teammate and moving up to sixth by Turn 1. He then passed Xavi Forés for fifth and became embroiled in an excellent battle with Lowes on the second lap. Passing each other a number of times, van der Mark just got on the throttle a little early attempting the cut back on his teammate at Turn 5 and lost the rear.

Luckily there was no major damage to his Pata Yamaha R1, with the 24-year-old managing to remount and re-joining the race, albeit in 19th place and five seconds behind the man ahead of him. Undeterred, the 2014 Supersport World Champion got his head down and started a sensational charge through the field that saw him overtake nine riders in the next six laps. With some clear track ahead of him, van der Mark settled into a good rhythm and focused on securing the best result possible. With four laps to go, he managed to catch and pass Chaz Davies for ninth to cap off a simply astounding comeback, in the process securing seven championship points. This result means he remains sixth in the overall standings with 173 points, seven behind his teammate and 17 ahead of Forés in seventh. Van der Mark will line up for Sunday’s Race 2 on the second row in sixth, confident of his pace whether it is going to be wet or dry after his brilliant ride in Race 1 and the blistering pace he showed to finish Friday’s practice sessions in second overall.

The Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team are in action at 9:30 am local time in Magny-Cours on Sunday for Warm Up, with the 21-lap Race 2 scheduled for 1 pm. Check out the full race results.

Alex Lowes

Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team – 5th +41.210

“The race was a strange one! It was getting drier and drier as the race went on, which made it very tricky. I have always struggled here at Magny-Cours in the wet, so I am pretty happy to have finished in fifth. I had a good battle with my teammate and a few riders at the start, but then it became quite a lonely race towards the end. That can actually be harder than battling in a group in the wet, so I just focused on being as consistent as possible. I hope the sun comes out for tomorrow’s race but whatever happens, I will be ready to give it everything from the front row!”

Michael van der Mark

Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team – 9th +1:09.271

“We had a bit of an issue in SP2 which meant I could not go as fast as I would have liked, so I had to start from tenth on the grid. Luckily, we found out what the problem was and I had a pretty good start during the race. I passed a few guys straight away but I was struggling on corner exit with the rear spinning. I thought it was because the tyres needed to warm up but after 3 laps it was still an issue and into the hairpin, I was a bit too aggressive and lost the rear. It was a small crash, luckily, the bike was okay but I had to comeback from pretty much last place! I had a good feeling with the bike but with the rear spinning, I could not make any speed. I had to fight back from 19th and was making progress lap after lap, catching quite a lot of people, so I am happy to have finished in ninth after a crash. We just need to find some improvements in the setup because I feel really good but could not make up any time coming out of the corners. Hopefully, tomorrow will be dry and I will get to start from the second row, plus I was fast in the dry on Friday. It will be challenging for everybody because no one has really done a long run, but I am looking forward to Race 2 whether it is wet or dry!”

Paul Denning

Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team Principal

“A wet race at Magny-Cours is always very challenging, there is so little grip, demonstrated by the fact the lap times were around 20 seconds slower than in the dry. It makes it very complicated for the riders to understand how hard to push. There were so many accidents in FP3 and qualifying earlier, our guys did well to come through the sessions and qualify in strong positions for the first race. Following a disappointing Portimao weekend, Alex needed to finish well without taking unnecessary risks and, he rode a very strong, solid race after a great battle with Michael in the first couple of laps to finish in fifth and score good positive points. The mistake Michael made at Turn 5 is a very easy one to do but we were fortunate that the R1 was relatively unscathed and that Michael was able to pick the bike up and mount such a positive charge through the field. It was a very unusual race, it is not often that the gaps are so big, but let’s hope there is the chance of some dry weather for tomorrow so that Pata Yamaha and the whole WorldSBK grid can ride to the limits and put on a show!”

More, from a press release issued by MV Agusta:

TEAM MV AGUSTA REPARTO CORSE AND LEON CAMIER CLOSE TO THE PODIUM AGAIN 

The first day of races at the Nevers Magny-Cours French circuit took place today in mixed weather conditions. Team MV Agusta Reparto Corse and Leon Camier got another 4th place finish in WorldSBK Race1, while the Jacobsen-Zaccone duo qualifies respectively 9th and 10th in WorldSSP.

WorldSBK – FP3, SP2, Race1

After the FP3 morning heat Len Camier has been confirmed among the top riders of the series, closing in 2nd place behind the 2017 World Champion Jonathan Rea.

Struggling with his bike’s setting in the Tissot-Superpole2 session, the English rider kick off Race1 from the 8th position. After only 3 laps on the iconic French circuit, Camier is able to reach the 5th position and start his fight for top 3 area. Other few laps and Leon is soon right behind Marco Melandri who laps in 3° place.

Camier continues to close the gap with the front riders, always lapping close to the race best lap but when the race is over, the MV Agusta Reparto Corser’s rider couldn’t catch the podium, closing in 4th final position.

Leon’s fight for the podium will take place tomorrow, with the Brit starting from the pole position on Race2 grid.

WorldSSP – FP3, SP1, SP2

After Friday’s performance, both Patrick Jacobsen and Alessandro Zaccone made it into the Tissot-Superpole2 session on Saturday. Penalized by the red flag at the end of the session and by a very slippery track, due to the changing weather conditions, PJ must settle for the 9th position on the grid, while Zaccone, 10th behind his teammate, will close in first position among the ESS riders.

Leon Camier #2 WorldSBK – Of course I am really happy with this result but I am a little bit frustrated to not get the podium again. The bike was working good today and what we have to do now is keep working on the setting to make the bike even faster. We know exactly what we need to get on the bike’s setting, we just have to understand how. Hopefully tomorrow we can come up with a better setting and fight for the podium again.

Patrick “PJ” Jacobsen #99 WorldSSP – Todays wasn’t so good for me and the team. Setting up the bike was a real gamble as the weather and track conditions were unpredictable. Furthermore, we made some little mistake during the qualifying practice but I will do my best tomorrow and hopefully we will get some good points for the championship standing.

Alessandro Zaccone # 61 ESS – The P10 on grid is a result that obviously only satisfies me to a minimum part. Unfortunately, we had some troubles right in the qualifying session and I am sure that, in a different condition, I could step some positions forward. Anyway, we have a very good race pace and tomorrow I will do my best to stay with the front guys.