Indonesia’s Aldi Satya Mahendra gave it his best shot on Friday at Magny-Cours by taking an important pole position ahead of the R3 bLU cRU European Championship’s season-closing races on Saturday at the French track.

The sizzling September temperatures provided perfect conditions for the morning’s FP1 session, where the field of regulars were joined by four eager wildcards, making for a total of 22 riders. The title favourites initially took their time to get up to speed, preferring to focus on setup, but Brazil’s Gustavo Manso soon rose through the ranks to clock the fastest time of the morning. Mahendra was just +0.007s behind his rival, while local hero Dorian Joulin placed third. Series leader Emiliano Ercolani put in the seventh fastest time, +1.367 from the top.

For the afternoon’s Superpole session, Mahendra was fast from the outset and laid down several fast laps which his competitors simply couldn’t match, giving the Indonesian pole for the final two races of the season. Kevin Fontainha was the only rider who came close, setting a time +0.732s down on Mahendra and grabbing a vital second on the grid as he fights for a shot at the title. His compatriot, Manso, completes the front row of the grid. Ercolani will set off from ninth spot and will aim to carve into the lead group to defend his slim standings lead of 16 points.

Full Superpole results can be found here

Aldi Satya Mahendra said: “I want to keep my mind clear and focus on the races, without thinking too much about the championship. I know that I need to try and win both races, so I hope tomorrow will go well, but I’m not putting too much stress into the goal of the crown.”

Source: WorldSBK.com